Paula R.C. Readman's Blog, page 28

I’m busy time travelling…

My apologies for not being around much, but I’m busy writing my new Martha Wenlock novel. I’m 20k in at the moment and finding myself travelling back in time to the 1600 where Martha Wenlock is kindly introducing me to her world. As you can well imagine it is a different world from ours. Though, in a strange way people of Martha’s time were far more self-sufficient and self-reliant unlike many of us today. Of course, you had to have land to grow your own food, and good supply of fresh water, too. In many parts of the world even today, there are large groups of people who still live as Martha and her generation did.

Witchcraft

“Where’s your black master now, Hag. No magic can save you from good Christian men.” he laughed heartily, believing he had finally driven me from my home.

In our time, there are still people who don’t have access to many of our modern convenience such as fresh water, sanitation, central heating and, of course cars. It wouldn’t take much to turn the clock back to find ourselves living as our ancestors did without all mod cons. This week, the fan on my boiler stopped working, so we had been without hot water, and no heating just as Autumn put in an appearance. The temperature dropped enough to put a chill in the air when I got up in the morning. Normally, the heating would’ve kicked in for a couple of hours.

Back in the 1600, this would be unthinkable. The only heating in the house would be an open fire and this would be used for cooking on, too. In my childhood, the only heating in the house, was an open fire, too. Though, we did have electric lighting and electric cooker and a fridge to stop milk from going off. What we didn’t have was a freezer to store fresh food in. It was the same in Martha’s time. Imagine being so reliant on what you can grow, or the livestock you keep throughout the year, to kill in the winter months to keep you alive

I did some online research and found out what sort of food would have been available, and it was quite surprising. Of course, there wasn’t any convenience food other than pies and bread. These were mainly available in the towns, not the countryside.

Turnips, parsnips, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, onions, leeks, spinach, radishes, skirretHoney used as a sweetener.Apple, pears, plum, dansom, cherries, raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, strawberriesHazelnuts, walnuts, peas, beans, lentils, garlic, spices and herbs, salt, cloves, nutmeg, Saffron.Chicken, rabbit, hare, duck, pheasant, partridge, songbirds like blackbirds, song thrush, larks, mutton, pig: pigs was the main meat because pigs were cheap and were capable of finding their own food summer & winter. Every part of them were used. Cow tongue, Salmon, Trout, eels, pike, sturgeon, shellfish, crab, lobsters, oysters, cockles, mussels, dace, graylings, and gudgeon.Bread made with wheat, but if the harvest was poor, they would use rye and barley or flour made from beans, peas or even acorns. Milk, eggs, butter and cheese. the blood from slaughtered animals was turned into black pudding: blood, milk, animal fat, onions and oatmeal. Pottage was a soup-stew, cooked in one pot, made from oats that anything was added to, such as turnips, parsnips and leeks. Milk, beer, ale and water, but water from the rivers wasn’t safe to drink so everyone drunk beer and ale, even children

It’s hard to believe there was a time when the British didn’t drink tea, but these are the things you uncover when you step back in time. Did you know only the poor put butter on their food while the rich only cooked their food in butter, so I guess the array of cooking oils you see in the local supermarket wasn’t available.

The books I’m using to do my research with:

The Writer’s guide to Everyday Life in Renaissance England: From 1485-1649 by Kathy Lynn Emerson ISBN 0-89879-752-7Nature’s Way Series: Herbal Teas for Health and Healing by Ceres ISBN 0-7225-0904-9Witch’s Garden: Plants in folklore, magic and traditional Medicine by Sandra Lawrence ISBN-13 978-1-78739-436-0

I must get back to the writing now, and if I come across anything else of interest, I will share it with you.

The Long and Short of Writing.

It always surprises me the number of new writers I come across, on Twitter and in the writing groups on Facebook that seem to think more is better. As though a large word count gives them a better chance of being snapped up by a publisher, but all it really does is show their ignorance when it comes to writing a novel. An excessive length is a red flag that tells the agent and publisher what to expect. Two-dimensional, wooden or stereotypical characters in a wordy, poorly plotted, pace or constructed novel.

Of course, the first question we all should ask ourselves, before starting a novel, is how long is a novel?

It’s an important question, but we also should keep in mind that readers have busy lives, and their concentration span is much shorter these days as we all have less leisure time, too. Remember our phones keep us all busy. Look around you, how many people can you see holding physical books. Most are holding their phones. Yes, they might be reading kindle on their phone. It would be interesting to know whether this is true or not.

Now back to the question. How long is a novel?

The length of a book is normally the length of the story you are telling. Of course, you do need some sort of guideline, otherwise you could just keep on writing, which it seems many a new writer has a habit of doing.

Let’s have a look at the rough guideline for each of the genres.

Fantasy: 90k-125,000 words. These tend to be longer as the author needs to create a whole new world. Epic fantasy can go into the 180k-200,000-word range, but you have to be an established bestselling writer whose publisher will see a return on your books. Romance: 50k-90,000 words. Once again, it does depend on the sub-genre within the mainstream romance novels as most are usually between 70k-90,000 wordsScience Fiction: 90k-125,000 words. As with Fantasy, the longer books tend to be for stories that are creating new worlds different from our own. Mysteries & Crime: 80k-90,000 wordsThrillers: 80k-100,000 wordsHistorical: 80k-120,000 words. Lots of historical facts to get right, and to explain unfamiliar terms to the readers. Horror: 80k-100,000 wordsLiterary: 80k-120,000 wordsWestern: 50k -80,000 words. Short stories between 1,500 and 30,000 words, Novella, the average length is between 30,000 and 50,000 words.Flash fiction: the average length for these works is between 300 and 1500 words etc.

If you’re writing nonfiction, you’ll need to check out different lengths, too.

If you’re an unpublished writer, you will find it much easier to get a literary agent or publisher interested if your novel is on the shorter side. It’s all about the cost and time involved getting your raw novel ready for publication. No matter how perfect you might think your novel is, the literary agent or publisher will go through it with a fine-tooth comb, and you’ll still need to edit it further.

If you’re hoping to hold a physical copy of your book, then keep to the lower end of the word count in your genre. Common sense is needed. If household bills are going up then the rising cost of living is affecting the pockets of the publishing world, too. No publisher will invest in an unknown writer’s first book unless they can be sure of a good return.

As a new writer your main focus should be on the quality of your writing, and not the quantity. Get your story down and then work your way through it sentence by sentence stripping out unnecessary words, information dumping, cliches, and especially purple prose. Remember your readers are intelligent people and we authors must respect them.

While writing this article, I did a quick survey across the internet on NextDoor, Facebook (4 sites), and Twitter. I asked two questions: 1) Do you read books on Kindle app on your phone? 2) Do you have less time to read?

Out of the 114 readers who answered the questions said:

Read real books only: 45Kindle app on tablet: 8Read Kindle app on phone: 12Kindle on device: 18audiobooks: 9read both physical & eBooks: 22

When it came to whether readers had less or more time available to read it was about equal, but most leaned on having much less time nowadays. I think my quick survey would need more in-depth research like asking readers their age group. Maybe, older readers have more time on their hands for reading.

So, if you’re thinking about beginning a new novel today, remember less is more. Quality is better than quantity. Also, you need to remember writing a novel is the easy part, marketing your newly published novel is the toughest part of writing.

I hope you found this post an interesting read. Please do let me know if you read books on your phone or not. I think the numbers speak for themselves. Most readers still enjoy reading books no matter how they read them, which is the most important thing.

Chat again soon,

Martha Wenlock

Say Hello to Martha Wenlock

I’ve been playing around with Canva and have just created this. I’m not sure whether it works or not but at least I’m becoming more familiar with the site and creating better ads for my books. Hopefully this might lead to more sales.

The new book is slowly coming together but it’s still in its early stage, as I’m getting to know Martha on a personal level. The quotes are taken from the new book: As the Crow Flies.

Chapter 1

Rivenhall Thicket outside the manor of Witham in the county of Essex.

“The Witch Must Die!”

The chanting echoed around me, shattering the silence of the woods, causing the rooks and crows to take flight. The cries of the birds joined the screams of the men while they dragged me from my cottage, destroying my herb garden in their wake. The one not so long ago I had picked the plants from which I had healed their loved ones during the season of the sickness.

As the men hauled me towards the cart, the skirt I wore caught around my legs, causing me to stumble. In an effort to save myself, I threw my hands out. The rope, they had tied my wrists with became taut and I fell awkwardly, my head hitting the cartwheel. Rough hands pulled me to my feet. Gone were the looks of compassion they had once shared with me in their hour of need. I wanted so much to plead with them. To remind them, that it was I they had come for when they needed help to deliver their children safely into the world. When those same children had succumbed to the winter sickness, they had pleaded with me in their hour of need to cure their little ones. The sour looks in their cold eyes echoed the ice that froze their compassion. No word from me could release the devils that encased their hearts.

The warmth of the blood trickling down my cheek made me lift my hand to wipe my forehead, but a hard tug on the rope that bound my wrists stopped me. As they bundled me into the cart the horses displayed their impatience by stamping their feet, throwing their heads back, and letting out a whinny.

“See even the beasts are aware of the evil residing here,” said an all too familiar voice.

I refused to meet his gaze, knowing no matter what I said or did my fate was already sealed. As they chained me to the bars of the cage, I watched my cottage burn, the smoke rising up among the branches of the ancient oak trees that had protected me through many a strong storm. Tears streaked my face along with my blood. Master Chadwick stood back from the burning wreck of my home, the flames highlighting his wry smile.

“Where’s your black master now, Hag. No magic can save you from good Christian men.” he laughed heartily, believing he had finally driven me from my home.

I do hope you have enjoyed reading a small taster of As the Crow Flies

Chat with you again soon.

Paula R. C,

I’m not an Expert.

Being self-taught I’m always aware that I’m the last person anyone should ask for advice on How to write. It’s not like I’ve been to college, university or sat an exam in creative writing. I don’t have a degree, or letters after my name. I’m not an expert, but I’m a reader.

When I set out on my writing journey, I read as many books as possible on how to write to be published. One of the most important lessons I learnt from the books I read was to improve one’s writing was to read, and keep on reading across the different genre as well as the one you want to write in. In my lifetime, I have read hundreds of books across all genres. So, I consider myself to be an expert on what’s good writing and what isn’t.

Many of the books I’ve read were brilliant, books like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, the debut novel by British writer Susanna Clarke. Published in 2004. This book grabbed me from the first sentence and took me to a magical world. Charlaine Harris’ Grave Secret. Everyone knows Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series, but I enjoyed Harper Connelly series more. P. D. James The Children of Men, this book is far removed from P.D. James normal crime books with Superintendent Dalgliesh. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. This book is stunning and has everything from a mystery, a forgotten garden, a missing authoress and an abandoned child. It’s also a time travelling book with a difference. It’s told by two people, the grandmother and granddaughter. You just can’t go wrong with an Agatha Christie’s book. Just pick any one of her collections of brilliant well-plotted books. R.J. Ellory’s The Anniversary Man. I do love the flow of R.J. Ellory’s writing.

Obviously, I can’t list all the books I have read here now. A few of the books I read have been outstanding, ones like The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom and Robert James Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County. Both of these books just flow beautifully. Then there were some that showed promise, but never lived up to my expectations. Some were an easy read, and because of that they were easily forgotten for no particular reason, too. But never have I read a published book that has left me with my jaw hitting the floor as I try to work out how it got published.

Normally, as I turned the last page of a book, I would say to myself: it was okay, maybe not to my taste. It could be anything, from not gelling with the characters, unrealistic dialogue, or the book might have plot holes, which spoils the reader’s pleasure. Three novels which were well-written and hooked me from the start were Gone Girl a 2012 crime thriller novel by American writer Gillian Flynn, and The Girl on the Train a 2015 psychological thriller by British author Paula Hawkins, and not forgetting Before I Go to Sleep a novel by S. J. Watson published in Spring 2011. The endings of those three books had me weeping in frustration as I started questioning why the holes in their plots hadn’t been spotted by proof-readers.  

With this latest book I’ve just finished reading, I wanted to scream… Where’s the plot! The thing that bugged me most was the poor quality of the writing. It didn’t sweep the reader up and carry them along with the story. Nothing made sense. The characters never came alive for me. They seemed angry all the time as they shouted, swore and rolled their eyes hard.

Out of curiosity, I forced myself to read on. For long periods nothing much happened apart from head hopping and repetitive scenes about stomach pains and clenching fists, and eye rolling. Events unfolded so rapidly there wasn’t any time to build up the tension. Sentences were confusing. Example: He gave her a blank look and then his features started working in tandem like circuits clicking. His eyes fluttered and his jaw shifted side to side. Finally, it stopped, and he blinked fully.

There are pages of unnecessary purple prose and a bleeping alarm clock. If you’re a non-writer purple prose means overwritten and too many descriptions which breaks the flow of the story. Though given it didn’t seem to have a story line, I guess it didn’t matter. There was no sense of place within the book. No real feeling of how or where the characters lived or worked. Yes, the reader was told it was an office.

I’m not even sure that the reviewers of the book who have given it five stars already were reading the same book as me. As for the horror and sex elements within the story I must have missed them all together because there was any slow build up in shared emotions between the characters. By the end of the book, I was left speechless . No, I won’t be reviewing it.

Why?

Because I would have to proofread the whole book and point out to the author their book has been poorly editing. It might have had all the Is dotted and Ts crossed but the construction of the book is very weak, the characters poorly drawn, there’s too much head-hopping, there’s lack of tension leading up to any crisis in the so-called plot line. And as for the shocking murder at the end of the book, it was so unrealistic as it took place in an office. The noise of someone getting beaten up, with crashing furniture, would have brought people running to investigate. The last scene and speech by the main character was rubbish, too.

As I say, I’m not an expert, and this is just my opinion.

For the sake of the author, I’m not going to give their name or that of their book.

Paula R. C.

A Crystal Ball once told me…

Excuse me while I scream! I’m all for others believing whatever they want, as long as it doesn’t harm or con others out of money. Desperate people will do desperate things in their darkest hours. But to have someone request friendship with me on Instagram only so they could sell me their business I found annoying.

Hello, how are you? I’m a sangoma and a healer I’ll help you connect with the ancestors interpret dreams diagnose illness through divination with bones I offer positive, growth inspiring:

Tarot Reading, Psychic Readings, Energy work.

I specialize in: Love, dating, relationships, twinflame connections, Spellcasting, win a Court case spell, Fortune telling, Witchcraft, Intuitive abilities

Individual Psychotherapy, Spiritual Mentoring for individuals and those in ministry. communication breakdown, loss of shared interests, sexual incompatibilityinfidelity (extramarital affairs), conflicts about finances, conflicts about children, substance abuse, in-law difficulties, lack of passion, verbal and physical abuse and lots more I’ll help you

Oh dear… magic spells for everything Well, it’s a shame millions of innocent people died in the 1600s so these modern-day witches could ply their wares. If only such magic could have saved them back in the 16th century. And before anyone jumps in and start burning me at the stake. There’s a huge difference between being an herbalist and village healer in the 16th century, and these modern-day crystal hugging so called ‘witches’. To start with in the past people didn’t know any difference as there wasn’t scientific proof for why we fell ill. We didn’t know about viruses, diseases not just for ourselves, but plants and animals too. And as for having control over others it is impossible unless you drug them and take away their self-control. Personally, you’re better off going for Marriage/Personal Counselling than dealing with a crystal hugger.

Why am I so anti-crystals?

To start with, I love planet earth. I love the diversity of this planet. From the mountain tops to the depth of the oceans, and everything in between. What I dislike is the fact that no other creature on this planet collects things other than humans. No other creature tears the planet apart of crystals or semi-precious stone and calls them, Healing Crystals.

Let’s start healing the planet instead. Read here about the destruction all this fake Healing crap is doing to our planet while adding to the loss of habitat for hundreds of plants, birds and animals. This is adding to climate change too. So much for healing crystals. Just look on Facebook marketplace, and you will see tons of healing crystals for sale. I was given one just recently and told this polished stone would help me with stress.

No, a cup of herbal tea would help me far better. Herbal tea is made with plants and doesn’t destroy the planet. Hopefully, people will realise before it’s too late the most precious rock we all have, is the one we are standing on. Let’s leave the healing crystals in the earth and focus on repairing our natural world.

Right, I shall step down off my soapbox, and have a quiet word with Granny Wenlock.

Though I could set myself up in the witchy business and sell a few spells as I have enough books on the subject.

Right, I’m off to make another cup of herbal tea.

Chat again soon.

A Change in Tone

Now everything is on the change, from the season to a new person on the throne of Britain, I’m looking to up my game with my writing. With the last of three of my first novels published, I feel my writing is lacking something, some sort of drive to push my career to the next level.

With Winter kicking at the heels of Autumn, I shall be busy in the garden, getting it ready for the Spring planting. Yesterday, I went to my sister’s in Suffolk to collect bags of llamas’ poo. Yes, you did read that right, llamas’ poo. It’s very good for the garden and as my sister has a herd of llamas it was a great place to get some. This year I was unsuccessful in the vegetable garden. It wasn’t just due to lack of water, though that didn’t help. It has been many years since I’ve dug in any new manure to improve the soil. This year I want to dig out the old soil before adding the new, along with vegetable waste from the kitchen. This I’m hoping will not only improve the soil but help hold the moisture too.

When I was thinking about how I could improve the yield of vegetables it made me wish it was that simple to increase my chances of writing a successful novel. I keep asking myself what’s stopping me from improving the chances for success. Of course, there’s an obvious one. Lack of marketing. Maybe, I don’t put enough effort into the marketing, but that all comes at a price. With the growing increase on household bills, I had to stop using Facebook Business Page.

I’m very disappointed with my sales so far. I have been seriously thinking about writing a different kind of books as horror doesn’t have a strong enough market. Some people are put off by the label on my novels, too. I see myself as more of a crime writer. Though, the lack of sales might be due to readers tightening their belts. I know, my husband and I are thinking hard about where we need to make savings.

Barn Owl

I’m back working on the Granny Wenlock novel. Today, I’ve been busy looking into the local name for Owls. You’ll be surprised just how many different names they have. What I was hunting for was an Essex dialect word for Owl. I’ve found an old English dictionary online. It lists quite a few local names for owls  in Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, but not Essex.
I have so far:
Cuddy-Hookt
Yewlet – Yorkshire
Howlet
Woolert – barn owl
Witty-woo- the call of the owl
Wink-a-pussy – local name Devon & Cornwall
Wit – barn owl
Will-a-wix

If you have a local/ dialect word for owls in your area, please let me know.

While at my sister’s we went for a walk to her local church and signed a book of condolences for the Queen Elizabeth

Chat with you again soon.

RIP Queen Elizabeth II

So sad Britain and Commonwealth has lost our Queen

At last the longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has gone to join her husband.

Long Live our King

The Phoenix Hour

How wonderful The Phoenix Hour is at number 15 and now has three reviews from women. I’m so pleased

No Woman Would Want to Read Your Book!

In 2009, I sat working in a factory, soldering electronic components into circuit boards. As the job was mind numbing, my thoughts would wander. For days, I had been trying to come up with plot ideas for a new book I was working on. My first attempt at writing a novel hadn’t been very successful and suffered many rejections. I felt vampire novels had already been done to death, so I turned my thoughts to attempting to write a Sci-fi novel, or maybe, I should say, more of a time-slip novel.

My father used to pass on to me the sci-fi novels he’d finished reading, often with the comment, you should read this one, it’s a good one. The ones I enjoyed most, weren’t set on spaceships, or a far distant planet with a strange name, but here on earth in the distant future. I can’t tell you how I came up with the original idea for The Phoenix Hour. It was more of a collection of ideas which developed as I wrote it.

As The Phoenix Hour is set in the distant future, I wanted to come up with an idea for a natural disaster, which wasn’t trite in dystopian books, or movies. Of course, there was the normal clichés of natural disasters such as lack of water, pollution, wars and viruses, but I wanted it to be an unusual man-made disaster.

As I inserted the components into the boards, my mind ticked the problem over. If I had been better educated, I wouldn’t have been sitting there breathing in solder fumes while being poorly paid for the pleasure. I’ve always believed the key to freeing people from poverty, was a good education, but education was, and still is an expensive luxury. As a person, who’s parents were uneducated, I’ve always felt that education was important, and if my dyslexia had been properly dealt with in my secondary school I might have received the help I needed instead of being labelled ‘slow of learning.’

That’s when the idea came to me. As further education is expensive I felt most people would jump at the chance to pop a pill to help their children improve their ability to learn quickly. Once this idea formed in my head then rest of the plot began to shape itself.

After rewriting the book many times. I can’t begin to tell you the number of opening chapters, I rewrote. I couldn’t move forward with the writing until I found the tone of the book. Once the opening page has set the tone then I tend to write at least the first six chapters roughly. Then go back and work through them until the tone of the novel starts shaping itself. Once I know for sure which character’s voice is the loudest and clearest I can move forward with the plot.

In The Phoenix Hour I thought I would tell the story through Jarmara Falconer. The opening scene placed her making the discovery of her father’s plans, but it didn’t work. My next version started with the reporter, Coleridge Lockwood, but as my first novel was told by a reporter, and I didn’t want my readers to feel they were reading the same book I didn’t use his voice. That’s when I knew  Madam Louise Elizabeth Brimstone the scientist had to be the voice of the book.        

While at the RNA meeting in London, with my friend, Ivy Lord, I got talking to an agent about my book The Phoenix Hour. I explained the outline of the novel. A look of horror appeared on the woman’s face as she lifted a hand to her chest and took a step back from me. “No woman would ever want to read that book!” she said leaving me standing alone.

I was gutted. I didn’t think all women read romance, I believe there was a large number of women who read the same mixture of books as I did. Lucky for me, my dear friends Ivy and Nicola Slade encouraged me to continue writing the book. I’m just sad that they are not longer with me to see it in print.

This week I have received three reviews from women who have enjoyed reading my novel. You can read them here and here. It’s wonderful to know that women do enjoy reading The Phoenix Hour. Are you up for the challenge? If you are a woman, or identify as a woman and choose to read it, please let me know what you think of it. Thank you.

Here’s my book Trailer. The Phoenix Hour

I’m Back

Hello there,

Did you miss me?

Oh, you didn’t. Never mind, it wasn’t important whether you did or didn’t. I understand, life is stressful at the moment. Rising prices are putting a strain on us all. It’s hard to see away forward at the moment to find a sense of peace in our busy lives. My hippie heart has returned to me, and now I’m just focusing on what brings me joy. Our lives are fleeting, and everything can change in a blink of an eye.

Anyway, I’ve been away to North Yorkshire for a week, staying with a cousin. It was lovely to have a break. My hard working husband needed some chilling out time, so there was no rush to be any where at any particular time while we were away. And, I just wanted to switch off from thinking about books, writing and housework, too.

The Hole of Horcum is a section of the valley of the Levisham Beck, upstream of Levisham and Lockton, in the Tabular Hills of the North York Moors National Park in northern England.

The North of England was stunning, and far greener than my part of England in the south. Of course, they have had more rain this year, than we have. As we drove up the country we saw the difference as the hedgerows became greener. The moors was covered in purple heather as far as the eye could see. It was wonderful to stand on the moors and see nothing, but a big open sky for miles around. It gives you a sense of freedom.

Having some time away from the keyboard has help me to clear my mind. I was getting into a panic about promoting, and was trying to think of new ways of marketing my books. Whatever way, I chose seemed to cost me more money, which I don’t have.

While in Whitby I went into one of the Goth shops and noticed they had some self-published books for sale. I had a quick chat with the owner and asked if she would be interested in my novel Seeking the Dark which is set in Whitby. I showed her the blurb to the book on my phone, and after reading it she said she would be interested in stocking it. I’m so excited. Her cut from the sales of the books are very reasonable, too. I shall be delivering the copies when we return during the Whitby Goth Festival, along with a poster, some bookmarks and some of my business cards. Hopefully, this might be the first step to something bigger.

A cottage in Goathland, North Yorkshire.

My garden has really suffered this year. I need to spend sometime in it. It’s the vegetable garden that needs a lot of attention as it hasn’t been very productive for a few years now. As the price of food is increasing at an alarming rate I bought some new vegetable seeds while in Yorkshire to grow for next year. I want to get some fresh manure to add to the soil after digging the beds out.

The man at the bottom of my garden spoke to me over the fence. He said he is going to thin out his trees, which will let more light into my garden and improve the growth of my vegetables. I shall be reducing the height of my apple trees too which will help. The apples have been larger this year, and much fewer, too. I hate seeing so much waste. I know the birds, insects and mice will eat the fallen ones, and I have given some away, too. You don’t see many people selling fruit at the side of the road, or outside their houses. While driving around Yorkshire I saw fruit laden plum trees in gardens and hoped to see someone selling them. In the end, we went into a greengrocer’s shop, and bought some which were said to have been grown locally to bring home.

I’m glad to be back at my keyboard. Though, I do have a painting to complete, and a new Goth outfit to make before the end of October. Busy, busy, busy.

Have a great day.

Chat again soon.

(Find a moment in your busy day, and take time out to listen to the birds singing. There’s a joyful one outside my window as I was writing this. )