Marilyn Chapman's Blog, page 12

A salute to Capricornians - and A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Kate Middleton, Michelle Obama, Mel Gibson, Marlene Dietrich and Kate Moss - what have these well-known names got in common? They are all Capricorns, born between December 22 and January 19.

Which means they admire            
Reliability Professionalism Truthfulness             Solid Foundations A sense of Purpose They DISLIKE              Wild Schemes Fantasies Go-nowhere jobs Ignominy Ridicule
And MOST OF THEM are as stubborn as an old goat!

Yes,  all those well-known names, and a lot of ordinary people  (including me) were born under the sign of Capricorn.

So how do you recognise a Capricorn? Some of their more obvious  traits include: being overwhelmed by their emotions and a tendency to become somewhat negative, gloomy and introvert. They are almost always  natural born worriers who will always predict and expect the worst.  They especially loathe criticism and  and sometimes find it difficult to maintain an objective view on things.  All of these a true of me, so thank goodness for the redeeming features:  they are kindhearted, mild, understanding and very forgiving.

Meanwhile some famous people who were born on New Year's Eve include Anthony Hopkins, Sir Alex Ferguson, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Arden and - appropriately - Bonnie Prince Charlie!

Wishing you ALL peace and much  happiness for 2015.


                   


 

Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

ON ANGEL WINGS - A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS

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Photo courtesy of amazon.co.uk


Christmas Eve  brings a nativity-with-a difference to our UK television screens this year. 'On Angel Wings' an animated nativity story, is based on a book written by  the much-loved children's author Michael Morpurgo.

'The story of  Christ's birth is the best story about Christmas ever written,' Michael tells the Daily Mail today, 'but because we all know it so well I think people shy away from seeing it again.'

The cartoon took a year to make and features the voice of actor Michael Gambon as the shepherd boy Amos, who years later is recounting the story to his grandchildren.

'The character is me in a way,' says the author. 'I often put myself into the fabric of a story as the narrator. I'm usually the grandfather telling the story to a young person and I've done that ever since I was young. Now I don't need to pretend to be old.'

And this is how the story goes:

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'One cold Christmas night, a shepherd recounts the magical story of how he came to be the first visitor to the newborn Christ child – ahead of the other shepherds, and in complete secret.
A deftly wrought re-working of the nativity story, Michael’s tale is rich in human detail. Quentin Blake’s watercolour illustrations ooze energy and atmosphere and perfectly complement this poignant story.'

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Meanwhile cheering news for book lovers comes from the UK chief executive of Harper Collins this Christmas.  Charlie Redmayne has slashed the number of celebrity memoirs he is buying to 'focus on fiction and children's books,' according to The Times newspaper this weekend.

So here's to the children of the future and a  very HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

*On Angel Wings Christmas Eve 4.15 BBC 1


 Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Wishing you all a BOOTEE-FULL CHRISTMAS!

Ho Ho Ho...
Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

STRICTLY COME SHOPPING - A seasonal look at compulsive spending

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Can I come out now? As Black Friday turns into Spent-up Saturday, I can't help wondering if shopping will soon be  available as therapy on the NHS. For while I stayed home this weekend it seemed like the whole of the Western world set out with money in their hands to give themselves a much-earned tonic. But was it really a tonic?

Judging by the fights that broke out amongst desperate shoppers looking for a bargain, it turned into an ordeal.  Ok, so fighting over a parking space at this time of the year is to be expected - but tussling over a cut-price smart TV in the middle of your favourite store? Now that sounds like desperation. Or even compulsion. So I decided there must be self-help books to   conquer this strange phenomenon that we women have known about for years.

After much research, I've come up with some perfect self-help books - ideal Christmas presents for those who have already  bought everything they need - and don't need -  for themselves. So here goes...

 The Shopping Addiction Cure: How to stop your compulsive spending forever!  by Olivia Sanborne At only 21 pages this book promises to 'help you understand the meaning of  addiction and what steps you can take to control your spending..'  At £1.85 your purse will still seem depressingly full and your knowledge fairly limited.  But if you can't resist  you can buy it here


To Buy or Not to Buy - Why we Overshop and How to Stop was written for our friends across The Pond but is equally relevant to we Brits.



Do you use shopping as a quick fix for the blues?

Do you often buy things that you don’t need or can’t afford?

Do your buying binges leave you feeling anxious or guilty?

Is your shopping behavior hurting your relationships?

Have you tried to stop but been unable to?


If so, you are not alone. Nearly 18 million Americans are problem shoppers, unable to break the buying habits that lead them into debt, damaged relationships, and depression. If this describes you, or someone you care about, the help you need is here.
Drawing on recent research and on decades of working with overshoppers, Dr. April Benson brings together key insights with practical strategies in a powerful program to help you stop overshopping. As you progress through this book, you’ll take back control of your shopping and spending and create a richer, more meaningful and satisfying life.

To Buy or Not to Buy - Why we Overshop and How to Stop


 But my favourite book, written six years ago by the lovely Sophie Kinsella, though not strictly self-help, is still a novel that every  big spender should read.


       On the face of it, Rebecca Bloomwood has it all. Confident, single and happily living in des-res Fulham with her best friend Suze, she's a financial journalist who spends her days writing articles advising other people on the importance of budgeting and prudent investing. Her private life is a different story though; Rebecca manages her own finances in a way that would make most of her readers' hair curl--for Rebecca is a woman on a mission--she just can't stop spending.

I look up and I'm in front of Octagon. My favourite shop in the whole world. Three floors of clothes, accessories, furnishing, gifts, coffee shops, juice bars and a florist which makes you want to fill your entire home with flowers. I've got my purse with me. Just something small, to cheer me up. A T-shirt or something. Or even some bubble bath. I won't spend much. I'll just go in and... I'm already pushing my way through the doors. Oh God, the relief. The warmth, the light. This is where I belong. This is my natural habitat.

As the plot unfolds, Rebecca finds increasingly bizarre and often highly comical ways to ignore her ever-growing debts and mounting pile of unpaid Visa bills and red bank statements. Got a bill you can't pay? No problem. Just take it out for a walk and deposit it in the nearest skip whilst no-one is looking. Need to justify that £120 velvet scarf? Don't worry! It was a snip at half price in the sale, so what initially looks like a splurge is actually an example of canny discount shopping. Rebecca's disastrous love life mirrors her finances. And her career seems to be taking a turn for the worse, too. That is, until she finds a financial story that really sparks her journalistic interest, and begins to spar with handsome and successful financial PR millionaire Luke Brandon. Witty, light-hearted and often hilarious, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic is the ideal read for anyone who has ever found themselves mentally justifying rash purchases in their heads, or buying just one more pair of black trousers because they are so different from the other eight pairs in their wardrobe. --Emily Lowson
The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic  
And if you like this one - try the rest in the series...

Happy Reading everyone!




 Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Until Further Notice Celebrate EVERYTHING!

Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Cats, Christmas - and a bull that got my goat!

Children's author David J Garnett called into my book signing this weekend  at Greenlands FarmVillage, Carnforth, Lancashire  where the annual Christmas Craft and Food Fair turned out to be the busiest on record!

As well as meeting some lovely readers we managed to raise almost £30 for Children in Need, thanks to some very generous customers.

The mild November weather made it easy for young and old to mingle with a host of animals - cows, bulls, goats, sheep, donkeys and a very friendly turkey which seemed intent on making friends with everybody.

Meanwhile author David, who lives in Bolton-le-Sands on the edge of the Lake District, explained that he was inspired to write The Glutton Cat - the story of a very greedy moggy- by his friend's cat Mindy, who, has a reputation for eating too much!

An adventure story for children, the 56-page illustrated paperback is available for £5.99 from amazon.co.uk.  David, who works full time for Network Rail in Carnforth as an electrical engineering technician, has just finished the sequel  aptly entitled The Further Adventures of Glutton Cat - the Legend of Hector. 

And now for some more photos of the animals at Greenlands Farm.
 

Lunch anyone?
Taken for a ride?    And finally, bringing up the rhea... 
 My thanks go to The Bookworms, the Lancaster-based reading group who hosted thebook signing.
 Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

Hard to bear? Twenty-four-hour interview stint breaks world record!

John hears the news that he's broken the world record!
I helped to break a world record today - along with almost three hundred volunteers. The star of the show was BBC Radio Lancashire's popular presenter John Gillmore who worked  round the clock interviewing every single one of us to raise money for Children in Need.

Known affectionately as 'Gilly', John held 293 live interviews  over twenty-four hours in the Blackburn-based studio - beating the previous record-holder's  (an Italian broadcaster) total of 256.













I do my bit
And what a day it was! The studio was buzzing with a carnival atmosphere that belied the serious intention behind the task. We all wore Paddington-bear type tags so that we could be easily identified and played a game of musical chairs as we gradually moved up the queue to take our place in the studio.

Just ahead of me was Dr Nick Lister, of the Lawrence House Academy and Space Centre, Fleetwood, the UK.s only school of astronomy.  He was very excited about robotic space probe Rosetta's successful comet landing  after 10 years work by the European Space Agency. As I watched  his live interview I felt like I was witnessing a piece of history taking place.

People came from everywhere to discuss their charity work, their businesses, their successes, their plans and their achievements.

Along with  a very lifelike Pudsey Bear,  several animals even made it into the studio  to have their moment of glory.

And then there was me, of course, talking about Baggy Pants and Bootees.  All very humbling, really.
I'll be doing a book signing at Greenlands Farm Village Christmas Fair in Tewitfield, Carnforth this weekend  (Saturday November  15 - Sunday November 16) from 10am-5pm. This is kindly being hosted by Carnforth-based reading group The Bookworms and £1 from every copy sold will go to Children in Need.

Watch this space for the final total raised by Radio Lancashire's Gillathon . And spare a thought for the  unstoppable John Gillmore.  I hope he's having a well-deserved rest...




 Greenlands Farm Village Christmas Craft and Food FairPlease let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

HOW COULD WE EVER FORGET?

This is my grandfather, James Richard Brown,  who fought with the 2nd Royal Guernsey Light Infantry and the Royal Irish Fusiliers in World War One. He was invalided out of the army on May 6, 1919 after losing a lung. Today I am thinking of all the other brave soldiers who never had the chance to be
 fathers and grandfathers.
  Gold Bless them all. 
    1914-2014 Lest we Forget Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

NOVEMBER IS THE NEW JANUARY - HOW TO GET ORGANISED

A new website, a new novel, plus a sequel to Baggy Pants and Bootees. There - I've made my New Year's resolutions early and nothing can stop me  from reaching my goal. The problem with November is that it's easy to get distracted from completing the work-in-progress. Should I blog about Guy Fawkes Inn that I discovered on my last trip to York?     Should I increase my marketing to gain maximum exposure for the festive season ?        Should I join the group that will make me lose a dress size before the festive season. (I'm always losing things, but a weight isn't one of them.) ARE YOU A LOSER?Find your name here     I wonder if that magazine editor still wants my piece about how I got published?      Did I  say I'd give a talk to that lovely writers' group before Christmas?     I love the new hardback from my favourite author, but I'm still only halfway through it... 

  I need more 'likes' for my facebook author page.  Not to mention followers on twitter.... https://twitter.com/MarilynChapma77 It can pay to be cheeky https://www.facebook.com/                 Is the word disorganised in the dictionary? I can never find it.... Now where was I? Oh yes, my plans for next year. I've written them down at the beginning of this blog.  All I have to do is follow them. Wish me luck!  Please let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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-Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
The first one said,
"Oh my, it's getting late."
The second one said,
"But we don't care."
The third one said,
"I see witches in the air."
The fourth one said,
"Let's run, and run, and run."
The fifth one said,
"Get ready for some fun."
Then whoosh went the wind,
And out went the lights,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

[image error]Who put me on the hob? [image error] I did!

HAPPY HALLOWEENPlease let me know what you think. Your comments are always welcome.