Hi everyone
Just to let you know that I will be on Sound Cloud radio this evening (Wednesday 20th July 2020) as Piano Sanctuary’s guest and will be discussing my poetry pamphlet ‘Taxus Baccata’ with Andrew Quartermain.
The programme will go out from the abbey at 7pm. Do tune in on the following link.
www.soundcloud.com/liveattheabbey
It gives me great pleasure this week to welcome children’s author, Lynne Hallett, who I met last August at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. Today Lynne has come along to Patricia’s Pen to discuss her writing journey. Without further ado, it’s over to Lynne.
Lynne Hallett
Unlike many writers, I didn’t always dream of being a writer. I wanted to be an English teacher and that’s indeed the route I took. However, while I date my true passion for writing to around 2007, when my youngest son was one and the eldest four, a recent sort out revealed that I have been writing on and off all my life.
That evening in August 2007 was a turning point for me. I had come downstairs from putting the children to bed and it was just like someone turned a light switch on. I spent between 7.00 pm and midnight writing my first rhyming children’s story, A Pup Called Paddy, which opened the floodgates for many more. I entered this story into a competition and while it was not placed, I was offered the opportunity to do a children’s writing course, which I accepted.
I found doing this course amazingly useful. I may be a teacher, but it is quite nice to be taught actually and I do love learning. Through completing the modules and receiving feedback, I developed my skills and went on to come second in an international competition with Who Cut Up the Moon?, a book I later independently published.
A surprise bequest allowed me to get some of my books out into the world, using Aspect Design, which is based in Malvern. I absolutely loved the process of seeing my writing come to life as my illustrator, Roz, produced pictures for the books and Dan, who works at Aspect, put everything together. The moment I held my first two books – There’s a Mouse in the House and Awesome Adventures – it was not dissimilar to holding my sons when they were born. A lot of effort went into the
the production of both, though perhaps birthing the books was a little less painful! I went on to produce Who Cut Up the Moon?, Bear with a Sore Head, Hot Dog, Why Do We Have Night-time? and Other Stories, Alphabet Rhymes and two chapter books for girls, Lizzie Saves the Day and A Present for the Baby. The vast majority of my books rhyme and I attribute this mainly to my love of rhyme but also the belief that children really love rhyming tales when they are small. I was particularly fond of reading the works of Julia Donaldson and Lynley Dodd to my sons and felt very inspired by both authors.
I suppose the teacher in me comes out a little in my books. Alphabet Rhymes and There’s a Mouse in the House encourage children to learn their letters and numbers in a fun way. The other picture book stories are gentle or amusing, with subtle lessons embedded in them. In Who Cut Up the Moon? a mouse, who is very worried about seeing the moon shrinking, decides to try and find the missing piece or replace it with cheese, before learning about the moon’s cycles from a badger. Hot Dog surrounds a misunderstanding where a dog thinks he might end up on a barbecue and must get cool to avoid being eaten. Bear with a Sore Head shows how a grumpy, sleepy bear is brought out of hibernation and into the community by a persistent mouse. This book, in particular, has a lot of roaring and snoring in it, so great for children to join in with. Awesome Adventures is more an homage to Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, but great fun for slightly older children.
Alongside my children’s writing, I have also drafted two YA novels and have another two in progress. I took on the Writers’ Bureau Comprehensive Writing Course after finishing the Children’s Writing Course to learn about all types of writing, and began to have articles and short stories for women published by The People’s Friend after doing a few modules. I think my writing seems to have mirrored different stages in my life. I wrote picture books when my boys were little, but they are now 14 and 17. My writing for teens is inspired by them but also stories I’ve been told or observations I have made of the children I teach, who are 13-18 years old. The short stories and articles have fitted nicely into the smaller slots I have in the working week and I see the stories, in particular, as being great practice for writing longer women’s fiction in the future. I would love to write something set in the past, either in the war years or maybe in the Regency period, which is one of my favourites. There is so much to write and so little time!
Whatever I am writing and whoever I am writing for, I can say that it makes my heart sing and fills my soul with joy. There is a power within the written word to transform and heal and if I can make someone happy with what I have written, allow them to escape for a while or make them realise they are not alone, then I think that is a wonderful way to spend my life.
All my books are available on Amazon, both as hard copies (UK only) and Kindle versions. They can also be purchased via my website or via Aspect Design. Independent bookshops can also order them via Gardners.
What an interesting writing journey for Lynne Hallett. Let’s find out a little more about her.
About Lynne Hallett
Lynne Hallett is an English and Drama teacher at Malvern College and author of children’s fiction and short stories for women. She has independently published nine books for children and writes for The People’s Friend. She hopes to write YA and women’s fiction in the future, possibly a Regency Romance, which would satisfy her love of the Regency period and Jane Austen, in particular. She lives with her husband and two sons in Malvern, Worcestershire. Alongside writing, she also enjoys reading, drawing and painting, knitting, walks and talks with friends, and going to the theatre.
You can find Lynne on Facebook here
Links to Social Media
My Facebook page is Lynne Hallett, Children’s Author
This month’s writing challenge features Cheryl Caesar with Marriage , John Grey with Autumn Affair and Jonathan Squirrell with A Good Story. Enjoy.
Marriage – Cheryl Caesar
Trees talk silently:
adjusting to branches, roots;
sharing water, sun.
There’s no way to know the shape
of a single tree
This poem was featured in Poetry Leaves, an anthology published by the Waterford Township Public Library. If you’d like to know more about Cheryl and her poetry you can visit her website.
Autumn Affair – John Grey
Wind blows from the north,
trees shed their turning leaves.
Grey clouds almost brush the tops
of oaks and elms.
Green and blue no longer
primary colours, night drains
day from both ends.
Raindrops establish a pattern,
no downpour, merely drizzle,
yet, I could live this season
year round, not cruel like winter
but a poet’s playground
within easy reach of my pen.
A Good Story
Jonathan Squirrell
They’ve parked a turbine blade in Queen Victoria square. Something to do with City of Culture. Seventy-five metres of smooth whiteness, a giant piece of sci-fi detritus, like a memorial to fallen starship.
I don’t know if it that’s art, except in the sense that anything can be.
A feat of engineering could be called a sculpture, I suppose, but science can’t have all the fun. It has to work both ways. So, a poem can be a peer reviewed paper, a painting can be a map of the world, and a short story can appear on the periodic table.
Then there’s architecture, which might be the true marriage of art and engineering. Sitting amidst it all, between the golden gates of the Maritime Museum, the pale Corinthian columns of the Art Gallery, and the baroque pillars of City Hall, it’s hard not to admit that there’s something about that giant slice of windmill that really adds to the scene. I could sit here for hours. If it wasn’t winter, wet and freezing.
But some people don’t seem bothered at all.
‘This is the real culture in this city,’ says Nathan. At first, I think he’s talking about himself, shabby chic without the chic, busking for handfuls of change.
Then he nods at the two slackers sauntering under the blade’s shadow. Skinny jeans, sallow faces. Thin white arms, slurring self-confidence.
‘Alright mate,’ thick ‘Ull accent. ‘Merrt.’
Nathan, plucking and tightening a loose string, looks up.
‘Can you help us out? Me mate’s from Italy, he needs a tenner for a bus to the airport. He’s got his ticket and he needs to get back because his Mam’s in hospital. He’s been over here studying music but he has to get back. He’s got his plane ticket but he needs money for the bus. So we’re asking ten people to give us a quid each and we’ll have a tenner, and he can get home and see his Mam.’
He gestures to his mate, who looks about as Italian as a pattie buttie.
Without speaking, Nathan rummages in his guitar case for a handful of silver, carefully counts out a pound and hands it over.
‘Cheers mate, thanks a lot, appreciate it.’ And off they strut.
Nathan fiddles through a couple of chords. I glance up at the blade. Somehow it’s changed. Reminds me less of a Star Trek prop and more of a giant syringe, like god would discard if he was a junkie. Maybe that’s what art is. Our own perceptions.
Nathan shoulders his guitar and we meander on.
‘That was a waste of money,’ I say ‘They were obviously lying.’
‘Investment,’ murmurs Nathan, ‘Well worth a quid for a good story.’
We haven’t gone twenty steps further before we meet an old couple wandering back the other way.
‘Excuse me,’ says Nathan, sweet as you like, ‘Can you help us out? My mate is from Italy …’
If you liked Jonathan’s story you can find out more about him by visiting his website.
Would you like to see your story or poem published on the monthly writing challenge? If so check out the full guidelines and submit via the online form for consideration.
You can now order a signed copy of ‘Taxus Baccata’ from the first print run. Click on the ‘SHOP’ link below to place your order and pay safely via PayPal.
Praise for ‘Taxus Baccata’ from poet, John McCullough (shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award 2019) and Alison Chisholm, (Poet, tutor, and Poetry Columnist), can be found here.
Tomorrow on Patricia’s Pen features three writers who submitted to the Sunday Writing Challenge (Monthly) – don’t miss out.
‘Patricia’s Pen’ has something for everyone. Today brings a press release from Procorda’s Piano Sanctuary.
PRESS RELEASE
New ‘Piano Sanctuary’ for adult learners
of all ages and abilities from Pro Corda
Covid-19 has prompted invention and innovation at Pro Corda, the music school and charity based at Leiston Abbey in Suffolk. Inspired by the success of a lockdown podcast, Pro Corda has realised long-held ambitions for adult piano leaners with a relaunched learning and lifestyle offer named ‘Piano Sanctuary’.
At the end of March, wanting to connect through lockdown with staff and students, Pro Corda Chief Executive Andrew Quartermain took to the school piano and recorded his first-ever podcast which he dubbed ‘Piano Sanctuary’. It was a decisive moment, crystallising years of thinking and experience.
Andrew Quartermain said: “My idea was always that there was such a need out there for busy adult learners to get an exciting and fulfilling relationship with the piano that wasn’t stuck in a score based approach. The other thing I learnt from years running adult piano weekends is that the social aspect is so important. How people who have the piano at the centre of their lives want to come together and share that love with like-minded people. Recording the podcast, I slowly but surely realised how Pro Corda could bring all of these things together.”
Taking the podcast’s name as its overall brand, ‘Piano Sanctuary’ has been conceived to offer the widest possible welcome – or welcome back – to adults of all ages and abilities wanting to study the piano in an enjoyable and creative way that also offers community spirit and connection.
With lockdown still a fact of life for many, two digital courses have been created to enable home study. Piano Sanctuary Starter caters to adult beginners, while Piano Sanctuary Adventure is for more advanced students interested to fast-track progress through a creative, score-free approach.
Full-board piano retreats at Leiston Abbey were successfully trialled over the weekend of 4-5 July, with specially reduced group sizes and distanced teaching in line with regulations.
One adult student commented: “It was very special to be playing together again but also felt very normal. I feel optimistic that the measures needed for safety can be lived with.” As regulations hopefully relax into the Autumn, Pro Corda aim to further add to the lifestyle-social element of Piano Sanctuary with concert meet-ups and social gatherings.
As for the original Piano Sanctuary podcast, it continues to broadcast weekly and has also spawned a weekly offshoot, Piano Sanctuary Spa. The shows have drawn nearly 20,000 listens from pianophiles around the world, and fan-mail from as far afield as Estonia, the USA and Brazil.
Pro Corda are offering a 15% discount on their new online Piano Sanctuary Adventure and Piano Sanctuary Starter courses. Please quote SANCTUARY15 by email to hello@pianosanctuary.co.uk or by phone on 01728 831 354. Offer valid until end of September 2020.
The above photo is an old one of me being instructed in a piano workshop at Procorda – Leiston Abbey.
Andrew Quartermain, director of Procorda will be featured on ‘Patricia’s Pen’ later this month. Don’t miss out – sign up to keep in touch.
Hi everyone, I was hoping to bring special news today about how you could order a pre published signed copy of my debut poetry pamphlet ‘Taxus Baccata.’ Alas although the courier has delivered to the publisher, my batch has not yet arrived. Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.
Instead, here’s a poem I wrote quite early on after the pandemic was announced. I was feeling desolate but after watching and listening to Nature on my early morning walk I experienced a new vibrancy and was full of hope. I’d like to share that Hope.
I’m excited to tell you that my book has been nominated for the “Cover of the Month” contest on AllAuthor.com.
If you love my cover please consider voting for it.
TO VOTE CLICK HERE
Thanks in advance.
Today my guest, Gaynor Kane, is a poet who I have met virtually through Hedgehog Poetry Press. Gaynor has come along to talk about Inspiration for her poems. So without further ado, it’s over to Gaynor.
Thanks to Patricia for the opportunity to talk a little bit about how and where I find inspiration for poems.
Gaynor Kane
In August 2018, I co-curated and took part in a collaboration between Women Aloud NI and the EastSide Choir, a community choir based in East Belfast, my home ground. The premise for the event was that authors would write new work inspired by the songs which the choir would sing. I was given a very quirky song called Lightning! by Greg Gilpin.
I was interested in the early aviatrixes at the time, having bought a book about them for the bargain basement price of 99p. During some research, I discovered the story of Maude Bonney whose plane had been struck down by lightning, as she attempted her first transatlantic flight. So, literally, inspiration struck me like lightning, and I put myself into her shoes and wrote a poem about her flight. The event took place in a beautiful deconsecrated church and I read it to a full-house from the pulpit.
Several more poems were inspired by the women pilots, whose stories I read in the book. These then found a home at Hedgehog Poetry Press, when editor Mark Davidson, very kindly, asked if I would like to publish a Stickleback. Sticklebacks are a series of micro-pamphlets. In November 2018 I launched my Stickleback, Circling the Sun, in Holywood Library.
2016 saw my Dad celebrating his eightieth birthday. In the run up to it, I asked him how he wanted to celebrate it. He replied that he wanted to have his wake, that he would like to be there and hear the stories people told about him. We didn’t have his wake but we did have a great party!
That conversation inspired me to write a poem called I want to be Awake for my Wake and I included a few lyrics from a song that my Dad often sings. I had already had a conversation with my parents about what they wanted at their funerals. I’m an only child and felt I had to be prepared. It struck me as we sat around my kitchen table, discussing hymns and joking, that these conversations do not have to be difficult.
That gave me the idea of putting together a collection of poems about last wishes and burial rituals. I spoke to friends and family, conducted research on rites across the globe and drafted poems. These went on to form my pamphlet Memory Forest, also published by Hedgehog Poetry Press in December 2019.
I often find inspiration in pictures and news stories. For example, in 2017, I read this article in the local paper and was inspired to write a poem about it. It sat as a draft after several failed attempts at editing, until last year when I went to a workshop on prose poems. It struck me that it worked as a prose poem and if I justified it, it could look like a newspaper clipping. I was delighted when it was longlisted for the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing this year.
This poem will be in my debut full collection, due out soon, from Hedgehog Poetry Press. I am so grateful for Mark Davidson having such confidence in my writing and giving me so many opportunities to share my poetry with readers. I have found a home at Hedgehog Press as a member of the subscription group, affectionally called, The Cult of the Spiny Hog.
As part of the ‘cult’ you get a monthly challenge in the form of a writing prompt. I like prompts, particularly if there is a deadline to motivate me. Sometimes the winners will have their poems published in a pamphlet. Often the prompts are pictures to inspire ekphrastic poems. One challenge example is the ‘Who lives in a house like this?’
You can see the picture and read the winning poems here.
Who knows it might inspire you to write your own response!
*
Thank you, Gaynor, I’m sure our readers will find the above very interesting. Let’s find out a little more about you.
About Gaynor
Gaynor Kane lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She came to writing late in life, after finishing an Open University BA (Hons) degree with a creative writing module in 2015/6. Mainly a writer of poetry, she has had work published in journals and anthologies in the UK, Ireland and America. In 2018, Hedgehog Poetry Press launched their Stickleback series with her micro-collection Circling the Sun. Gaynor released her chapbook, Memory Forest, also from Hedgehog Press, in December 2019. She is currently putting the finishing touches to her debut full collection, Venus in pink marble, after receiving an Arts Council NI grant in 2019, which allowed her writing time and mentoring and editing services. It will be released in the Summer of 2020.
Gaynor is a member of Holywood Writers’ Group, The Irish Writers Centre and Women Aloud NI. She also volunteers for EastSide Arts during their summer festival and the CS Lewis festival in November. Gaynor is a keen amateur photographer and has had some of her photography published in journals and anthologies, also.
Social Media Links
Purchase a signed copy of Memory Forest and other publications from here
Taxus Baccata
A couple of weeks ago I revealed the cover for my upcoming poetry pamphlet, Taxus Baccata. (A nature collection with some of the poems based on myth, folklore and legend around trees.) This will be released by Hedgehog Poetry Press on 24th July 2020. Watch this space to find out how to pre-order your signed copy. I’m so excited to share it with you all.
SHOP
You will now find a Shop on here where you can order signed copies of House of Grace and The Coal Miner’s Son (UK deliveries only). Prices (including postage and packaging) work out at a discounted price than Amazon and bookstores and you get a signed copy. Signed copies are great not only for yourselves but make wonderful gifts.
Re-organisation
As mentioned in my last news update, I’ve been trying to re-organise a few things to make my life a little easier and less stressed to prevent me from burning out.
Changes are as follows:-
The Sunday writing challenge will now operate monthly for the foreseeable future. The next writing challenge publications will be on Sunday 12th July 2020 which will include work from three writers consisting of two poems and one story. Make a note in your diaries or better still make sure you’re following the blog so you don’t miss out.
‘Patricia’s Pen’ is still open for writing submissions but please check the full guidelines here before submitting via the online form.
Tuesday Guest Feature
Tuesday Guest Feature will continue weekly on Tuesdays until September when these too will go over to a monthly basis for a period of time. Ad-hoc guest features and other posts will continue as and when.
NaNoWriMo
Wednesday is the start of a NaNoWriMo challenge which for those of you who don’t know, the aim is to write 50,000 words in the month. I plan to bash out the second part of Book 3, The Granville Legacy, which will then be ready for me to begin layering and editing and let the story spring into life. Anyone else taking part?
Newsletter
I’m hoping to set up a newsletter in the near future and I hope you’ll all subscribe. I certainly shan’t be spamming you, but a means to keep you posted of any news such as new publications.
Other social media
That’s all for now. Remember you can follow me on here, Facebook, and Twitter.
Thank you for reading.
Something a little different from my guest, Henrietta Newell, this week. Henrietta is a good friend of mine who has recently started a new family business venture – Sundog Clothing – and she has come along to tell you about it, so without further ado, it’s over to you, Henrietta.
Henrietta Newell
Sundog Clothing was born when I made the chance discovery of my daughter’s sketchbook. I had gone to chat with Isabella, my daughter, and noticed a sketch on the open page of her book. She let me look through her drawings and I loved them! In the moment I saw them, I knew they were good enough to share.
(sketch – unedited)
Seeing the sketches made me feel joyful and inspired, reminding me that among all the routine in our daily lives, there is always creativity to be found. This belief reminded me how exciting that sense of wonder feels when you see something for the first time and my aim is to share that feeling with you.
The ubiquitous T-shirt was chosen as the canvas for Isabella’s drawings as they allow the design to be the principal feature. This decision to use the T-shirt as a showcase is very traditional and is really due to the fact that the T-shirt itself is a genius garment and explains it’s longevity since the 19th century when it was adapted from an existing garment to something more functional. It is a fortunate coincidence they are also fantastic to print on.
Following T-shirt tradition, cotton was the choice of fibre for Sundog Clothing products because it has fantastic qualities. Not only is it soft, absorbent and breathable, but there is evidence from 6000 BCE that cotton was grown and used in Pakistan and India, probably appreciated for the same reasons. Its enduring popularity and increasing production volumes are taking their toll on the environment which has earned cotton the unfair title of the ‘The World’s Dirtiest Crop’ in recent years.
Sundog Clothing do not want to be part of any disregard for the importance of the environment and also because irresponsible growing of cotton fibre goes hand in hand with poor labour standards and working conditions. We believe and stand for fairness and equality.
Sundog Clothing garments are sourced from a trusted supplier who embodies the ethos of Sundog Clothing; that clothing is responsibly sourced, fairly made, and from sustainable origins. Like us our suppliers continually endeavour to improve the impact made on our world. To do this meaningful and transparent, certifications are the best way to ensure that the processes from raw materials to finished product are made with the highest ethical standards at each stage. This way shoppers can feel confident that their garment has been made with care and consideration with all the best intentions for the purchaser and the planet. Our garments are certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard which is endorsed by the Soil Association and is the ‘Gold Standard’ of organic certification. The garment manufacturer also follows the The Fair Wear Foundation’s labour code who are audited annually against this by the Fair Wear Foundation.
Sundog Clothing celebrate creativity and we know ‘who made our clothes’ and ‘what our clothes are made of’ so that however a purchase is made, the buyer knows it’s genuinely ethically made.
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Now that you know more about this eco friendly company Sundog Clothing , why not pop over to the website and browse their fabulous garments.
Let’s find out a little more about the founder, Henrietta Newell.
About Henrietta Newell
Henrietta Newell is the founder of Sundog Clothing, a British Organic brand selling exclusively designed printed T-shirts and sweatshirts established in late 2019.
Her love of fashion led her to a career in fashion working as a Garment Technologist which she still does freelance. The skills and experience she has built up has served her well in her latest venture.
Discovering her daughter’s brilliant sketches has taken Henrietta on a journey to starting her own ethical business and joining the change to slow, seasonless fashion as a way of bringing creative designs to the market in a responsible way.
Where you can find Henrietta on Social Media
Patricia M Osborne 