It's been a while

Eleven days since my last post: good grief! But I've been busy sharpening pencils, hoovering the kitchen floor, walking around the garden making plans - you know how it is.

Actually, there have been things going on. By some miracle I've picked up a couple of new editing jobs, for which much thanks. I see from the latest Martin Lewis newsletter that in a quick survey for his MSE website 25% of respondents said they expect to be financially better off because of the current situation. Well, lucky them.

Me? Well, I'm looking forward to the donation from the government to the self-employed, thank you very much. For now, I'm ticking along OK (although if you fancy buying one of my books I won't say no!). On the plus side, I received the interest on my Santander online savings account this morning: 5p. On the negative side, the shower is making a funny noise.

In other news, I've done a bit of Zooming, including an online dancetheatre class. There's nothing like wafting around the living room on your own pretending to be a tree to make you realise how daft the world is at the moment. I've also done a proper grown-up board meeting online, just in case you thought I'd completely lost all sense of reason.

We've had Easter, of course, which this year was also the occasion of our wedding anniversary: 40 years!

Another of my short stories was broadcast by the 3P team, one of the tales from Nine Lives. You can listen here, if you'd like to.

Finally, I've started to do a 'word of the day' on my @JuliaThorleyAuthor Facebook page. So far, I've done aptote, barnaby, chank, dumbledore and epinikion. Today's word will begin with F. I shall endeavour to keep it clean.

Let thy speech be better than silence...*

I was in Northampton on Thursday evening for the presentation of the H E Bates Short Story Competition prizes. It was a lovely evening, but unfortunately only one of the four winners was there, which meant the other three top stories were read out by members of the organising committee. They did a fine job, but I couldn't help wondering how much better it would have been to hear from the writers themselves.

It's not easy to read someone else's words (unless you're a proper actor, of course); nor is it easy to hear someone else read yours. In the introduction to Nine Lives, my book of monologues, I invite people to perform them wherever they like and say: 'You will see I have included a note with each to describe the person I had in mind as I wrote the story; but if you hear a different voice, that's fine with me.' As it turns out, I find it quite hard to sit and watch someone perform as one of 'my' characters in the 'wrong' voice!

What do you think? Have you ever had your words performed by someone else? If so, how did it feel? Do you guard your characters jealously?


*... or be silent (Dionysius of Halicarnassus)

Goodness me, look at the time!

I don't know where the time has gone since my last post. Did you miss me? Although this blog is a way to keep my hand in when it comes to writing and of course it's lovely to connect with you folk out there, sometimes it has to take a back seat because real work comes along.

It's funny how often just when I'm on the verge of packing it all in and getting a proper job, things pick up: and that's what's happened in the last few weeks. People I haven't worked for in ages have resurfaced, and my regular clients seem to have perked up, too.

Not only that but I've also been commissioned to write a book! I can't tell you what it is, because I'm ghosting it for someone. That means my name won't be on it, of course, but I'm hoping I might get a mention in the acknowledgements. It's going to be hard work, I know, but I've made a promising start.

By the way, in case you were wondering, my public speaking engagements back in October went well. Since then, I've also done my first WI presentation, which was great fun. I spoke a bit about my writing and read a couple of my short stories (one from Nine Lives and a piece from Stripped-back Yoga), but the meat of the session was getting them all to write something.

This week's public appearance is playing my uke tomorrow night for a community gathering. Never a dull moment!

Stepping out of my comfort zone

The past workaday week was enlivened by a couple of unusual happenings.

On Thursday, I spent the whole day teaching yoga to Year 12 students at a local senior school. This was a real privilege, but I was shattered by the end of the day. No wonder full-time school teachers always have their eyes fixed on the next holiday! You can read about it on my yoga blog here.

Before that, though, on Wednesday evening I had a book launch for Nine Lives as part of a Weaving Words presents event. This is a new happening, organised by my friend and guide Kezzabelle (Weaving Words is her writing community, of which I am part).

To say I was nervous is an understatement, but once I got going I was fine. The event was held in the upstairs room of the Eden Cafe here in Kettering. We dressed the set, as it were, to look like my book cover, which was Kez's idea and made a real difference, transforming an already lovely room into a proper performance space. Our friend Ros played a couple of songs to get us in the mood and then off we went. I read three of my monologues, and two more out of my book were read by other people. There were poetry readings and there was art for sale.

I sold a few books and made some new friends, so I'm counting it as a successful evening. Most important, though, I learnt lessons about what works and what doesn't, and what areas of my performance I need to work on.

The only down side was the dent my ego took when I saw the photos! Inside - and I'm sure I'm not alone in this delusion - I'm 17 and gorgeous. The reality is that I'm old and jowly. Perhaps I should follow singer Sia's example and wear a long wig over my face.

Catching up

You know what they say about the best-laid plans... I definitely hadn't planned on being ill all over Christmas. I had things to do and stuff to share!  I was gong to tell you all that:

• My first reading of Nine Lives went well
• The publisher's reader liked the outline of my yoga book and it looks as though this will be going ahead
• My article on glaucoma is/was in the December issue of Om Yoga & Lifestyle
• My runner-up entry in the Senior Travel Expert competition is now available to read here

I just never got round to it. However, I've had a couple of weeks of  complete rest and now I'm back at work and ready to face the New Year - just as soon as I've caught up with everything from last year, that is.

Celebrating the small things again

Today I'm celebrating the end of my pastels course. Not because I'm glad it's over: just the contrary. I'm celebrating that I managed to stick with it and produce something reasonable. I'm planning to keep going at home and try to refine my skills.

Seeking inspiration

The other thing I'm celebrating is learning a new way of working. The choreographer we've been working with at the dance-theatre group sessions has introduced us to the idea of moving, then writing, then moving again. To explain: we visited a disused church, which we explored in our own time and plotted a route around, connecting elements that struck a  chord. Later, we re-created our route in the school hall where we rehearse. Next we had to write down a list of words that came to mind when we followed that route, then we took some of those key words and turned them back into movement. Honestly: I've never felt such a luvvie!

My task for the weekend is to review the proofs for Nine Lives. What are you up to? I'd love to hear from you.

If you would like to join this bloghop, send your details to laura.6eg@gmail.com  and she will do the necessary.

Celebrations for Friday The Thirteenth

Actually, I'm not superstitious about the date. It's just another day, (she says with her fingers crossed).

After the flurry of booty last week there have been no prizes or surprises this week. I've worked hard to clear the decks, though, because tomorrow I'm off to Birmingham Literature Festival for a couple of workshops in the Library.

Coming soon!

One of the main jobs today has been to deliver a manuscript to the printers. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and coming painfully close to getting a short story collection accepted by a conventional publisher, I have decided to go it alone. You can be sure I'll let you know when it's available.

Right, that's it. I'm off for an evening of mindless TV. Have a good weekend, folks.