Fran Macilvey's Blog, page 40

Teaching my daughter

Teaching my daughter

Continuing my occasional series on the joys of writing, I continually find myself returned to one reason – teaching my daughter – that may often seem intangible, yet has a ripple effect that I may not often notice, but which is definitely happening.

I write to demonstrate the value of persistence, both to myself – I can’t count the times I’ve wanted to chuck it all aside and run away – and to my daughter. She will not really listen if I say to her, ‘Persist with your read...

Visit to Thistle Foundation

Visit to Thistle Foundation Edinburgh

I wish to extend a very special Thank You to Diana Noel-Paton, Chief Executive of Thistle Foundation who invited me along to Thistle’s Edinburgh headquarters on Wednesday 1st March for a tour of the new premises.

Bright, airy and welcoming, Thistle’s new headquarters at 13 Queen’s Walk, Edinburgh have been recently rebuilt, and extend a warm invitation to service users and anyone who, with a long-term health condition, would benefit from the health and...

Heralds of Springtime

Heralds of Springtime

Arriving back from riding and swimming and lunch and a recce, yesterday afternoon I sat in a pleasantly tired stupor in the warmth of the car’s driving seat:  In early morning shadows, I had been scraping hard ice of the windscreen while the temperature clung on at 1 degree.  By the afternoon, it was positively tropical at ten degrees and the interior of the car was toasty in the slanting, bright sunshine.

In the line of flowers that crowd against the brick wall of our b...

The dictates of life

The dictates of life

I have always felt that my life is rather too circumscribed by routines, and by what I have always believed I find physically difficult: to drive long distances while navigating, to venture into new country, to go a long time without rest, to eat strange foods without dubious consequences…..

We all have to compromise, and learn to take our time, of course.  Especially, some might say, as we get older.  But the challenge for me has been to accept routines which also tend t...

Writers do it for fun

Writers do it for fun

At least, that is the best motivation I can discover for doing it.  Writing, I mean, floating on words, drifting, or pelting, towards worlds new and refreshing.  That must be why we do it, right?  Not for fame, fortune, or to make money, exactly.  This writing lark costs time – precious days that will not come again in this lifetime! – so fun must be the only and best reason for doing it.

Not because we have a routine.  Not because we call ourselves writers, or authors,...

Haunted by a dream

Haunted by a dream

A dream I had some time ago seems set to haunt me.  I am slumped over, leaning against a small piece of tarmac, a pedestrian island in the middle of five lanes of cars all moving extremely fast, zooming fluidly and confidently along the motorway of their lives.  I am crouching down, just barely seated on a concrete refuge in the middle of all that zooming, and there is no-where for me to go.  My face is bashed and bruised, and my spectacles are crooked, broken.  I must have...

Thinking My Way to the End of the World – by Jerry Waxler

Jerry Waxler – ‘Thinking My Way to the End of the World’

I was sent Jerry’s book to review – thank you! – and have read it with great interest.  So many aspects of Jerry’s journey – this youthful search, the almost obsessive quest for answers, and, ultimately, for any peace of mind – resonated with me.  As Jerry writes (at page 144)

“All this time I(d) been looking to science for answers, and despite all my intense efforts to understand the material world, my reason for living ha(d) been dra...

‘Elephant @ the Party’ by Julie D’Amour

Elephant @ The Party by Julie D’Amour

‘Elephant @ the Party’ is the first in a series of YA books by Julie D’Amour about Lucy McGregor, a young woman who has to learn the art of self-acceptance, and finds herself in some pretty amazing places, learning to do just that.

I started out reading, thinking, ‘We’ll see how we go with this, I don’t usually read YA….’  And despite occasional stumbles in the text, I found myself drawn in, and then captivated, though how to describe that is a challenge...

At risk of being misunderstood

At risk of being misunderstood

We are all at risk of being misunderstood.  Even two people, who have lived together for decades can find themselves at odds.  She, perhaps because she needs two comforting arms around her just when he turns his back and goes away to be by himself; he, because he was only giving her some space that she was so obviously crying out for…And when he is upset, he likes to be alone.  Misunderstandings can so easily proliferate, like pins and needles after sitting too...

Memoir motivations revisited

Why do memoirists write?

 

Memoir motivations revisited.

There is something in the way in which we approach the subject of our lives, perhaps viewed sceptically and a tad fearfully, like a huge pile of dishes – needing a good scrub, perhaps, or newly washed and waiting to be stacked in the cupboards. I approached Trapped  cautiously, and I suspect all memoirists tiptoe, gradually getting closer, until we are able to plunge in and immerse ourselves in the subject for a while. Life as a cold s...