Fran Macilvey's Blog, page 16
March 21, 2019
To throw in the towel
Lately I’ve wanted – despite the joy of being at the Book Fair – to throw in the towel on my writing. To say, “I gave it my best shot, and I’ve had enough.” But what stops me is the realisation that this is one field of endeavour that I can honestly call my own.
True, it owes its genesis to the generosity and encouragement of others, in particular, my husband. But having cultivated this particular creative garden, it has taken root and is well established. So I don’t feel justified in pulli...
March 19, 2019
Four times more effort
Four times more effort
The London Book Fair this year was the most enjoyable I’ve experienced. I met some truly delightful people with whom I hope to keep in touch, and came away with lots of new and refreshing ideas.
Chatting as one does at these events with like-minded and generous souls, we take away different thoughts, and ideas that stay with us. Like this one from a new friend, that, apparently, for a person with impairments – like mine, I presume – it takes five times more effort to...
March 15, 2019
Online services
Online services
I notice increasingly, that the convenience and ease of online services so often touted by the banks and public services, the local authorities and the inland revenue, the DSS, is simply a way to pass on a printing job to the end user. Which obviously makes things quicker and easier for suppliers, but not necessarily for us.
It sounds easy, and, with practice and applications, working online can be. We find a computer, click on a link to a service, create an account with an...
March 10, 2019
Visiting the London Book Fair
Visiting the London Book Fair
This year will be my third visit to the London Book Fair.
I bought my train ticket early, booked the same room as in previous years, and have printed my entrance ticket. Apart from checking dates and times obsessively, I only now have to pack my gear, and catch the train to London for the Book Fair, which is running this year between the eleventh and fourteen of March.
Was it brought forward from its usual slot in April because of fears of Brexit? Perhaps. But...
March 8, 2019
Time marches on
Time marches on. March already, with billowing daffodils, crocuses in the parks and byways, and fresh breezes filled with soft scents of spring.
I am reminded by the circuit of the seasons that my mother has now been living in Edinburgh for almost a year. In that time I have been so fortunate to have her company and her help with many things: thoughtful advice, reminders of what matters in life, the gift of her lifetime’s knowledge of me – how often she understands without my having to exp...
March 6, 2019
Why do I
Why do I?
A trick question. Why do I lope lopsidedly, tilting to the right when I walk? It’s not entirely because I have CP. My right shin is significantly shorter than my left; which is not due to brain damage, but simply the way I am. A thought that has occurred to me rather late in life, but, better late than never.
If I wear a right shoe with a platform of about an inch – as I did for a while, though it proved ruinously expensive in shoes – my tilt would be much less noticeable. So why...
March 4, 2019
Writing again
Writing Again
I’m happy to be writing again. Yes, I know I’ve said this many times before, but this time – and I know I’ve said that many times before too – I know that I’m back on track. I have life organised, so before it throws me any more curve balls, I’m writing as fast as I can. Fast and furious. Because I’ve realised that when we are getting a work done, any writing will do. Any writing on a longer piece of work is worth doing, and we had best simply write it and censor later, edit l...
March 1, 2019
Dilemmas of a memoir writer
Dilemmas of a memoir writer
I didn’t realise it at the time, but when I wrote my memoir I was tacitly agreeing that my life would be open to public view. In retrospect, of course, that much is obvious; yet even after publication, the idea of being available in that way took time to get used to: not only my writing but my life became, in some ways, a matter of public interest. An outcome that scarcely occurs to writers of fantasy fiction, say, or historical whodunnits.
Because of the quasi...
February 27, 2019
Energy Misapplied
Energy Misapplied
How much energy have I squandered in the course of my life, being cross, offended, disappointed or depressed? I suspect it has been a great deal, and I reflect with wry amusement – since that is better than mourning, again – that all these negative states also absorb extra energy since, in order to keep them alive, we must insist on them and rehearse our grievances, constantly reminding ourselves why we have excellent reasons for being unhappy. If we simply released them,...
February 25, 2019
Featured today on Kathy Pooler’s blog
Featured today on Kathy Pooler’s blog.
Today I’m delighted to feature on Kathy Pooler’s blog, writing about my books, in particular how and why I wrote my memoir, Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy.
I’m so grateful to Kathy for publishing my article on her website today.
Writing Trapped must rank as one of the hardest things I’ve done. Yet, it was the endurance test that ultimately saved my life and gave me a new sense of purpose, as well as countless opportunities to do things different...
