Paula R.C. Readman's Blog, page 40

A Walk in the Woods

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here...From the poem 'Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening' by Robert Lee Frost was an American poet

This morning was overcast as my friend and I set out on our walk to the woods. We followed the path alongside the lake and then between the fields of horses. In places the path towards the old oak tree on our way to the woods has becoming overgrown. The walk took us 107 minutes.

The path to the woods

In the woods, I saw a flowering shrub which I thought I recognised. As I leaned in to take a photo the perfume from its flowers was quite strong. The Oval-leaved privet was once known as ‘Primprint’ or ‘Prim’ were its Old English names for our native privet. The Elizabethan gardeners used privet for hedging. The wild native privet has smaller, narrower leaves and is still common in hedgerows and woodlands, particularly in chalk areas. The blue-black berries were once used to produce dyes.

Oval-leaved Privet

Goat’s-beard: Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon opens its flower early and and closes them around midday -an unusual characteristic that has given the plant its common name. It is used for liver and gall-bladder problems.

Goat’s-Beard

After the heavy rains the ground has become saturated and muddy underfoot especially in the woods. The leaden sky made the woods a dark place to walk this morning. Then the sun seemed to break through and for a moment there was dabbled light. On exiting the grey clouds gathered again, and followed us home. The videos among the photos in the slideshow were made on my phone.

Hope you enjoy

Clubhouse CafeLit 10 Chat: Jim Bates

Welcome to Clubhouse Chat page. Those of you who are not a member won’t be aware that the location of the Clubhouse is shrouded in mystery. The only way to visit it is via membership or an invite to the tearoom. Every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation with all sorts of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers. Over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, I shall be chatting with my guest about their work in progress, or latest book release.

Photo by Purple Smith on Pexels.com

Cafelit is an online magazine which posts a new story every day. To find out more click here CafeLit books are published by Chapel Town Books to find out more about the publisher click here. Today in the tearoom, I’m chatting to Cafelit writer, Jim Bates about his entries in The Best of CafeLit 10. Welcome to the tearoom, Jim

Thank you so much for inviting me to chat about the new Best of CafeLit 10. I really appreciate it. By the way, if you’ve got a cup of coffee handy; I’d love some. Black, please. Thank you!

Now we have our drinks, Jim let’s started. What made you write the story you decided to submit to Cafelit? Was it as seasonal call-out i.e. Christmas, summer holidays, autumn, Halloween etc or just something you needed to get off your chest?

In March, 2018, CafeLit published my first ever story online. I was thrilled! I have continued to submit every month since then. I have been incredibly fortunate to have had stories in CafeLit 8, 9 and 10. I’ve had stories in other anthologies as well. Thank you, Gill!! The two stories in this collection, “Prairie Wind” and “The Park Bench” were stories written in late winter of 2020. They came to me while I was going for a walk outside, something I do every day. And that’s where the ideas of most of my stories come from.

Did you use a writing prompt for your story?

No, I did not.

Did you write an outline first, or follow where the characters led you?

I never use an outline. I start with a general idea and work hard to get the first scene down. Then I just let the characters and story take me where they will.

How do you create your characters? Do you start with a name first?

I would like to say my stories are character driven. In “Prairie Wind” the main character was created based on my love of family history. I imagined Wyatt as a man completely at loose ends with himself and his life, who takes a trip to a cemetery in the middle of nowhere Nebraska to visit a long-lost relative. It’s a life-changing event for him. In “The Park Bench” I imagined what life would be life for an old widower who happens to meet a nice lady while on his walk. What might their interaction be like? The story developed from there. I rarely have a name in mind when I start. Usually, the name will come to me as by the time the first scene is completed. 

Jim Bates

Was your story told in your normal genre or did you try something different?

Both stories were in my normal genre.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Cafelit community?

FRIENDSHIP, FRIENDSHIP, FRIENDSHIP! And support, too, of course, that’s really nice. Gill James has published nearly fifty of my stories on CafeLit. She and Bridge House Publishing published my first collection of short stories, “Resilience”, in February of this year. She is also publishing my collection of flash fiction and drabbles entitled “Short Stuff”, through Chapeltown Books in July of this year. I don’t where I be without Gill and her incredible encouragement. I’d tag onto that and say that CafeLit led me to writers’ groups. I don’t belong to many, but the ones I do belong to I appreciate so much. In fact, Paula, your group, For Writers Only Clubhouse, was the first one I joined. I’m glad I did!!

(We are all glad you did find us, Jim as you’re very encouraging to us all.)

The Best of CafeLit 10

How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I have been writing off and on my entire life, but only seriously began in 2011 when I challenged myself to write a poem a day. I stuck to it and ended up with over 1,300 not very good poems written over a four-year period of time. But those four years taught me discipline. I still write everyday (almost! LOL!!) In 2015 I took an online class on writing short stories where I met someone many of you may know, Kathy Sharp. She became a mentor to me and encouraged me to continue writing short stories and publish them on a blog. So, I set up a blog and began following her advice. Three years later in 2018 I had my first story “Remembrance Day” published by CafeLit. Since then I’ve had nearly three-hundred stories appear online and in print publications, all do, I sincerely believe, to the start Gill James and CafeLit gave me.

What’s the one thing you would give up to become a better writer?

Interesting question. Here’s how I’ll answer it. I believe that the ‘work’ of writing is part of the process. And I love that process. It includes talking with other writers and reading their work. It includes reading a wide variety of literature. It includes stretching myself to try different genres. It entails learning to deal with some success. It entails learning to deal with a lot of rejection. It’s all part of the process, and it’s all good. And it’s a process that, hopefully, not only makes me a better writer, but a better person. I wouldn’t trade that process for anything.

If you would like to find out more about Jim Bates and his writing check out the links below.

Jim’s Cafelit author’s Page:

Jim’s Amazon Author’s page

Jim’s blog: http://www.theviewfromlonglake.wordpress.com

If you want to find out more about Clubhouse Members’ Books, don’t forget to check out the Clubhouse Bookshops too.

The abandoned cottage

The abandoned cottage

Clubhouse CafeLit 10 Chat: Eamon O’Leary

Welcome to Clubhouse Chat page. Those of you who are not a member won’t be aware that the location of the Clubhouse is shrouded in mystery. The only way to visit it is via membership or an invite to the tearoom. Every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation with all sorts of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers. Over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, I shall be chatting with my guest about their work in progress, or latest book release.

Cafelit is an online magazine which posts a new story every day. To find out more click here CafeLit books are published by Chapel Town Books to find out more about the publisher click here. Today in the tearoom, I’m chatting to Cafelit writer, Eamon O’Leary about his entries in The Best of CafeLit 10.

Many thanks for inviting me to the Tearoom. I’d love a cappuccino but without the chocolate.

What made you write the story you decided to submit to Cafelit? Was it as seasonal call-out .i.e. Christmas, summer holidays, autumn, Halloween etc or just something you needed to get off your chest?

I’m thrilled to have three stories selected for inclusion in CafeLit10. Two of these, Sleigh Bells Ringing and The New Arrival were written with Christmas in mind. The other one, Believing, had been in my head for ages and needed a home.

Eamon O’Leary

Did you use a writing prompt for your story?

Ideas for stories come mostly from personal experiences and memories. Once the seed is sown, I go for long walks. I’m lucky in that the scenery where I live gives plenty of options. It probably sounds simplistic, but the first thing I do is get a picture in my mind of what my characters look like. Then I live with them for days, sometimes weeks before I start typing. That’s the bit I hate cos I’m terrible – spelling not much better!

How do you create your characters? Do you start with a name first?
Giving names to people usually comes last but is an important aspect. It’s an area that I think many writers don’t give enough thought to.

The Best Of CafeLit 10

Was your story told in your normal genre or did you try something different?

My stories don’t belong to any particular genre – rather they are an eclectic mix, but I do try to include an element of humour in every one.

How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I’m a late starter. My first story came after I retired and realising I needed something more than playing terrible golf to keep me busy.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Cafelit community?

I don’t know what it is is, but there is something very relaxing about Cafelit and the writers who contribute. I’m proud to be part of that community.

What’s the one thing you would give up to become a better writer?

I’m pushing to get a collection of stories finished and published. What am I prepared to sacrifice to achieve this? That’s an easy gone. No more awful golf.

To Find out more about Eamon O’Leary’s writing please check out the links below.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eamon.oleary.5

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gannet1952/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eamon-o-leary-b3a66a162/

If you want to find out more about Clubhouse Members’ Books, don’t forget to check out the Clubhouse Bookshops too.

Walk To The Abandoned Farm

Something went wrong, says the empty housein the weed-choked yard. Stones in the fieldssay he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jarsin the cellar say she left in a nervous haste. Abandoned Farmhouse by Ted Kooser born: 25th April 1939 - American poet

Yesterday, my walking friend and I went for a walk across the old airfield. As we walked our trousers and boots became soaked after the rain during the night left the long grass and plants wet, but by the time we returned home the growing heat of the day soon dried them out. The walk took 154 mins, and we travelled over 4 miles (6.4 kilometres). Here’s some of the more interesting plants and insects I took photos of while out walking.

Common Centaury and Creeping Bent Grass.

Common Centaury: this pretty pink star-like flower that only opens up on sunny day usually grows on poor soil, in dry grass lands and edges of woods. The plant gets its name from the centaur, Chiron of Greek mythology who it was said cured himself of a mortal wound using it. Centaury has been used as far back as Saxon time to treat snakebites and fever. In folk medicine it was used as a tonic to aid digestion.

Aaron’s Rod or Great Mullein

Aaron’s Rod: This plant gets it name because of its tall, straight flower spikes that gives it a staff-like appearance. A story in the Old Testament, in Numbers 17:3 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. Most parts of this plant are poisonous but the flowers were dried and were used to relieved coughs and chills as well as yielding a yellow hair dye.

Musk Mallow

Musk Mallow: A country saying says that this plant only grows near a happy home. The flowers of this plant would strewn in front of houses during May Day Festival. This festival dates back to Roman times when they honoured Flora, their goddess of vegetation and flowers. In Britain on the May Day (1st May) young people would go out into the countryside and gather flowers and greenery to decorate maypoles and cottages in their villages. This plant was used as a healer of sore and inflamed skin.

Lesser Knapweed

Lesser knapweed or Hardheads: the word ‘Knap’ means ‘Knob’. This plant played a role in love divination, where it foretold of a lover’s return. A lover would pluck off a flowerhead and place it inside their clothing. if after an hour more of florets have opened, then their hearts desire would return to them..

Here’s a slideshow of all the photographs I took on our walk. I hope you enjoy seeing them.

Clubhouse CafeLit 10 Chat: Gill James

Welcome to Clubhouse Chat page. Those of you who are not a member won’t be aware that the location of the Clubhouse is shrouded in mystery. The only way to visit it is via membership or an invite to the tearoom. Every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation with all sorts of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers. Over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, I shall be chatting with my guest about their work in progress, or latest book release.

Cafelit is an online magazine which posts a new story every day. To find out more click here CafeLit books are published by Chapel Town Books to find out more about the publisher click here. Today in the tearoom, I’m chatting to Cafelit writer, Gill James about her entry Arnie’s List in The Best of CafeLit 10. Welcome Gill.

Thank you for the invite, Paula.

Let’s start by asking you, what made you write the story you decided to submit to Cafelit? Was it as seasonal call-out .i.e. Christmas, summer holidays, autumn, Halloween etc. or just something you needed to get off your chest?

This particular story was something that sort of happened to me . Like Arnie, I collect books and have ambitions abut owning and or reading many more. 

Did you use a writing prompt for your story?

I often do. I find a prompt helps  to force an idea where there was no idea.  It’s also a bit of a challenge. I’ve actually found that when I’ve entered a themed competition or call for submission I’ve been more successful than when I’ve written a random story then tried to get it published.  But this one was a random story.    

Gill James

Did you write an outline first, or follow where the characters led you?

Usually I outline firsts. For a very short piece this the outline may be mainly in my head but I’d still make a few bullet points. Then the characters take on a life of their own.  My current WIP, a YA SF, which will probably be about 95,000 words, is careering out of control but doing quite well because of it. Maybe I’m changing.     

How do you create your characters? Do you start with a name first?

My characters generally turn up with names attached.

Was your story told in your normal genre or did you try something different?

This conforms to one of the many types of story I write.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Cafelit community?

Choosing the daily story and watching writers grow.

How long have you been writing and what got you started?
Since I was six! Seriously and aiming to get published since 1998, with half-hearted efforts for ten years before that. I was first published in 2001. 

The Best Of CafeLit 10

What’s the one thing you would give up to become a better writer?
Retail therapy? 

To find out more about Gill James check out the links below:

www.gilljames.co.uk
http://www.gilljameswriter.eu/
http://bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/ http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/

 http://cafelit.co.uk/ http://trtpublishing.co.uk
http://www.creativecafeproject.org/
http://www.thehouseonschellbergstreet.com/
Girl in a Smart Uniform, the third book in Schellberg Cycle (Stories of Holocaust survival) Available on Amazon/

If you want to find out more about Clubhouse Members’ Books, don’t forget to check out the Clubhouse Bookshops too.

Clubhouse Cafelit 10 Chat: Allison Symes

Welcome to Clubhouse Chat page. Those of you who are not a member won’t be aware that the location of the Clubhouse is shrouded in mystery. The only way to visit it is via membership or an invite to the tearoom. Every few days, I’ll be sharing a conversation with all sorts of writers and authors at different levels of their writing careers. Over tea and cakes, or maybe a glass of something stronger, I shall be chatting with my guest about their work in progress, or latest book release.

Cafelit is an online magazine which posts a new story every day. To find out more click here CafeLit books are published by Chapel Town Books to find out more about the publisher click here. Today in the tearoom, I’m chatting to Cafelit writer, Allison Symes about her entries in The Best of CafeLit 10.

Welcome to the tearoom, Allison. Please tell us something about your stories in Cafelit 10

Thank you for the invite, Paula. I was thrilled to have two stories voted in for CafeLit 10 – Breaking Out and Taking Time Out From The Day Job. Many thanks to all who voted.

What made you write the story you decided to submit to Cafelit? Was it as seasonal call-out .i.e. Christmas, summer holidays, autumn, Halloween etc or just something you needed to get off your chest?

Definitely not a seasonal call out for Breaking Out.This was inspired by, sadly, knowing more than I’d like to about dementia (having lost family members to it) and the fact I was that kid growing up in the 1970s and who my main character is based on.

For Taking Time Out of the Day Job, again not a seasonal call out. I just loved the idea of the Tooth Fairy, who should know all there is to know about healthy eating (to help the teeth), having a secret vice.

Did you use a writing prompt for your story?

I use writing prompts a lot but ironically didn’t use any for these two!

Allison Symes

Did you write an outline first, or follow where the characters led you?

I’m a great fan of the outline but I outline the character I want to write about rather than the story. I am convinced without a character that grips the reader, you have no story so it makes sense to me to outline the character so I know them well enough to write them up. (The story then usually comes from that).

For flash pieces the outline isn’t long. I usually ask myself a few questions about the character and, with those answered, get on with the story. Sometimes I use a spider diagram to work out possibilities from my character and then go with the one I like best. That is always the one I think has the strongest possibilities of drawing in readers. How to tell? I am thinking of the impact the story is likely to have on someone else reading it so if I think there is potential for a strong impact, I go with that.

I don’t outline to the “nth” degree. I just need enough to get me started and I have a rough idea of the ending. Between those two points, the characters can and do lead me, but because I have already got to know them, where they lead me makes sense. I know it’s the sort of thing they could do. On the odd occasion where I’ve been wildly off beam, I look again at my character outline. It nearly always means I didn’t know my character as well as I thought I did. I’ve only abandoned a couple of stories in my time and it was due to that. I boxed myself in with these and that was my fault. Lesson learned!

How do you create your characters? Do you start with a name first?

I don’t always name a character. I don’t in either Breaking Out or Taking Time Out of the Day Job. I do use the first person a lot as I can take you right into the character’s head and you can see things through their “I” (pun intended!). I need to work out a character’s major trait.

For Breaking Out, I knew I had a character who came across their old PE teacher where they were the one in charge so I had to think about what situation could lead to this. I do use the “what if” question a lot as I put a story together. Here it was a case of what if my character faced this situation and how would they handle it. What would their attitude be?

For Taking Time Out I knew the fairy had a secret vice. This was a story where I did know the ending first and then worked backwards to get to a logical starting point. For this story, I needed a quirky character and I just loved the idea of someone hooked on something who should not be. Here I knew the story and therefore the kind of character to “service” that story.

Was your story told in your normal genre or did you try something different?

Yes as I use a lot of first person narrative in my flash fiction and often write about quirky magical beings. I like to see those as fairytales with bite. Breaking Out is a character study dealing mainly with my narrator but it also shows a lot about his former PE teacher. I have written character studies before and feel these work best when kept short which is why I think flash is a great vehicle for them.

Humorous fantasy, which is what Taking Time Out From The Day Job is, I’d say is one of my great loves, for reading and writing. It is always a huge pleasure to write stories like this and I hope I make people smile with them.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the Cafelit community?

I love the mixture of story genres and lengths and that you never know what you’re going to get for the next day’s post. It is also lovely coming across familiar names (including you, Paula!) and discovering stories from authors new to me. (That is how you expand your reading list and make new writing friends!).

I also like the idea of “giving something back” via CafeLit in that we are sharing examples of our work. It is a great way in to being published and learning to network with other CafeLit writers.

How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I’ve been writing for over 20 years but didn’t seek publication for about the first five years or so. Then it took me another five years to improve enough to get to publication standard with short stories. From there I discovered the CafeLit 100 word challenge and became a flash fiction writer too, with two flash collections to my name (From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping The Flash Fantastic, both with Chapeltown Books).

I have always loved stories and books and have my late mum to thank for encouraging that love so early. I loved inventing stories when we were set that as work to do in English but I didn’t seriously write until I hit a major birthday and, later that same year, gave birth to my son. It took two major life events to wake me up to the fact if I wanted to write, I ought to get on with it then!

The Best Of CafeLit 10

What’s the one thing you would give up to become a better writer?

Housework, Paula, so I had even more time to write and read, but I guess that’s no sacrifice! If I had to choose something I would normally loathe to give up, it would have to be, with great reluctance, Green and Blacks chocolate, especially the mini bars, but that would be tough, I admit. I’d want to sneak the chocolate in and still be a better writer! I would end up asking my family to sneak me in furtive supplies for my birthday etc.

Thank you so much for taking time out from your housework to join us, Allison. To find out more about Allison and her work click on the links below:

Website:  https:// allisonsymescollectedworks.com/

CafeLit Page: https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/search/label/Allison%20Symes

If you want to find out more about Clubhouse Members’ Books, don’t forget to check out the Clubhouse Bookshops too.

Lakeside Walk

Edging the Back Pit, as the lake is known by the angling association that lease lake for fishing, was an array of brightly coloured flowers, but stood out against the rest was a royal-purple flowering creeping, perennial known as self-heal. Self-heal is a member of the mint family and is loved by bees, butterflies and other nectar feeding insects. The plants name tells you that it once was used in for its medicinal properties. Fresh leaves were used to heal boils, cuts and infected fingers. Tea made using this plant to treat coughs too.

Selfheal

The skipper butterfly was busy fluttering from one flower head to another as I knelt trying to photograph it. Another plant that’s loved by an array of insects is the narrow-leaved water-parsnip. This one has a nectar loving Longhorn beetle on it.

Narrow-leaved water-parsnip

This longhorn beetle comes from a family of 60 different types in Britain. It’s thought others longhorns types have been introduced into the country in timber coming from aboard. They caused damaged by its larvae burrowing into wood which can take several years to mature. Most adult Longhorn have long, narrow bodies, with long legs and short powerful jaws that are directed downwards while the males have very long antennae. As adults, the longhorns feed on nectar.

The Lakes of Silver End, Essex, England

The field between the front pit and houses on the left hand side of the photo above is now being built on as the government’s driving to build more houses in Britain. The edge of the field at the very top of the picture on the other side of Western Road has a large housing estate going up on it too. My friend, Ana and I will carry on walking the paths and recording what we see while we can.

Both of the lakes in the photo were created back in the early 1920’s when the gravel was extracted in the creation of the village itself. The front gravel pit covers 3 acre and was developed into an general fishery with rudd, roach, perch, crucian carp, tench and bream. The Back Lake has 5.5 acre of water and is a specimen fishery and most species are present with some of the roach and rudd being over 2lbs and tench and bream to over 9lbs in size. Check out this link to see a fish caught at one of the lakes.

The video is made up of short clips and still photos taken on a 79 minute walk on Friday 2nd July 2021.

Read All About Me

My good friend Gail has kindly twisted my arm, and asked me to answer some questions about my writing. She shone a torch in my face via the internet. So if you want to read the results then pop over to her blog.

Meet author Paula R C Readman | the writer is a lonely hunter (gailaldwin.com)

On the 22nd July I shall be shining the spotlight on Gail as she launches her new book This Much Huxley Knows Please join us in the Author’s Tearoom

Author Gail Aldwin

A Nature Walk

I’ve always had a deep love of the countryside and wild places. My earliest memories was walking hand in hand with my grandmother along the country lanes around the village were I was born. Of course, there wasn’t as much traffic on the roads in those days.

The next watermill along the river from Moulsham Mill

As we walked along my grandmother would tell me the name of flowers, birds and trees. Growing up at the mill in the 1970’s, I could walk out of the garden and follow the river down to the Barnes mill and its lock gates. Here on hot sunny Sunday families would gather to swim in the mill pool, or boat up and down river in the 60’s and 70’s. There was always an ice cream van doing a roaring trade.

My grandmother with my sisters and I enjoying a picnic on the river bank.

I would leave the house early, before my parents were awake and walk along the river bank to watch for water voles or fish for crawfish under the bridge. In those days you could reach into the water and pull the crawfish out. I would studied it before putting it carefully back. There were streams to explore and rabbits watch during the hot summer holidays. I don’t ever remember being bored during my school holidays as I would go out bird watching. One summer my sisters and I watched a family of stoats playing by the river.

Money was always tight for my mum especially after my parents’ marriage broke down. My grandmother would take us down the river, or a bus trip to Maldon to walk along the sea wall to have a picnic. These day were full of information about the natural world around us. My grandmother bought me a bird book and gave me a small pair of opera glass so I could watch the birds more closely. These I still have today.

Gifts from the past

Yesterday, I met up with my friend, Ana and we walked towards the woods. On the farm track on the way there. We stopped to take photographs of the butterflies, moths and other insects on a patch of land which has been seeded with wildflowers. As we head home we managed to record a pair of bumble bees mating. I hope you enjoy the slideshow below of the photos and videos I recorded.

Have a wonderful day.