As a former overseas newspaper correspondent, I encountered a pivotal moment. While I covered business reporting, a restless passion for writing Christian articles stirred within me. The regional newspaper company I worked for was determined to follow the trends of the New York Times, but I made a bold request to write articles focused on my faith. To my surprise and delight, the company accepted my proposal and assigned me a column to write 'Reflections', a series that resonated with readers. From Newspaper Columnist to Published Author Inspired by the impact of my 'Reflections' arti ..read more

Photo by Ivan Samkov on Pexels. I’m sure we’ve all heard of Imposter Syndrome: the feeling that we’re not half as good as we’re being made out to be, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone else realises it. It’s quite a comfort to know that even millionaire bestselling author Neil Gaiman suffers from it – and he wrote an excellent account of how he was cured of it by meeting a Neil with even less cause to feel ashamed about himself. I don’t know if I suffer from it, or whether I just have a mild form that could perhaps be known as Englishness. Sometimes I think I may be just a bit ..read more

                                                                      Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash   What do you get if you mix together an ancient Greek manuscript, characters from 15 Century Constantinople, Present day Idaho and a teenager on a spaceship in the 22nd Century? You get a book that will blow your m ..read more

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

 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