It’s 9.15 on Monday 6th May and I’m due to write the MTW blog for tomorrow. I’ve heard of writer’s block and have experienced a few periods seemingly becalmed with no original ideas…but blogger’s block? During my Chemistry teaching days I developed a love-hate relationship with writing reports. It wasn’t particularly time pressure or the ridiculous phase where professional teachers removed brains and inserted computer-generated sentences, fooling no-one, including parents. No! My angst occurred when tired blandness took over and creativity disappeared. Clichés followed on: ‘Jamie started off s ..read more

My own photo of St Benedict's Retreat Centre, West Malling, Kent, Saturday 4 May 2024 Over the last week, two verses from John 15 have struck me: "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15: 5 "You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name." John 15:16 (NRSV) I’m still suffering from writer’s block when it comes to long-term projects. (Yes, I do have resources to consult ..read more

                                                             Picture credit: Author’s own Regular readers may recall that last month I wrote about the anticipation we were enjoying before visiting Amsterdam. The trip was fantastic and one highlight of many was a visit to the Keukenhof tulip gardens alongside thousands of other tourists. The display was spectacular an ..read more

  We recently went to Cyprus for a holiday with some friends, and stayed in a little town called Kissonerga in Paphos. We hired a villa there up on the hill, which sat on it’s own but was surrounded by beautiful olive trees.  Further down the hill were fields of banana trees, I had never seen so many.  The view from the villa was breathtaking, you could see the turquoise sea in the background, and the daily sunset was spectacular.  In fact, people would come from all over just to sit and watch it.   I took my Ipad, as I always did when I went away, and ..read more

 You haven't heard from me for a while due to circumstances. Let me explain. My elderly Mum, for whom I was main carer, died in a care home early in the pandemic. No visits during those last precious weeks was tough – then funeral by remote. After, we decided to relocate from Leeds to Ludlow, which served up three stress packed years. Meantime I lost my apparently fit neighbour and best friend to a heart attack, aged sixty-three! A month later I found myself in critical care with the same – but I survived! A main casualty was motivation for writing and it's taking time to rebuild confi ..read more

 Do you blog? Or do you know some bloggers? When I began blogging back in 2012 I knew one blogger – our daughter*, who had blogged about her gap year. I didn’t realise that blogging was a form of social media. In March 2013, when I signed up for the Bloggingfrom A to Z in April Challenge for the first time, I realised that it was not only a challenge to write blog posts, but also to visit other people’s blogs and leave comments. Now I have met a good number of bloggers either in person or online. Previews on More than Writers One thing that has struck me during this year’s A to ..read more

  A few days ago, in the Netherlands people celebrated King’s Day. I only remembered it today, as before King Willem Alexander, it used to be Queen’s Day, on the 30th of April. Have I ever mentioned I don’t like change? Maybe I should write a blog about that... Anyway, on King’s Day, people hang out the Dutch flag and streets and parks are decorated. There are street games, special markets, and one city or town will get the royal visit. The entire royal family will join them. They will be looking at local places of interest, they’ll take part in games and they’ll take selfies with the p ..read more

Image Credits: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Writers need a certain amount of faith to put pen to paper/hands to keyboard to write anything. There has to be faith in the process and the knowledge that, having written, you can write again.  For the first timers, it is a case of not having anything to lose so just write. Getting into a routine (even if it just five minutes at times) can also help encourage your faith in the process of writing. It is a case, I think, of conditioning your brain into thinking this is writing time, let’s get on with it then. I’ve found thi ..read more

  Eve was awake. She was just 2 weeks old in the heavenly realms but it never ceased to amaze her how each day held something new, exciting, exhilarating and even intriguing! The previous day, she had met Mr Serpent again. She had consciously fought dwelling on his appealing and magnetic personality even as she flashed back on the incidence. Was he stalking her? Adam didn’t think so. ‘Hello, beautiful’. She had ignored him but he continued speaking. ‘ I particularly like the way your breasts have been created. They are sexually attractive compared to Mrs Apes’,’ he blurted. ‘What are you ..read more

I am back!  After sharing my final blog contribution to MTW in January it seems that there was no one eagerly waiting to take my place, so here I am once again.  It is a strange feeling to say goodbye and just a short time later to say 'hello, I'm back!'  With Easter not long behind us, I'm wondering if Jesus found it strange too?  How did it feel to walk out of that tomb into the glory of a new day?  Sometimes in life and in our writing we feel something has come to an end.  We say goodbye and turn away.   But its important to remember with Go ..read more