Alex Gutteridge's Blog, page 6
September 24, 2014
September 21, 2014
Wedding Anniversary
Last week it was our wedding anniversary. It is 33 years since we married, 35 since we met. We were little more than children back then and we have in many ways grown up together. We don't often buy each other gifts but my husband always gets me flowers. This year it was a stunning bunch of freesias from De Jager. (We have sent these flowers to friends in the past and they are absolutely the best.)
I happened to spot this architectural oddity and bought it for Mr. G. to place in the garden.
We...
I happened to spot this architectural oddity and bought it for Mr. G. to place in the garden.
We...
September 17, 2014
September 14, 2014
A Writer's Life
A few weeks ago I read a report in the newspaper that two thirds of British people would like to change their job. We all know people who are in the wrong jobs, who ended up there without intending to but who don't know how to escape. I would guess that a substantial number of those have a burning desire to do something more creative.
Recently I did a critique for an aspiring author. In his follow-up e-mail this person used the word 'vegetate' in relation to his current job and, over...
Recently I did a critique for an aspiring author. In his follow-up e-mail this person used the word 'vegetate' in relation to his current job and, over...
September 5, 2014
Dazzled by Dahlias
About four or five summers ago I bought a dahlia plant from my local florist. Little did I know what I would be starting when planting it in front of the children's old playhouse! Since then my husband has developed a passion for dahlias.
Dahlias are at their peak in September in the U.K. This week we went to see the spectacular display at Baddesley Clinton, a moated manor house belonging to the National Trust, dating in parts from the twelfth century and nestling in the beautiful Warwickshire...
August 31, 2014
Making Lists
If I let myself, I could be quite a lazy person, allowing swathes of time to disappear without achieving much. So I set try to set myself targets and I write lists. One of my recent targets has been to finish my romantic novel by the end of August. I don't yet have a publisher for this book, so there is no pressure there, but I just find it useful to give myself deadlines.Tomorrow is 1st September and I have failed in this particular quest. Considering there is not much more to do, two c...
August 27, 2014
August 24, 2014
Family
On U.K. television at the moment is a programme called Long Lost Family. It is about loss, a deep need to make contact with family and the enduring power of love. There are mothers who were forced to give up their babies, children looking for parents they have never met, siblings in search of each other. It is a simple and predictable format but the programme itself, which has won a BAFTA, is incredibly powerful. I cannot watch it without a box of tissues to hand.
Yesterday we had a...
Yesterday we had a...
August 20, 2014
August 15, 2014
Overcoming Disappointment
Recently, at one of our invaluable writers' meetings, someone mentioned disappointment. It is something we could all identify with. For most writers, disappointment is something you have to learn to live with on a fairly regular basis, in one form or another. I think it is easy to forget that even successful authors will have had rejections and disappointments and probably still do, even when they hit the dizzy heights. The disappointment from rejection letters (or even the gap...
