Tag: friends

Posted on

The old year – looking back on 2024 – Part 1

January

My fourth novella, The Geography of the Heart, was actually published at the end of 2023, in California. Huge thanks to Thomas Thomas of Arroya Seco Press for taking it on.

And thanks also to fellow author Nigel Jarrett, who interviewed me for the launch of the book in Abergavenny Library in January.

Abergavenny Library, 20th Jan 2024

February

Hill walking, a life-saver for me.

In the Black Mountains near Abergavenny

March

A pamphlet of my short stories., Mr Bosch and His Owls, was published byWelsh Indie publisher Atomic Bohemian. Huge thanks to Briony Collins of At Bo for believing in me.

Pleased and proud.

The origami owl that goes with the book

April

A visit from old friends Katrina and Jeremy, long-term residents of Abergavenny, now living in North Berwick, Scotland. They were here to receive an award from Abergavenny Town Council for all they did for the town.

May

I was a member of a team that did the Big Black Mountain Challenge (a 22k hill walk) and helped to raise £3,000 for the Longtown Mountain Rescue Team.

Our team on the hill

June

Trip to London to meet up with my friend Elizabeth, planning for our Camino walk (See Part 2)

Posted on

2022: Snapshots of my year (Part 3)

July

It got mighty hot! OB and I took a trip to Hereford on the bus to hear a concert in the Three Choirs Festival. It felt like going to another country. Well, of course that was literally true!

Church Street, Hereford

August

By mid-month the weather broke. Phew!

Walking in the rain

September

Went to South-West France to look after a second-hand English bookshop for a week with my friend Katsy. Loved it!

Two Go Mad in Tarn-et-Garonne

Lots of good walking with friends over this period, though not in the blistering heat, when I sat in the shade in the garden and read. Did no writing and didn’t worry about it. And – major excitement – an agent asked to read my novel!

Find out what happened next in Part 4 – coming on New Year’s Eve.

Posted on

A different writing skill

A dear friend of mine, Anna Schiff, died not long ago. I offered to draft an obituary for her and send it to The Guardian for them to consider for inclusion in their Other Lives.

This was a new writing challenge for me. Capturing the essence of a life within 400 words is not easy! I was lucky in that I didn’t have to do any research, having not only my memories from many years but also a copy of all the material read at her funeral, as well as a chronology of her working life. However, getting an appropriate combination of  key facts and anecdotal details was tricky.

Another friend offered an editorial eye, and polished up my work without compromising it – a great skill for which I was very grateful. We asked if it could be published under both our names, but The Guardian insist on a single byline.

They also asked for several pieces of additional information, including Anna’s mother’s maiden name. I realised why – an obituary is about recording information about a person for posterity as well as being a pen portrait. Fortunately, the inclusion of the additional information in the final edit done by the paper was not at the expense of all the fun bits.

The piece is in The Guardian online and I have just heard that it will be in the print edition tomorrow – 16th September. I’m so pleased – Anna deserves that recognition. She was, as one of her other friends said to me, a one-off, and we will not see her like again.

 

Anna Schiff photo
My friend Anna Schiff, in characteristic pose, though she finally gave up smoking a year before her death.