Yikes!

Lots to catch up on since August...
Great ACW weekend at Scargill in September. I only managed to attend on Saturday but was inspired (as always) by Adrian & Bridget Plass, as well as Nick Page and all the other lovely people who were there.

Spoke to the Shepley Mother's Union on Wednesday 14th Sept. A lovely group of women doing good work in their community. Met a mother whose son, like James, had cancer in his youth but survived and is in his thirties now. He has also suffered post traumatic stress symptoms. Made me more determined then ever to raise awareness and support for research into Cancer Surviorship.

Spoke to the Rastrick Mother's Union on the 20th September. This was a bit different, as we had a short service in the church before the meeting/talk got underway in the Sunday school building. They could just about hear me over the roar of the scouts in the next room. Met a woman called Shirley who is joining ACW after telling me she was interested in writing, too.

In October, Howard and I enjoyed a few days with family in Slough before speaking to the Tuesday Break group at Slough Baptist Church. This was my third engagement with this group. The title of my talk was God promises His peace. I had some interesting questions and some very good feedback.

On October 20th, I gave a talk to the Thursday Fellowship group at Linthwaite Methodist Church. It was lovely to be introduced by my friend Margaret. Afterwards a man came up to tell me his neck had been broken in a hit and run accident when he was on his bike. He whispered that he also suffered post traumatic stress symptoms and seemed grateful that I'd talked about the subject.

Beverley Writers' Day

Last Saturday the roads were quiet and my journey to Beverley easy and straight-forward. The fifteen people who met in Toll Gavel Church in the heart of the city were lovely and keen to get busy. The two hour workshop resulted in some fine stories from the participants' school days. A delicious selection of tea-time treats were the, well, icing on the cake!

Gainsborough Event

I had a great time at the ACW event in Gainsborough on Saturday. There were lots of lovely people and some delicious food. Best of all, Joe Story, of Unboring Books, lead an excellent workshop on how to get published, which was very helpful now that I'm busily submitting Once Removed to agents. Joe described himself as the Del Boy of the Christian world and was very down-to-earth, practical, funny and inspiring.

Unboring Books is a newish venture trying to bridge the conventional publishing and the self-publishing worlds. They offer to read and assess your manuscript and if they feel it has merit will recommend it to Christian bookshops. This is something self-publishers need, a kind of kite mark of excellence to lift you above the stigma.

Huddersfield Literature Festival

Another good festival ~ just wish I could attend more events! Anne Caldwell's The Route Women Life Writing was an excellent workshop yesterday. My event ~ The Hard Truths About Self-publishing ~ went well today. There was a positive atmosphere and some good feedback. Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to hearing Anne Fine.

Encouraging words

I just received these encouraging words in an email from Bobbie Ernst via my dad:
"Anyhow, I just finished reading your daughter Kimm's wonderful book and wanted to let you and Kimm know how very much I enjoyed it. Actually, I couldn't put it down ! Having lived in England for 2 yrs in the early 70s, I could so well identify with that part of it. The compassion she expresses on her big, supportive family is moving, and her writing style superb. My hats are off to her as she has accomplished so much and willingly & bravely taken on hardships and new challenges."

Huddersfield Literature Festival

I'm giving a talk/workshop on the Hard Truths of Self-publishing on Friday 18th March. Please pass this information on to anyone you think might be interested. For more information follow the links below:
http://www.litfest.org.uk is the website link.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=61839645820 is the facebook link.