An Irrational Fear of Bikes

The title of my next work for adults will be An Irrational Fear of Bikes. I have decided this because as I have been cycling more in the east and west of England I have come across what appears to be a universal fear of bikes; cyclists would probably be more accurate since I've never observed anyone glaring at an unoccupied bicycle or making fearful comments about it.

Sometimes the title for a book comes into my head and it is usually inspired by a song lyric or a discussion I have listened to on a podcast or something similar.

As I have said before in another blog somewhere cycling is proving to be as good as walking for bringing forward ideas lodged in my subconscious; whole sentences sometimes; much easier to jot down when you are cycling along a canal at 13 k per hour - not so easy when you are doing 17-20 k - I wonder whether the creativity is induced by the slow speed you naturally gravitate to along a canal because of the proximity to the river the slow-moving traffic and nature (a wonderful heron flew right across our path on Sunday), truly majestic and something you could never buy; reminded me of a velociraptor.

I've been away from blogging on Goodreads for a year and have instead been blogging about gardening on my Wordpress site hermionelaakeloveslavendar - you won't be able to access this anywhere as I have cancelled the subscription whilst I change jobs for the fourth time this year. More news about that later....

I began writing this as I have discovered that I quite enjoy blogging in between working on my novels. The activity sharpens the mind and draws forward all kinds of connected thoughts which must be good for any writer. Hemmingway (Ernest that is), recommended writing short paragraphs as often as possible, and although I have not been as disciplined at this as he was, since I end up writing far too much usually, I have been better at blogging and usually managed several gardening blogs a month. The discipline is induced with the blog as it lends itself to a more concise format. I will probably go back in a different medium to the gardening blog as a friend - @RowenaMonde - has given me an idea with her twitter outdoor blog last week, although I am sure that a few years ago it was not in twitter's policy to promote one aspect or site to the exclusion of all else without payment, which is why I chose Wordpress for the blog. I have been known to photograph pastoral scenes and put them on my twitter account @herziloph in the past though.

I am currently working on a children's story which is finally showing signs of drawing to a close after over 30 years work. What a journey it has been....

Any determined and diligent writers might be interested in @DeMontfortlit where they are seeking novelists for a salary. I applied several months ago and have got through to the 2nd stage....

More from me soon. Thank you for reading. Happy writing days,

All the best,

Hermione