Jude's Writing Corner

It arrived!

2012-01-24T12:13:00.000Z

My Masters certificate arrived today in the post. I'm just trying to decide where to put it.

None of my other qualifications are framed but something tells me I should place this in a frame so it can take pride of place in my study.

It's not every day I get a Masters or a Distinction for that matter!

2012-01-19T17:06:00.003Z

Just dropping by to let you all know that the resource What the Dickens is now up for all to see and use. I was involved at consultation and review stage in this project which was written to mark Dickens' Bicentenary, as part of a joint venture between National Schools Partnership and ALCS. The resource links with another resource I wrote entitled Copywrite.

You can read all about both at the ALCS page dedicated to the resources.

The What the Dickens resource is due to have its launch party at the House of Commons Terrace in February. I may be abroad when it happens so I am not sure I will be able to attend. It's sadly one of two launch parties I may have to miss in February, but I shall be thinking of all those who attend if I am unable to do so!

Out now! Literary Eye Macbeth

2012-01-07T01:23:00.000Z

I am delighted to tell you all that copies of my GCSE literature guide entitled Literary Eye Macbeth are now available on the Cross Academe website, along with many others, for you to buy.

Teacher notes are also available as fully explained on the site...so if you are studying the text, teaching it or just want to know a bit more about the play then why not order yourself a copy of the guide?

I hope you enjoy the read!

The Big Society

2012-01-04T22:47:00.000Z

Having received my Samsung Galaxy Note today I have been having a field day playing with it and its various applications. For those of you who may be unaware the Note is a monster of a phone that is absolutely amazing- I've included a link and an image just for you.

In my adventures into Android world I came across a very interesting You Tube video all about the Big Society, which you may recall I made reference to all those moons ago in my post about library closures.

Fair's Fair- the name of a project that the Runnymede Trust undertook to examine people's attitudes to The Big Society at a local level makes for interesting reading and the You Tube documentary makes for interesting viewing.

Until today I did not know of this organisation's existence but now I know that the Runnymede Trust is an independent think tank which aims to promote racial equality. Its name derives from the famous landmark area of Runnymede - a short distance from me where the Magna Carter is said to have been signed. As the trust states on their website:

'The immediate effect of this legal document, meaning ‘Great Charter’ in Latin, was to guarantee the liberties of the King's free subjects and to restrict the absolute power of the ruling monarch.

The charter has since formed the basis of the constitutions and statutes of other countries in the English-speaking world. Extending well beyond its original purpose as a definition of the limitations of royal power, the Magna Carta is the cornerstone of many ensuing historic legal documents, such as the Human Rights Act. In fact, with the Royal Assent of the Magna Carta, human rights and equality were granted official legal protection in Britain for the first time.

A right to equality in law and under public policy has, since that day, become an intrinsic part of what it means to be British.'

Following my earlier feelings about modern Britain I suppose the last sentence struck a chord which is why I felt compelled to share this discovery with you today.

I hope it provides readers with some food for thought, while I go off and play with my new phone!

Modern Britain?

2012-01-03T15:01:00.001Z

New year. New resolutions. And all that. Yes, well I am attempting to be upbeat on a day when I am feeling decidedly down.

Why? Why indeed? Because of the state of this wonderful nation of ours. Modern Britain. Not sure how modern Britain really is. This sad story of the Indian student killed in Lancaster and the Guardian paper's article about the police response alongside Nick Clegg's speech about the financial obstacles placed in people of ethnic minority's way and this famous incident on a tram coupled with some of my own experiences particularly over the last 5 years really make me question just how modern Britain is.

Despite being British and living in the UK for well over twenty years, being exceptionally well qualified and hard working, I find myself constantly amazed at the difficulties I face, the obstacles which appear or are perhaps placed in my way seemingly by others or perhaps by a system that does not want me or others like me to succeed. Or at least it seems that way. Maybe the universe is against me!

I have sadly come to the conclusion given recent media hype that despite appearances, some people seem to hold the most backward views and inherent prejudices which inform their actions- knowingly or otherwise, and other apparently innocent individuals are complicit in this because of their inactions and unwillingness to speak up.

Despite this you will be glad to hear that I have tidied most of my study and am in the process of reorganising my shelves. My small successes!

Christmas greetings from a cluttered study

2011-12-27T21:22:00.001Z

The Christmas season means that I have time to update this blog and in doing so, I wish you all well. As far as news goes, the most important bit of news is the fact that I received official notification from the University of Winchester that I had been awarded a Masters in Writing for Children and that I had got a Distinction! I was of course delighted, and celebrated for at least a week before settling down to some Christmas festivities.

Having spent some time with friends and family, I am now focusing on decluttering- something I have been wanting to do for some time. I have started to tackle the study and will try to sort it out over this time along with some writing.

I also went to see the new Sherlock Holmes film which was an action packed adventure from start to finish. If you are a Jude Law or Robert Downey Junior fan you wouldn't go wrong by watching it.

The Scottish Play

2011-11-29T22:04:00.001Z

For those of you who may be unaware, the title of my blog refers to Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. It derives from a commonly held superstition that speaking the name of the play in a theatre will cause disaster to befall. The play itself is filled with superstition and centres around the battle between good and evil. Poor old Macbeth is given an insight into the future and impatient man that he is, he gives into temptation. In his search for power he turns towards evil and embarks on a path of murder and destruction, that ultimately causes mayhem and much much more, but, alas, I've said enough already.

You have to read the play to see what really happens and buy the guide which I've written for Cross Academe. It will help you to understand the bard's play as best you can and/ or give you or your student the best chance of getting that grade!

It's out in January I believe and it is fantastic if I say so myself. Comes highly recommended. It's filled with all my years of teaching experience and my wonderful expertise of course in the subject, not to mention the fact I sweat blood and tears to write the guide and Steve Eddy, friend and series editor and David Cross have done a fine job of making it look nice, so there are some lovely pictures too! The guide comes in a magazine format and there is an accompanying PDF for teachers which I think you can buy separately and which gives you all the answers to questions (Shhh don't tell the others) and lots of suggestions for teaching, covering everything from context, scene by scene analysis, characters, themes, structure to exam practice! Well worth the money.

If I've won you over with this taster then I'm sure if you ask nicely you could pre-order the guide from the Cross Academe team.... so until next time, enjoy reading- and writing and more!

MA Writing for Children

2011-10-28T19:23:00.001+01:00

I got an email recently from someone asking about the MA course at Winchester University in Writing for Children so I thought I would post about my general experiences on the course before responding to her email more specifically.

The MA course at the University of Winchester is only one of a few in the world that specialises in writing for children. The only other one I know of is the one at Bath Spa but I may be wrong. Regarding my experiences, I enjoyed the course and the opportunity to meet new people who shared an enjoyment of writing. Had I had the funds, I would have taken a year out to complete the MA full time. As it was I combined the course studies with working full time. This was a little more challenging but I managed to complete the assigned work and then deferred my dissertation initially for one then for two years.

The course was seminar based with a range of module topics from Creativity to Publishing Project and Fantasy Writing. Seminars were usually in groups of no more than ten and mostly fewer, which I think made for a better experience.

The course tutors were Judy Waite, Judith Heneghan and Andrew Melrose, as well as a gentleman who retired but whose module on screen writing I really enjoyed. The modules may have changed but more details can be found at the Winchester University website. The benefits of doing the course were that I had the opportunity to meet like minded people, learnt about some interesting topics which I may not have explored on my own and honed my skills.

In addition the university arranged opportunities to meet editors and other writers working in the industry although some of these sessions were during the day when I worked. I tried to attend those sessions related to editors or other writers that fell on evenings. These were always interesting and useful. However, I think if you have a full year and the funds you may find doing the MA in a year to be more beneficial for you as you will have more free time to attend all that is offered by the university.

I was considering doing a PHD at the University of Winchester but much will depend on funding for this, so the fact I am considering this as an option must indicate I thought the MA course was good. Judith Henghan is a really helpful person so I'm sure if you have any more questions she would be only too happy to answer these.

October already!

2011-10-22T23:15:00.001+01:00

Well I kept posting very well for a while but have let it lapse a little, recently. However, I do have a good excuse or two!

I am currently working on some writing for Cross Academe which is taking longer than anticipated and is frustrating me a little but such is life. In addition, I am reviewing some material for National Schools Partnership. And if that wasn't enough I completed my dissertation at the end of September and now await my result.

Also, I recently completed some crucial training for my other educational work which means that I will be taking more of a lead in some areas. So yes I have been busy!!

In case you were keen to learn who won the GCSE literature guide for Animal Farm all those moons ago, I'm happy to say that Emma from Blackburn managed to bag a copy of the study guide. If you're still wanting a copy of the text then you'll be glad to hear that the guide is now available as an ebook from a number of websites including Ebooks. I have been told that other distributers are supplying ebooks to schools so perhaps one will appear in a school near you!

Competitions- win a GCSE study guide to Animal Farm

2011-09-03T22:30:00.000+01:00

Today amongst other things, I'm writing about a competition to win something free, so read on....

What inspired me to do this? Well I purchased a copy of a Writers' magazine called Writing which I hadn't read before. I used to subscribe to the Writers' Forum magazine which I found useful but my subscription has lapsed and I now receive my copy of Author from the Society of Authors every so often and that keeps me ticking along. And Writing had lots of competitions advertised in it.

I hope that my fiction writing will be rejuvenated this year after a bit of a focus on other things. To this end I have been looking through my new purchase and deciding on which competitions if any to enter. I half contemplated entering the Mslexia novel competition for women but I fear 27 days is not enough time for me to produce a novel for adults. I will have to bear this competition in mind for next year. Getting impatient? The free book is coming!

A lot of competitions seem to be for short stories which I'm not sure I'm too great at writing but some are for poetry which is more my thing so I may be tempted to submit a few creations to some competitions and see where they take me.

I am of course still working towards my dissertation. In fact on Thursday I went to the British Library to renew my readers' pass as a few articles which I wanted to read for my dissertation from journals were VERY difficult to locate and the good old British Library seemed to be the only accessible place that had them! And now... the free book thing.

Having read about competitions and to celebrate my MA nearing completion, I thought I might have a competition on my blog- yes you read right- here on my blog... to win... a free copy of my GCSE study guide to Animal Farm. In order to win this happy treat, one lucky reader needs to tell me which pig in the book Animal Farm is based on Joseph Stalin from Russian history? Easy! So email me a response via my profile. Deadline is the end of the month. Good luck!

Bank Holiday Rollercoaster

2011-08-29T20:49:00.003+01:00

This weekend is traditionally the one in which Nottinghill Carnival happens which I have attended in the past. This year, instead, I went to Wales- where (perhaps you might say unsurprisingly) it rained, then the sun appeared.... then it rained again.... and then the sun appeared.

Luckily I had purchased a HUGE UMBRELLA from Sports Direct so as to avoid a repeat of my experiences last week in the Flash flood, when I ended up looking like a drowned rat, and then caught the flu! So this time, I didn't.

And I caught up with family, some immediate, some more distant ... and indulged in a moment of nostalgia when I had an onion bhajee and some chips from this award winning Fish Bar.

Sadly the food on this occasion wasn't as good as when I used to live in Cardiff. Major let down!

However having enjoyed the bank holiday I wondered what its origin was and so being a bit of a boffin I looked up its history. If you too wish to know how bank holidays started then here is a link for you.

Now I am back in Berkshire, I am returning to my research and work towards my dissertation. As part of this, I recently read a beautifully crafted novel called Oranges in No Man's Land by Elizabeth Laird. I love Laird's writing style- it just flows wonderfully and I am in admiration at the way in which she is able to tackle issues in a subtle way. If you haven't come across her work before or indeed the book Oranges in No Man's Land, I can wholeheartedly recommend both.

A new look; some new writing

2011-08-25T01:01:00.002+01:00

Well I thought it was high time I revamped my blog ... five years on and here it is looking fresh and bright.

Alongside the revamp I have made a silent vow to myself to keep this at least a little more up to date than it has been recently. I blame my laxity on changing jobs! These things will get in our way.

However to talk writing, which is what my blog is all about, I have just taken on a couple of new contracts for a relatively new and small educational publisher called Cross Academe for two sets of resources related to the Scottish play (Macbeth, for those of you who may be puzzled by this) and Romeo and Juliet.

I am also doing some work for National School Partnerships on a project linked to Dickens' bicentenary which is coming up, for the ALCS. And to top it all off, I am submitting my long awaited dissertation at the end of September. I think it's safe to say I'm a wee bit busy!

However, as I said I will try to keep this much more up to date...so until next time, happy writing!

Catch up time!

2011-07-03T12:57:00.003+01:00

It is very remiss of me not to have posted in as many months as it has been but time has a way of disappearing nowadays. I am currently working on a redraft again of a novel which will form the basis of my dissertation- the final piece for my long awaited MA!

This year has been exceptionally busy - what with a change to full self employment and more inspection work and some work abroad. Consequently, writing has been placed a little on the back burner but now that I am more settled in my role I will be able to dedicate more time to writing!

Since last posting, an educational book written by me-a study guide for Animal Farm which I posted about before and is now available both from Amazon and direct from the publisher Philip Allan Updates (part of Hodder) was published. The Amazon copy of a similar study guide on An Inspector Calls has the option for looking inside so you can take a peek if you like! They follow similar formats.

Also a resource for the ALCS ( Author's Licensing and Collecting Society) on copywrite which I was commissioned to write and wrote, was also published. You can view it here.

Recently, I was interviewed along with others for a piece in the Writers' Forum on Educational Writing, so when that appears, I will let you know!

And for those who may not yet have come across my bio on Amazon- here's a link!

Now, back to the writing.

Travel Bug

2011-02-13T20:49:00.002Z

I am currently reading The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff, the American writer whose writing style I love, and whilst I work on redrafting quite a different genre of novel, I thought I'd read for inspiration.

Life has been busy of late. Having spent a week in Tunisia at the end of December, I managed to escape some of the snow, only to return in what seemed like the nick of time.... a week later riots erupted in Tunis and the president fled the country!

After the fiasco last year in Malta, I'm beginning to think someone is trying to tell me to stay home!! Yes, I got stuck in Malta as a result of the ash cloud back in March and what with this new event in Tunisia ... I am beginning to wonder. Not so much that I have abandoned a forthcoming trip, I hasten to add. Who would? I'm a sucker for the sun.

Another journey is afoot- this time I will be going out to the Gulf region to carry out some education related work and I'm looking forward to the experience.

Once I'm sitting at the main computer, I'll upload some photos of Tunisia - until then ma'asalama, goodbye and au revoir.

Library Closures - The Joy of Reading

2010-12-03T19:33:00.010Z

I have not posted much of late but after reading fellow bloggers' posts ( Candy Gourlay and Teri Terry, Jon Mayhew, Keren David, and many more) on this topic, I felt compelled to join in voicing my opinion. So what is the topic? Well if the picture didn't give it away let me spell it out for you: the government's ongoing budget cuts and in particular the moves towards closing 250 libraries in the UK.

Catherine Bennett's article in the Observer highlights exactly what is happening in a more informed way than I ever could but what I can say is this: I spoke to a friend today about budget cuts and library closures and his response was absolute astonishment. He didn't know that many libraries were having to close and his response captures exactly how I feel. He said, 'What sort of a government closes libraries?' and unfortunately I have to agree.

Now, I realise money may be tight and cuts may need to be made, but it does seem that money is being taken out of all the wrong places. Education and libraries? I realise that if you are lucky enough to be born into wealth and are educated at public school, state education and state libraries are inconsequential to you. But surely any one with a modicum of intelligence, a part way liberal mind set or social conscience would realise the value of both of these institutions to the general masses.

By this argument, I have to deduce, therefore, that only a right wing government (or one that is immoral or downright stupid) would take money out of things that help the poorer members of society. You only need to watch the news and see hundreds of students protesting to know that something is wrong with Cameron's moves towards the Big Society. I don't see how increasing university fees and closing libraries are going to create a Big Society... rather these will lead to a Divided Society with 'haves' and 'have nots'.

As far as libraries go, you have probably realised I am a strong advocate of them, not least because I use them. And I love them! How could I not?

Come on, they have books you can borrow for free!! I know people might think books are out and e-readers are in but nothing beats the feel of real pages turning and I have it on good authority that too much reading from a machine is bad for you, you know.... except the odd blog post that is. But libraries also have computer access, CDs and DVDs. For someone like me this equates to absolute paradise! Almost as good as floating in the sea on a hot day.

Not to mention the wonderful librarians and community events. My local library has a writers' and reading group, children's activities and more.

All this aside, I am also aware of how much of a lifeline libraries are for those from disadvantaged backgrounds or who are going through a hard time- who might just be seeking to educate themselves rather than hang around on a street corner or in the local park, or perhaps they might be looking for a bit of peace and civilisation.

Now, if social responsibility is the guiding philosophy behind Cameron's Big Society then I'm sorry to say that these library closures make NO SENSE, as they seem socially irresponsible. Expecting individuals who live in these deprived neighbourhoods or charities to keep libraries going is placing an unfair burden on already strapped resources.

I don't come from the most disadvantaged background but I do recall the joy of choosing a library book with my Mum when I was young...and the endless Saturdays that I spent at the library, locked in a study room, working towards my A levels because I needed some quiet and solitude to get my work done. For those of us who lack discipline, libraries are essential!

How would I have ever started writing if it hadn't been for libraries? Libraries have helped me study and write- they are a great source of research!

Without a library, my studies towards my degree, PGCE and MA would not have been anywhere near as fruitful. Not to mention costs! Without the use of libraries, I would have incurred huge expenses.

It seems that youngsters today face ever increasing costs, which I imagine will lead many, except the advantaged few, to abandon education and reading in favour of income-earning jobs. Forget your dreams. Is that what the government is saying?

Having written a literature guide on Animal Farm recently, I can't help but see correlations between knowledge, language and power. By removing libraries and educational resources, the government is removing the public's access to language and knowledge and thus reducing their access to power. For this and so many more reasons I wholeheartedly disagree with the closure of libraries in the UK.

At the heart of Alan Gibbons Campaign for the Book is the need to have libraries. On his blog he posts about authors' protests against library closures...it makes for interesting reading and may help you to decide where you stand on this topic. If you needed any help, that is!

Carnegie Awards

2010-11-07T17:43:00.005Z

The Carnegie Medal Award nominations for 2011 are in and a writer friend Candy Gourlay's Tall Story is amongst those nominated so I am very happy for her.

Here is an image of her book and a link to her site which tells you all about it.

It is a prestigious award amongst children's writers with individuals such as Terry Pratchet, Jennifer Donnelly, Melvin Burgess, Sharon Creech and David Almond having previously won it. A full list can be found at the Carnegie website and I urge you to look up the site.

I am currently working on some well overdue fiction redrafting. Sadly I have been snowed under with household repairs and other mundane things as well as educational writing that I have once more neglected the fiction. But no more.

Unfortunately I am not attending the SCBWI's conference next weekend in Winchester which no doubt would have fired me up even more but I have a timetable sorted to dedicate definite time to my fiction now so fingers crossed it gets done!!

Three Months and no Posts!

2010-10-27T16:38:00.009+01:00

An entire three months and no posts- I know I have been very remisss.

I am happy to say this is because I have been exceptionally busy. Having given up the day job to pursue work as a freelancer, I have been very busy with inspection work this half term and had redrafts for the Animal Farm guide , pictured above, and on line material to complete. This guide will be published in March as part of Philip Allan Updates literature guide series which is fab!

I have also been busy doing some work for National School Partnerships

Now, I am working on some fiction which I will keep you posted about. As if all of that is not excuse enough, I also spent a week in the US and Canada as part of research for my MA dissertation and for a holiday at the start of September. With the days becoming dark and long I am contemplating another trip abroad soon! I need some sunshine, to the extent that I am beginning to wonder whether I was a plant in a former life.

Latest

2010-07-14T12:50:00.001+01:00

This last weekend, I was working on my latest educational text book- another Philip Allan Literature Guide based on Animal Farm by George Orwell.

I also went for a boat trip along the Wey and Arun Canal which was a relaxing time out from the hard slog.

But today is the last day at my current place of employment and I am looking forward to a new year and new life next year when hopefully I will have more time to do all the writing I'd like to do and more!

Holiday hell and blissful awakenings

2010-04-28T21:00:00.007+01:00

It has been an absolute age since I last posted and I have only the excuse that I have been writing some educational material, redrafting a fiction book, teaching and trying to escape my abandonment in Malta! Not much of an excuse really.

A week in Malta sounds like bliss doesn't it? But add to this, a volcanic eruption in Iceland and a certain airlines that sounds a bit like a version of BRAIN AIR, that has received some bad press of late- and you may well have second thoughts.

Put into the melting pot a decision to travel to Italy by ferry- based on a complete lack of information from said airlines- and three days spent in a car and hotels and perhaps now you have a clearer picture of what my last week on holiday was like!

Thankfully I made it home alive and well- but somewhat impoverished. However all is not lost!

Two of my books are now advertising on publishers' sites:

This career book is aimed at KS3 students and is published by Evans Books. It's not the most exciting book I have ever written but it does what it says on the tin.

And this literature guide is published by Philip Allan Updates, now part of Hodder:

This guide is absolutely jam packed full of useful information for anyone studying Priestley's play An Inspector Calls at GCSE level. Philip Allan also provides some useful on line material and a teacher resource pack which I also wrote. Highly recommended - even if I say so myself!

The Undiscovered Voices launch party

2010-02-27T13:32:00.006Z

This week I went to the Undiscovered Voices Launch Party at Foyles in London.

It was a very busy evening, and after travelling from Berkshire across London I arrived late and after all the other winners- and I left early! I'm such a party animal.

However I did talk to a number of editors from publishers such as Oxford University Press, Scholastic, Puffin and Egmont, as well as a few agents and I did meet Mr Melvin Burgess!

I came away with a number of business cards and contact details and as a result of the party some editors have contacted me which is fantastic...so there are a few editors and agents interested in seeing my novel. I am keeping my fingers crossed that once I polish my novel off to the state in which I'm happy to send it out, something will come of this.

Sadly, I didn't take any photos and was generally pretty hopeless at recording the event for posterity, probably because I was sooo tired after work and just overwhelmed with it all. However I do have an image of my book with my name tag from the party attached which I've posted above.

For a fuller account of the party visit Candy Gourlay's blog which is superb.

UNDISCOVERED VOICES

2010-01-22T20:27:00.005Z

This arrived in the post today. Nothing more needs to be said!

Snowed Under

2010-01-18T20:21:00.006Z

Having worked feverishly for quite some time on my educational writing, I'm happy to report that my teacher pack and study guide for An Inspector Calls have had extremely good reviews from the reviewer, so, after I make one or two minor adjustments, the final draft of the teacher pack will be winging its way to Penny, my editor.

Then, I can concentrate a bit more on my fiction!

Besides all this writing and teaching what have I been up to? Well, I have literally been snowed under. My road and my car were well and truly covered in snow. I gritted my road with the help of a friend as the council had clearly forgotten my road and left it and two others leading off it completely abandoned in what can only be described as the Twilight Zone.

So, what's with the picture of Hugh Jackman? Well, a moment of indulgence on my part. Sadly despite it being my birthday this month, I did not receive a visit from him... nor even a phone call.

Yes, I have turned a year older and perhaps wiser....

Update

2009-12-10T18:12:00.004Z

Just a quick update for you all: having sent off my redraft of the literature guide to Philip Allan I now need to complete the teacher resource pack, although I have been a bit unwell the past couple of days.

Recently, I have been to see a brilliant group called the Sax Pack who were really very good indeed. They are pretty big at the moment- in smooth jazz terms, and I was lucky enough to spot that they were coming to a local venue- so off I went! I play the saxophone myself and am in absolute awe of these guys.

Heres' a snapshot of their music:

I also went to see Beverley Craven a while ago which I really enjoyed too. I'm hoping to fit in a few more musical expeditions soon, in between everything else of course.

Top Tips for Public Speaking and Maximising Personal Impact

2009-10-31T19:25:00.003Z

This is an image of a resource that I produced some time ago which is fantastic if I say so myself. It's made up of 75 slides that help guide students of any age through the art of public speaking.

The resource called Top Tips for Public Speaking: How to Give a Presentation can be found at Classroom Resources and it is well worth having a look at. I've just put a few images on here so you can see the layout but the coverage is extensive from research, planning, speech writing, delivery, practise and preparation to evaluation.

Another resource that I produced and which is available on Classroom Resources' website is another set of slides for anyone who wants to network or wants guidance for social situations. It's called Maximising Personal Impact and once again I've uploaded some images of slides so you can have a look.

The image on Classroom Resources' website is of one of the cards that accompanies this resource, so along with the 55 slides there is a set of cards which acts as reminders to help you remember how to maximise your personal impact!

Some new titles!

2009-10-26T09:55:00.007Z

My new book, a GCSE literature guide for An Inspector Calls due out in May 2010 is advertising on Philip Allan's site. I love the cover!

Also some material I wrote for CGP last year now features in the new A2 English Language Guide which they published earlier this year.

Celebrations

2009-10-09T16:54:00.004+01:00

Today I am posting about some VERY EXCITING news that I was told about last week and for which I received confirmation on Monday.

Having entered the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Competition back in June, I was very surprised and elated to be told that I am to feature in the Undiscovered Voices anthology to be published in February 2010.

I am really honoured to have been selected, as I've been trying to get my fiction published long enough to know how difficult it is to achieve. The introduction for the anthology will be written by none other than Melvin Burgess and the book will be sent to US and UK agents and editors, which is absolutely brilliant. The last SCBWI anthology published in 2008 resulted in a number of writers being taken on by agents so I am hopeful that this may lead to some success for me - in fiction.

I am going out tonight and I fully intend to celebrate this new opening in my life, before getting back to the writing tomorrow.

Weekend jaunts

2009-08-18T23:11:00.009+01:00

Today I'm posting about a weekend trip I made to a beautiful natural area in Surrey that I didn't even know existed until Saturday: Painshill Park. The park dates back to the 18th century and boasts a number of interesting features like a gothic tower, a ruined abbey, a Chinese bridge and more. It is definitely worth a visit if you're in that neck of the woods.

This is the Gothic Temple at Painshill Park:

The Turkish Tent:

My favourite part was the Grotto- only open at weekends - but with some beautiful crystals in it. The wood in the Grotto came from Windsor Castle after the fire there.

The Gothic Tower in the distance:

The ruined abbey:

Summer time update

2009-08-08T14:13:00.006+01:00

I realise it has been a while since my last post so here I am once more for those of you who return to read my blog. Facebook appears to have taken over the world and my blogging is suffering as a result. However I am here to share the news. First bit of writing news is that I redrafted my Evans book on careers in retail, aimed at KS3 and KS4 students, and sent it off to the editor yesterday.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the publisher will be happy with it. Today I received in the post a package from Philip Allan outlining my next project and including the contracts for what will essentially be a GCSE student literature guide and teacher resource pack on a play.... more details later.

I thought I would also post today (rather belatedly)about a visit I made about a month ago to Blenheim Palace which was lovely. It's home to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and Churchill's ancestral home. The palace itself is really beautiful and interesting - rich in history, but the grounds and surroundings are truly picturesque.

I would highly recommend visiting this place either on your own or with your family. There really is enough to fill a whole day and the way the palace is organised means it caters well for children- it's highly interactive and could even be used as a location for a History trip. Ever the teacher!

With writing as it is, I am considering postponing my dissertation submission until next year. I don't want to rush it and not give it my full attention. I will of course weigh up the pros and cons of this, as I do with every decision that I make!

New Publications

2009-07-07T22:36:00.009+01:00

All three Collins books that I co-wrote are out now! Look out for Aiming for Level 4, Aiming for Level 5 and Aiming for Level 6 Reading:

The books are part of a lively series aimed at KS3- teens. As their titles suggest they aim to help students move up to the next level. They are divided into chapters each dealing with a specific Assessment Focus and I'm really pleased with how the books have turned out. They offer a wide range of texts and stimulating material, in an accessible and appealing format, so do have a look for them in shops.

I'm also pleased to report that I'm just waiting to get confirmation of another educational writing commission which I'll tell you about later ... that and my MA dissertation should keep me busy for a while! Oh and of course it's the summer holidays so that is definitely something to celebrate. I'll tell you what exciting things I've been doing with my time when I next post!

What words would you ban?

2009-06-27T12:00:00.006+01:00

I am absolutely certain there must be something I should be doing but today should is a banned word. Today is all about what I want to be doing, so.... I got up way too early for a Saturday, went to an appointment which of course I wanted to go to ;-) and then went back to bed which I REALLY wanted to do.

Now, I am going to READ- yes, that amazing leisure time experience that is so often sidelined because of all those things I should and have to do!

Then I intend to WRITE- another activity that is too often sidelined. And well then I am going out, which I want to do.

This week, Anna Perera, whom I wrote about some time ago, came to my school to talk to our Year 9 students about her book Guantanamo Boy and she ran a workshop for them. I'd organised it all after being impressed by her when I met her, so I was pleased that her visit went well.

Anna spoke with passion about Guantanamo and was very informative. The students left with a greater insight into the world at large, life as a writer and of course the publishing world. I'm hoping she may have inspired one or two to go into writing or editing, which is what I want to have happened.

Now that should has been banned, I wonder what other words could be banned? I imagine there are one or two out there just waiting to be banned.

Cat talk

2009-06-04T19:06:00.003+01:00

This will be the fastest post ever as I am both exhausted and in the middle of researching my MA assignment. I am currently reading Save the Cat by Blake Snyder, a recommendation from Anna Perera which is really very good. Whilst it is primarily aimed at aspiring and existing screen writers its advice is useful for novel writers too.

At the weekend I went to see Write me a Murder which was about amongst others a couple of writers and proved to be an entertaining couple of hours. I didn't see the end coming and the twist was cleverly executed. Yesterday I watched The Other Boleyn Girl which I enjoyed. I'm predicting a weekend of work- given my assignment commitments!

Hay ho, no rest for the wicked

2009-05-27T18:33:00.005+01:00

This week the Hay's Literature Festival is on and there are a few events that look interesting and I would have loved to attend but I am buried under books and papers as I work on my latest MA assignment.

I ought to fill you in on my recent activities - for those frequenters of my blog...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hearing Anna Perera speak. She is a former student of the MA course in Writing for Children at Winchester and her recent novel Guantanamo Boy deals with a hard issue, and because of this I was particularly keen to hear what she had to say. My works in progress tend to be issue based so I was drawn to her and the book. Incidentally she is speaking at the Hays Festival with Lucy Christopher and Melvin Burgess - discussing raw realism in teen fiction, and had I been going, I would certainly have attended this talk.

Instead I am reading Should we Burn Babar and various other books, whilst I draw together my assignment and prepare myself for what looks set to be a busy weekend.

Having toured Oxford last weekend and experienced an enjoyable first by watching Twenty20 cricket at Lords, I am going to the theatre and into London this coming weekend. I have to say after a week of hard work I am seriously looking forward to the weekend.

Morris Dancers and Reading

2009-05-17T12:10:00.006+01:00

On a trip to Winchester yesterday, I saw some rather interesting looking Morris Dancers. Why they were dressed like this I do not know. Anyone who can enlighten me- please do!

I am currently reading The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness which is an interesting read if ever there was one.... and I am looking forward to half term. One more week to go.

Oh- and I got my author copies of the Aiming for Level 4 Reading book. It's all go in the Ensaff household, you know!

An opinion or three

2009-04-22T21:31:00.000+01:00

Isn't the weather amazing at the moment? Loving it big time. Today I went for a long walk- I'd say about 5 miles- around Virginia Water lake, a beautiful place, and today it really was gorgeous.

I feel very healthy now - that and a wee bit tired. However, let me tell you about a fabulous production of A View from the Bridge that I saw at the weekend. It stars Ken Stott and having read and taught the play before, I really did enjoy the performance.

I am, of course, trying also to do some work towards my MA, and, recently I read I Coriander for a session. I have to say I loved the rich language of the text and the wonderful historical setting but the fairy world just wasn't my cup of tea. I thought the real world was so much more believable than the fairy world but it may well be my taste. I'm much more into realism than fantasy. However, I am open to being convinced of the wonders of fantasy and as I said I did enjoy the richness of the language.

Far be it from me to criticise a book that has been published when little old me has not managed to achieve this - in fiction at least, but as a reader, my reaction to the book was that it lacked unity; the realistic sections were engaging and well developed and the fairy sections just weren't as well executed, in my humble opinion.

Tomorrow it's back to writing and reading.... and redrafting a chapter for the Collins series.

A Clear Mind

2009-04-09T18:10:00.005+01:00

This week I have tried to retrieve some of my former creativity which has been sapped of late. In the term time any semblance of energetic imagination seems to evaporate like early morning mist. I think it's the mundaneness of life that does it to me- and its busyness. The waking up, going to work, marking, planning and report writing. That and fitting in my MA schedule (which currently occupies two evenings) and a few social events has become quite draining. I'm just not receptive to things in the way I would normally be. So to have these few weeks to re-charge and re-energise is brilliant.

To this end, I went to university earlier in the week and came back with a bag full of books. I am currently reading Plotting and Writing Suspense Ficti o n. It's by Patrica HighSmith- writer of The Talented Mr Ripley. I find reading these sorts of books by published well known authors really helpful. I'm planning to get through a few others and some fiction in the hope that they will re-ignite my own writing. I have a bit of a problem with one of my books at the moment which is really annoying me and which I want and probably need to resolve this holiday.

As part of my efforts towards clearing my mind and re-energising, I have tidied my study. It was really messy- lots of papers everywhere that needed filing- and filed they now are! It's not as minimalist as I'd like but it is as good as it needs to be. Let the positive energy begin.

History and Me

2009-03-08T19:50:00.003Z

Having spent most of this weekend buried under a pile of marking, I am now coming up for some air and to rather belatedly post about an exhibition I went to see last weekend at the British Museum. Some time ago I went to the wonderful Babylon exhibition which finishes this week, but last weekend I went to the exhibition about Shah Abbas - which proved to be really interesting.

I learnt many things that I did not previously know and enjoyed the spectacle of it all- the wonderful textiles, ceramics, poetry and literature as well as the history of it all. This coming weekend, I am hoping to go into London again to see the Byzantium exhibition at the Royal Academy. I've never been to the Royal Academy so I am very much looking forward to this.

Of course between then and now I have a week of MA studies, teaching, report deadlines and a parents' meeting to get through. Still, such is the rich tapestry of life. If my life's journey were recorded on a tapestry, I wonder what images I would choose to display? Which would you?

SCBWI: The Greenhouse Agency

2009-03-01T20:52:00.003Z

On Thursday I went to a SCBWI Professional series event, at which Sarah Davies and Julia Churchill of the Greenhouse Literary Agency spoke to attendees and answered questions. The evening was very well attended and offered some interesting insights into what this agency is looking for. The Greenhouse started just over a year ago and as Sarah Davies explained unlike other agencies it does not operate from an office. She talked about it being a children's literature agency which is transatlantic and truly international.

She offered up some interesting facts such as - 90% of the revenue for a publisher comes from 10% of its books. And in order to get published time and again it is advisable to be one of these 10%. The question of how was next addressed and for anyone who has read the wonderful Robert McKee's Story- these ideas may sound familiar: 1- unique inspired concept; 2- big stakes; 3- well drawn characters; 4- vivid setting; 5-deeply felt theme.

The Greenhouse Literary Agency is, as the name suggests, a place where writers can grow. It is also green in the sense that paper queries and submissions are not accepted. Look at the agency's website for how to approach them. Good luck with your submissions!!

MA writing, reading and leisure time

2009-02-13T22:49:00.006Z

This week I started back at my MA which I really love. In this rollercoaster of life, it's what keeps me sane; I only wish I had more time and energy to do the course as well as I would like to!! This semester, I am studying Fantastic Fiction and working towards the daunting sounding Publishing Project.

On my first day back, I received my marked assignment and I was really, really happy to read that I got a ***DISTINCTION***. The piece is based on something I've been working on for some time but I am redrafting it now with the view to sending it out to publishers. I'm glad I got a good mark as it makes all the hard work worthwhile and suggests potential success in the publishing house. This next week is half term and I'm planning to do some work on a non fiction text I've been commissioned to write but also some fiction writing and of course my course reading.

At the moment I am reading Eragon by Paolini, having read Sabriel by Nix last week. I'm not a huge fan of fantasy fiction, although I enjoy ghost stories and supernatural tales. To be honest, I find all the narrative and back story in fantasy a bit heavy going. I can appreciate the skill that goes into fantasy world building but I'm just not sure it's my thing. Perhaps I will change my mind by the end of this module.

My other recent explorations have included watching Reading Rockets basketball team play against Sheffield Arrows. I really enjoyed the game and would highly recommend your going to see them - a relaxing way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Oh and if you're into war drama or historical films or films about Germany and Hitler, I quite enjoyed Valkyrie - you know the film starring Tom Cruise with an eye patch! Frost Nixon wasn't bad either although I left that film feeling a bit sorry for Nixon, which I'm not sure was a good or bad thing.

But for now, here's a picture of Reading Rockets in action! Hope it entices you to go and see them!!

My New Collins Books

2009-02-01T15:55:00.008Z

I thought I would write today about the series I have been co-writing for Collins, as the books are now advertising on Collins Education website.

The books to which I contributed are the Aiming for Level X Reading series which are dedicated to improving secondary age students' performance in reading with the KS3 Assessment Foci in mind. My particular chapters are centred around Reading Assessment Focus 4 which relates to students' abilities to identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts.

This series of texts complements another Collins series built around the Assessment Foci for writing. Both are due out in April but I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of what the books look like. I'm pretty pleased with them especially as some of my students helped in the selection process for possible covers.

Distractions

2009-01-31T13:23:00.008Z

Whilst I sit here contemplating my marking and other things I really must do, I thought I would waste some time blogging about my recent experiences.

I went to see Slumdog Millionaire the other evening and I am happy to report that it was absolutely brilliant. A very clever plot woven together with wonderful skill to produce a very satisfying whole. I highly recommend it and I can see why it won so many awards and has been nominated for Oscars.

If you like feel good films with morals which aren't in your face and you want something a bit different - go watch it. There were one or two moments that were a bit icky and I had to turn away but for the most part my eyes were glued to the screen. It certainly gave me a few ideas for my own writing!!

My other recent experience has been to watch Bracknell Bees ice hockey team. I have never been to see ice hockey before and whilst the rink wasn't sold out- the atmoshpere was good and Bracknell Bees delivered an entertaining match against the Isle of Wight players. The programme made for funny reading and as well as the game the chuck a duck and chuck a puck game that's played at the interval made it all entertaining.

Babylon and Myths

2009-01-19T23:23:00.006Z

The British Museum is currently holding an exhibition on Babylon which I visited on Saturday after a very busy week in work. The exhibition was really interesting- full of information related to history and myths of Babylon. I am particularly interested in this area as part of my heritage stems from here, so I really enjoyed going and would definitely recommend it to others.

Unfortunately I found the whole thing exhausting in a rather sad twist of fate - no doubt because things in work are rather stressful at the moment. I feel like I am being pulled in a million different directions and not being given enough time to do anything I'm supposed to.

It really has become unbearable, to the point that I feel like my head is going to explode and my body is going to give up on me.

Forget the holidays, who ever said we had it easy? From one land of myths to another!

Reading and Writing

2008-12-27T15:20:00.004Z

Except for editing and the final touches, I have more or less finished my Collins work (which incidentally is showing on the Amazon site although the information is not completely accurate at the moment). This leaves me free to concentrate on my VERY IMPORTANT MA assignment. To this end, I am currently reading What I was by Meg Rosoff having enjoyed her very interesting and Carnegie Award winning novel Just in Case.

I realise both books may not be to everyone's tastes but her style is mesmerising. She creates really interesting voices in her work which I really like. I'm also hoping to read some other texts- The World According to Humphrey, Finding Violet Park and others, in my efforts to widen my experience of novels in different genres and for various age groups.

As an English teacher, I am familiar with lots of books for the secondary age market but I'm toying with a few ideas for my assignment and I always find reading books helps me with my writing, so that's what I'm doing!! As Stephen King said in his wonderful book On Writing: If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

The Day The Earth Stood Still and Christmas Time

2008-12-20T19:56:00.003Z

I am in the middle of my Christmas holidays (I use the term 'holidays' loosely as I have a ton of work to do what with my MA assignment and my Collins work and another potential publishing project). In the midst of this, I have managed to see The Day the Earth Stood Still which is a remake of the 1951 sci fi film starring Keanu Reeves, whom I have to admit having once had a crush on! Well the film was a bit of a disappointment, maybe because sci fi isn't my thing but probably more likely because the story wasn't very strong. Special effects were okay but the idea of an alien coming to Earth to save it from us humans whilst moderately believable, became unbelievable once he started to change his mind, and for me, the moment Keanu Reeves' character used his finger tip ( I kid you not) to fix a phone line, the film lost what little credibility it had.

Aside from film watching, I have been to visit some relatives and experienced crazy Christmas shopping fever. It is the Christmas season after all and shopping malls are crazy crazy wild, in case you hadn't noticed.

Amongst my shopping experiences is the Woolworths' Sale which I ventured into this week- to anyone thinking of going, a word of advice: don't. You wouldn't think the shop was closing down based on the discounts.

And what with all this time off, I have had time to consider things- life, work and everything, and I have come to the conclusion that sometimes you just have to go for what you want or in the wonderful words of Starsky and Hutch- just do it!

Christmas Spirit and the Changeling

2008-12-07T00:20:00.002Z

I have succumbed to the spirit of Christmas and put my tree and decorations up! And now, in the spirit of Christmas - here are two jokes:

How did the snail keep its shell shiny? By using snail varnish.
How did the human canon ball lose his job? He got fired.

Both were in crackers, so don't blame me, if you don't think they're funny.

As for my writing- well let's just say that is on hold till the Christmas hols which are soon, thankfully.

In the meantime, let me post about the film Changeling which I went to see this week. My advice to anyone going to see this film is be prepared to be shocked and saddened. The film starring Angelina Joli and John Malkovich is an engaging and moving film based on true and shocking events in 1920s America.

If you've ever read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the situation Angelina Jolie's character faces will simply reinforce your understanding of how the medical profession can abuse its power and how women in particular were and (and may still be) at its mercy. This aspect of the film also reminded me of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. However the film is not simply about a woman's ill treatment at the hands of doctors. It is about much more than this- a mother's love for her child, her pursuit for justice in the face of adversity, police corruption and the abuse of power.... but I don't want to ruin the plot for you.

All I will say is despite the film being very sad and disturbing in places, it is well worth a viewing. Just take some tissues.

Power teaching and distractions

2008-11-23T17:24:00.003Z

I am buried under a pile of marking and looking for distractions (naughty school child that I am).

Yesterday I went to see a play called The Actor's Nightmare by Christopher Durang, a short and funny play - sort of absurdist comedy, which made for an enjoyable evening.

Sadly today I am having to do marking and less than exciting reports for work. Why oh why do I have to do this???

Instead look what I found on you tube... useful for teachers and wildly entertaining! Check out POWER TEACHING!!

Fireworks

2008-11-06T13:22:00.006Z

I am currently reading Before I Die by Jenny Downham and getting through some other writing for my MA, as well as working towards the Collins project I recently took on.

However, it was 5th November yesterday so I ventured to Guilford to watch the fireworks at Stoke Park, which were very good. I tried to capture a few shots and here they are!

Books. books and more books

2008-10-18T18:34:00.004+01:00

I am currently reading Just in Case by Meg Rosoff- an interesting book, to say the least. Read it and you'll see what I mean.

Yesterday I received my copies fo the CGP books I co-wrote. I've already posted about the main one- the English AS Guide for all exam boards but my work has also gone into a spin off English AS Guide for AQA B, pictured below!

Rainman and new projects

2008-10-12T12:40:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I went to London to watch Rainman a theatre production currently showing in the West End and starring Josh Hartnett and Adam Godley. I wasn't sure what to expect from a play that was based on such a famous film (the one starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman about an autistic man who is left a fortune by his father) but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought that, overall, it was extremely well done and, for me, Adam Godley stole the show. His performance as Raymond Babbit was outstanding- he definitely made the part his own, creating a character who was both believable and sympathetic. The reviewer in The Independent seemed to agree.

Of course Josh Hartnett was very easy on the eyes and his performance was good but I just thought Adam Godley had interpreted the role more, rather than relying on the film's depiction of the autistic Raymond Babbitt, where Hartnett seemed to have modelled himself on Tom Cruise's depiction of Charlie Babbitt. The opening scene also left me a little cold - had a Jerry Maguire feel to it- and I wasn't entirely sure it was necessary. However, saying that, the performance as a whole was really very good indeed, and for Godley, alone, it's worth a viewing. I give it nine out of ten and I would whole heartedly recommend you go and see it.

In the meantime, I'll be getting on with my marking and preparation for a new publishing project with Collins Education- more on that later!

READ ME

2008-09-21T16:37:00.006+01:00

Soon to be available resources.... now advertising on National Schools Partnership's Website. The resources aim to encourage 11-14 year old (boys in particular) to read more and were produced by this company in conjunction with National Year of Reading.

The Read Me resources are free to the first 500 schools and I wrote two sections of these resources: This is me and Sport and me. They're all fantastic and I for one am going to be recommending these resources to my department.

New publication: CGP guide

2008-09-01T20:51:00.007+01:00

Just a quick post today to let you know my latest co-written publication- CGP's AS English Guide is now advertising on the CGP site!

I'll let you know when the guide's in the book shops. It won't be long, I'm sure!

Hysterical- proofreading. The Impotence of proofreading

2008-08-25T13:17:00.004+01:00

Candy posted this copied from Kathleen Duey so I'm posting it too because it's hysterically funny and oh how I can relate being a teacher or should I say torturer! And a writer too. It's a bit rude- I warn you....

Den of Voice

2008-08-21T16:44:00.004+01:00

Summer hols are nearly over and it's nearly time to go back to school- a time every teacher in the country, or perhaps world, dreads, and every parent relishes!

Today was GCSE results days and I am happy to report that my less than enthusiastic class performed well gaining 100% A*-C. Glad all my nagging, harsh words and of course amazing teaching had some effect, especially after a rather disappointing A level result last week! I had some serious doubts about this lot but they got there in the end so that's good.

I've also just got the go ahead to do some work for National School Partnerships which is great.

And to top it all and really the main reason I'm posting is to tell you all about an event I went to yesterday. It was called Den of Voice and was held in a Guildford venue called The Boiler Room.
Den of Voice is an evening for poets, comedians, actors or anyone willing to take to the stage to perform his/ her work . Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending and seeing the acts. Mostly, poets read their work, and they launched an anthology of their work called Mustard. A friend of a friend - Frog (not his real name)- showed one of his videos and narrated a story. In all, the evening was entertaining and I am definitely contemplating attending again and reading some of my poetry. I will keep you all posted, if I do!

Latest MA news

2008-07-29T16:09:00.004+01:00

Assignment update time - well after much research and consideration I have, I think, decided on my final plot. Without giving too much away let me just say that those of you who are interested in supernatural/ psychological/ crime thrillers might like my latest creative efforts.

Before I go any further can I just recommend some really good books- Radical Children's Literature by Kimberley Reynolds is fantastic. Robert McKee's Story is really useful and so too is How to Make Money ScriptWriting by Julian Friedmann. Mystery in Children's Literature from Rational to the Supernatural was also useful for me. I've also dipped into Syd Field's Screenwriting and read a number of fiction books like Coraline, Dead Gorgeous, Darkhenge and films like The Fog, The Others, The Haunting, The Village, The Sixth Sense and The Skeleton Key. So, yes, I have been busy. I am just writing up the assignment ready to hand in later this week. It's the finishing touches to the overall structure that I'm currently grappling with- if you're interested!

Once this is in I can relax, although I do have some inspection training to attend on Friday and a meeting for National School Partnerships on Monday... mmm... yes, I will relax, eventually.

Writing Progress: at play

2008-07-22T14:40:00.005+01:00

My opportunities to post have been minimal because of my awful problems with the internet recently. However I am dropping by to fill you in on my writing progress.

I am presenty sitting in the university library reading for my next assignment. To this end I am reading Andrew Melrose's useful and informative book Write for Children and a whole host of other texts like Signs of Childness in Children's Books. I just wish I had more time to read. It would have been great to have done the course in a year without the constraints of work but needs must.

I've got some fiction books to read also. Amongst them Can you Hear Me? by Penny Kendal and The Leap by Jonathan Stroud. I'm in the middle of Henry Tumour by Anthony McGowan which I really can't recommend enough. It's fab so far and I anticipate a really sad ending.

I'll leave you with a quote from Freud: 'The creative writer does the same as a child at play.'
Well, I knew there was a reason I liked writing!

Broadband shmoadband

2008-07-16T15:07:00.003+01:00

Last day with the kids today then inset tomorrow and then oh joy of joys- summer time! I am a bit annoyed at the moment as my broadband service has gone kaput at home and my providers are being pretty feeble about sorting it out.

I'm looking at other providers and see that Orange seems to have a pretty good deal going but I may just go for BT as their service is likely to be good and reliable. I also considered Sky but I shall make a decision shortly then hopefully be back on track!

First thing to do with my holiday is sort out my last MA assignment for the year. Then I plan to relax and enjoy what little summer weather we have here. You got any plans?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

2008-07-10T17:23:00.002+01:00

In response to my saying that I was on Amazon and had published several books, some of my Year 7 pupils said:

'You're on Amazon? You shouldn't be here.'

Oh how insightful the youth of today are!

GCSE YORK NOTES ON JOURNEY'S END

2008-06-24T20:31:00.001+01:00

The GCSE York Notes on Journey's End that I wrote are No 2 best seller in KS4 Education books on Amazon.... Guess that's a good thing. But will it equate to any money? Now that's the question. Judging by my last royalties I don't think I'll buy the house in Monaco just yet.

Money Money Money

2008-06-21T21:17:00.005+01:00

Okay folks... how much does it cost you to fill your car? This time last year it cost me £25. Recently it cost me £43, and my pay hasn't gone up 1.7 times. I pay nearly £100 in council tax each month and I don't even want to talk about all the bills I have coming in.

I have been teaching for twelve long years and I'm a pretty good one. I also write, am training to become an inspector and doing an MA, yet I am beginning to think these things count for nothing. I ought to be raking it in but NEWSFLASH----I am not. I'm not greedy but when you can't even make ends meet you do start to question just what exactly is going on. I know there are people much worse off than me so I shouldn't grumble but how on earth do people on less money survive in the UK? I guess they must live at home still.

I am seriously considering going abroad and trying somewhere new- hopefully somewhere I will be able to gain a better quality of life. Either that, find myself a generous millionaire or win the lottery??!!

How sad that I am even having to consider this- don't you think?

SEX AND THE CITY AND WRITING

2008-06-15T00:10:00.002+01:00

Yes... I am one of those women who has succumbed to seeing the new Sex and the City film, out now in the UK. The auditorium was full of females and the odd smattering of males and I went to a cinema that had wonderfully roomy seats and leg space so the experience was a comfortable one. The film was what I expected - and I enjoyed it. Cheesy in places, unrealistic in others and honest just where it needed to be.

It was two hours of escapist fun that was just what I needed. Tomorrow I have some serious writing to get down to as I write the third section for CGP's revision guide.

Summer is here and the weather is gorgeous so this weekend the bike I bought a few weeks ago has been out for a ride. I can't wait for the holidays. Aside from the fact that I fully intend to make the most of my new purchase, I am so wanting to write FICTION. And I will have a whole six weeks to do just that- bliss. And read. I miss reading for pleasure.

I just miss time - time to do things that I want to do so I cannot wait for the summer holidays. Four weeks and counting!

2008-05-31T22:25:00.000+01:00

It is late and I ought to be in bed but I am feeling remiss for not blogging so here I am once more. On the writing front, I am doing some reading for my next MA assignment and I am contemplating another section for CGP's English AS Revision Guide.

My editor for the three Challenge English KS3 texts, Ged, has entered Steve and me into the educational writer's competition. I doubt we'll win as I imagine the competition will be pretty fierce but these things are always worth a go. You got to be in it to win it! I was also told about another competition for fiction- scripts in fact- which ties in with my current MA module and looked really interesting but, alas, the deadline is really soon so I'll be saving that one possibly for next year.

For now I thought I'd post images and talk a little about the KS3 Challenge English books seeing as they are the books of the moment.

The three KS3 Challenge English books are part of WHSmith's range of books which include KS2 and KS3 Practise, Revise, Challenge, Test and Quick Revision. The ones Steve and I wrote are aimed at the more able, the gifted and talented KS3 students (so ones in Years 7-9) who need and would enjoy a challenge beyond what would normally be encountered in school. The books aim to enrich students' understanding and experience of English.

The books are divided into reading and writing sections addressing skills loosely based on the National Literacy Framework, so things like creative writing, essay planning and writing, researching material, comparing texts, context, irony and satire, form and meaning in poetry and the writing triplets, to name a few, are addressed. Both Steve and I teach so the books are structured with the student in mind. Each unit in the reading and writing sections is divided into Get Started, Practice, Challenge and How did I do? moving from sentence and word level to text level work.

There are useful glossaries in each book and a wide range of extracts and interesting activities. All for £4.99! They should be available in your local WHSmith.

Back to blogging

2008-05-17T18:41:00.003+01:00

It has been a while since I posted so here I am in blogosphere.

So what have I been up to writing wise? Currently I am putting some work together for my MA- a pitch and scene in fact- and I'm drafting the first set of pages for my second section for CGP's AS English Revision Guide.

Yesterday I ventured into London for a friend's house warming which was good- a well needed diversion. Today I've had a bit of a lazy day in preparation for the work I need to do tomorrow.

Other news: last weekend, I did some of my OFSTED training which was really interesting. We looked at things like how to analyse data from Raise on Line, lesson observations and feedback and I learnt a whole load of acronyms like PIB, SIP, TA, EF, PIR and lots more!!!!

I'm now settling down for a quiet night in.

Bank Holiday

2008-05-03T10:42:00.006+01:00

Happy bank holiday weekend one and all! To those anywhere other than the UK this may make no sense. It's actually sunny for once so I shall have to make the most of that. Methinks a long walk is in order. Then perhaps the cinema or theatre.

That and a bit of writing will make for a relaxing weekend.

This week I have received two free holiday vouchers as a result of my obsession with those ridiculous scratchcards you get in papers or magazines. I'm suspecting there may be a catch somewhere but for now I'm considering when to go to Disneyland Paris for two days and when to go on my Mediterranean cruise for four.

I've also had a few social invitations of late which is lovely so I shall have to get my diary out and pencil them in. I've been a bit of a social recluse of late... must be part of my grand plan to become a mad writer??!!

As far as my MA goes I'm currently reading Mamet's Three Uses of the Knife and need to dip into Kundera's The Curtain. I'm looking forward to reading this as I enjoy Kafka.

CGP have also asked me if I'm available to contribute another section to their English AS Revision guide, so I'll be working on the Origins of English section also.

In all, a busy time... if you get a chance read Candy's latest post on age labels on books- interesting debate.

The Apprentice again

2008-05-01T11:29:00.008+01:00

I watched The Apprentice yesterday in between feeling nauseous (which has been the situation a few times the past couple of weeks. Must be coming down with something or seriously stressed!) and I was disgusted again at the way human beings can behave.

Okay, last time I watched the programme and Jenny rounded on Shazia, I thought she just had a problem and was looking for a scapegoat, this time I'm beginning to suspect something more sinister.

Sara? What had she done? Then the others went along with it. It really deeply saddens me when I see grown supposedly intelligent people being manipulated and behaving in a gang like way on the basis of what some have said can only be racism.

I didn't see the whole programme so I can't make a full judgement but from what I've read on message boards (yes, I have been reduced to reading messages about The Apprentice and I have no problem admitting this!) she made some interesting suggestions for cards that were just dismissed for no apparent reason.

Having been on the receiving end, in the past, of ignorant and, sadly- in some cases- bigoted people, I can well understand Sara just going quiet. Shock, disbelief and complete incomprehension may well have played their part in her reaction. Why try to change the minds of people who clearly can't think straight?

I will forever be amazed at how individuals less credible than others think that simply because of the colour of their skin, their accent or cultural heritage they are better. The very fact that they feel the need to behave so abominably, rounding on people to deflect attention from themselves, exposes to me their absolute inferiority and inadequacy.

How on earth can we be in the twenty first century and things like this happen?

Six Random Things

2008-04-27T20:26:00.003+01:00

It seems that it is the season to play tag... yes here's another one:

Rules are:

a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up

So... Low Carbon Kid aka David Thorpe did the tagging, then tagged several people I might have tagged myself so I may have to omit d

Six random things about me:

I was born and grew up in Kuwait.
I play the alto saxophone.
I taught in the school J.K Rowling attended- after she had been there and left!
In the summer of 1994 I taught in a Palestinian refugee camp and visited the Gaza strip.
I had pink hair at one stage in my life- a terrible mistake I hasten to add.
I taught Carol Vordeman's daughter and met the woman, herself.

Okay-that's it done! Anyone who feels the urge to write some random things about yourself consider yourself tagged!

Tag and the Odyssey

2008-04-20T10:13:00.007+01:00

So I've been tagged which means I have to pick up the nearest book and write lines 6-9 for you all before bothering five unsuspecting people with this task, then post a comment on Candy's blog- she tagged me! So here goes:

I'm at my desk at home, and my rather messy desk (those of you who know me will know how messy my desk can get) has several books on it, but the nearest one is the book I am part way through reading: Simon Armitage's verse adaptation of Homer's Odyssey, which isn't half bad. It's pretty good in fact. Page 123...lines 6-9 read:

...and there on the front of his face was a...
ODYSSEUS: A what?
EURYLOCHUS: A snout-
not a nose but a snout and out of his mouth

I'll leave that with you to figure out. Okay so who shall I bother that Candy hasn't already?

Jon, Jez, Nicky who's on honeymoon and will probably not do this, Jason Evans who will probably be way too busy, Anne Frasier who will be equally or more busy and let's try Kaleb! I've tagged six- I know!! I have a feeling very few will do it... but c'est la vie. Okay off to Angela's blog now to comment and to let all those poor souls know that they have been invited to waste fifteen minutes of their lives on this.

The Marathon

2008-04-13T12:46:00.003+01:00

Well, I have spent an age writing my creative piece and my rationale for my MA, as well as putting all the bits and pieces together and retyping a section that the computer swallowed! It was a bit of a marathon!

Fingers are now firmly crossed that it hits the mark.

It's a beautiful sunny day where I am and I will probably go for a walk to enjoy it. When I woke up it was drizzling and I thought of all these people!

Anyone running or watching it?

The Apprentice- did you see it?

2008-04-03T13:41:00.004+01:00

Okay, who saw The Apprentic e yesterday? I don't often post about things on TV but I just couldn't resist today. Alan Sugar's logic is bizarre. Last week he got rid of Nicholas, the barrister, and this week he gets rid of Shazia, when in both instances I thought it was the team leader's fault.

Shazia was really organised and tried to sort things out while the team leader Jenny just doled out orders and complained and moaned at people. I know Shazia left the laundrette when she ought to have stayed or explained the system to someone but really- shouldn't the team leader have figured all that out? She was a real control freak if you ask me and her face when she got through just said it all. Victory.

I just read an article - in my completely transparent distraction from work activities- that suggested that good old Sir Alan might be being advised over who to chuck out in order to raise TV ratings! Well, it's certainly possible and it would explain his really weird decisions so far. Any views if you're at all interested or looking for a distraction like me?

Cooking, cleaning, writing and finding an agent

2008-03-31T23:12:00.004+01:00

I said that I would post more often now that I am on 'holiday' and so I shall! I have finished my pages for the CGP book and hopefully I won't have too much to amend. Now, I can concentrate on reading those picture books and other research books and actually writing my MA assignment.

I have a few books on my list still to read: Children's Minds by Margaret Donaldson and The Seven Basic Plots (apparently there are only seven) as well as a whole host of picture books.

Today I cooked a curry and a biriani. It being the holiday I am doing all the things I never get a chance to do like cooking and cleaning! Last week I cooked a chickpea stew and some seasoned chicken for my sister and her family following one of the recipes from the Arvon week. I'm not sure where they get their recipes but they're pretty fab.

I've also been giving more thought to getting an agent. I need to get sending out my manuscripts again. This year's been pretty hectic what with the MA and one thing or another that I've not done as much of the old sending out stuff as I'd wish. Still, now that it's on my mind I'll get to it.
There are a couple of competitions I want to enter as well but more on that another day.

Easter Time

2008-03-26T09:58:00.009Z

A belated Happy Easter to you all.

As I write I am located in my sister's study in Wales, with my niece standing next to me and my nephew practising piano!!

I spent the past week in Shropshire at the Arvon Hurst centre with sixteen kids and another teacher from my school - Jess Haney who is also a very good singer musician. She was resident entertainer!

For those of you who don't know, Arvon runs wonderful courses for adults but it also welcomes school visits and so it happened that sixteen selected students got to go on a residential creative writing course led by award winning novelist Linda Newbery and fantastic poet Dean Parkin, with a mid week visit by the award winning playwright and actor Tim Crouch. How lucky were they??? They had a fab time- got loads of writing done and really benefited from the course. (That'll be £50 please Arvon! ;-))

My entire week was spent supervising them and helping them to cook and wash up dishes. I did indulge in a little writing but only a little. This week I intend to do lots more.

However, I am also currently working towards a text book for CGP as I mentioned before- an AS English Revision Guide, in fact. I'm authoring one of the sections- the one on Varieties of English.

I have an assignment to do for my MA - a picture book text so I have spent some time reading a few- books like The Gruffalo, The Whisperer, Mouse Look Out and The Book Eating Boy. I shall let you know how I get on in due course.

How the other half live

2008-03-16T21:19:00.003Z

Okay, loads to catch up on. I've been really busy with one thing or another. I am currently working towards a book for CGP - the educational publishers which I'll tell you about at a later date.

I've also been sorting out the final details of a residential creative writing trip I've organised for sixteen KS3 students at my school. Mad huh? And, I've been reading up
on writing picture books and on teaching and learning.

Last week I went to see There will be Blood at the cinema - the film starring Daniel Day Lewis. It was interesting rather than enjoyable, as parts were pretty gruesome. The sound track was really eerie but the landscape and acting were great. Overall it was good but I couldn't watch it again. It creeped me out too much!

On Friday I met a friend in London and we went to dinner and then to a place called Tamarai which was really beautiful inside but seriously expensive. After paying £15 to get into London I then paid £15 to get into the place and drinks were ridiculously expensive. We met a couple others there but I had to leave early to get the train home so was it worth it? Not really!
It's really aimed at the rich and famous and as I'm neither I couldn't really get the full benefit of it. There was a minimum spend policy for sitting at a table and that was £250! Yep. £250.

Seriously. You'd have to be rolling in it to spend that much, surely? How the other half live.

I'm off on my residential next week so won't blog for a bit, although I have been pretty poor about it recently. I promise to update more often over the holidays. Till then have fun!

My Saturday

2008-03-01T19:51:00.010Z

Hasn't it been a beautiful day? What a contrast to the stormy winds and wet rain we saw yesterday afternoon! Well, I for one, took advantage of the weather and headed off for a glorious walk at Virginia Water Lake.

In fact today, I walked round the whole lake for the second time- that's about 5 miles- so I was mighty pleased with myself. En route I took some gorgeous photos. This is a waterfall known as the cascade which apparently dates back to the 1700s. Beautiful isn't it?

This totem pole can be seen in the grounds of Virginia Water Lake. There is a history to the pole as it was given as a gift by British Columbia to mark the centenary of its founding. It measures 100 feet and weighs 21 tonnes.

The Virginia Water Ruins are also on site but other than that I know very little about them. They are under reconstruction at the moment.

In addition to my walk, I have been preparing an assembly for Monday on homelessness - a topic which I feel quite strongly about , and been deciding how to go about doing my MA presentation on Michael Rosen's SAD BOOK.

Catch Up

2008-02-20T21:12:00.002Z

Let's catch up. Since I last posted I have written the first draft of a picture book as part of my MA. It's called Mervyn the Magic Martian. I've also read Michael Rosen's SAD BOOK, which is a deeply touching book and I have started to do some research into how children read.

Besides that, I have walked round a huge lake on a cold morning, won at bowling and been thrashed at it and seen the film Definitely Maybe . It's a bit of light entertainment which, with a certificate of 12 and because it was only showing at 6 p.m at my local cinema, attracted quite a few youngsters in the audience. As if I don't have enough to contend with in term time!!

In addition to this, I've just spotted that two of my resources are now advertised on Classroom Resources- How to give a Presentation and Maximising Personal Impact.

I'm sure there's more to tell but I am a little tired so I'd best turn in.

Distinctive Writing

2008-02-05T17:49:00.000Z

Well what can I write in 10 minutes? That's how long I have before I have to go to my MA class. We've started back and today is the day I get the mark for my first module assignment. Gulp. I'm keeping my fingers and every other crossable item crossed that I've got a good mark.

In any case, even if it isn't, I've been assured these things are subjective. Don't you just love friends? I'm very very lucky because I have some fantastically supportive people around me at the moment, but a wise person once said you get back what you put in, and that goes for relationships and friendships too, I guess.

Looks like I'm in a reflective quasi philosophical mood today. Perhaps that' s because I went to see Sweeney Todd at the weekend- the film showing at the cinema, starring the delicious Johnny Depp whom one of my closest uni friends absolutely adores. If you like blood and gore, this film is for you. I felt sympathy for Sweeney Todd at the start of the film because of the terrible things that had happened to him but by the end his actions really distanced me from him and I lost all possible sympathy. The film was well made; it was highly stylised and I could appreciate its artistry but I'm not sure I'd say I enjoyed the film.

UPDATE:
I got my first module marks and I am so excited to say I got a distinction!!!

I wonder if I will be able to repeat that in my next module? I worked hard enough on it so I am mightily pleased at the outcome. We are now studying word and image - picture books, and so far things have proved to be as interesting as always.

Getting some balance

2008-01-30T21:55:00.001Z

Yes, I know I haven't posted in a while and I wish I could say it's because I've been busy writing but I can't :-(

I have been busy working and having a life, as far as I can. Today I ventured to the gym where I managed to get onto a cross trainer for twenty five minutes, treadmill for ten and cycle for ten. This is in contrast to last week when I made the mistake of going on a Tuesday and could get onto absolutely nothing except the cycle.

Recent explorations- besides the gym- have been to various pubs for meals. The Keystone Pub in Guildford serves a nice vegetable kebab in pitta if ever you are in the vicinity and Bar Ha Ha there does some quite good food too.

I shall have to see where else I can go this weekend and keep you all updated!

I've also been working on some sample pages for an educational publisher with the view to possibly doing some work for them. I start back at Winchester next week so am enjoying my last few days of freedom before the old slog starts up again. To be honest, I'm actually looking forward to the diversion and the forced opportunity to write fiction again!

Work life balance

2008-01-18T18:34:00.000Z

This week has been a busy one. There's an awful bug going round at work and we have had to cover several people who have been off. Sadly, today I succumbed to the bug and slept for most of the day. That's after going to bed at 8 o'clock twice in the week. I feel a bit better but I seriously need to get a better work life balance. It doesn't make fighting off bugs any easier!

That's what all of my current training is all about. I hope someday in the near future to be able to enjoy more of a balance.

I am so looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Tomorrow I want to go swimming if I am feeling up to it and then I am enjoying an evening out before my Sunday which looks like it will be meditation and a pub lunch with friends. Hope I feel up to it all.

Index fingers

2008-01-08T20:31:00.000Z

I am suffering from repetitive strain injury on my two index fingers. Why you may ask?

Well, I am not a touch typist and I have been madly trying to finish my MA assignment. I predominantly use these fingers and the strain is starting to take its toll, so I am now resorting to using my two middle fingers to type. I really need to learn to touch type!

I have been staring at the screen so much that yesterday I felt seriously dizzy. My head feels like soup because I have done so much reading for this task. No one can accuse me of not giving it my all. It is my first module assessment!

But I am a wee bit stressed because of it. I nearly broke the card reader at Tesco when I punched in my pin trying to pay for my shopping...

'There's something wrong with this,' I said as I punched on the number nine key for the third time with no success.
'Press harder,' the cashier said.
So I did, and yes, you guessed it, the key came loose and fell off.
'Oh no I've broken it,' I said. Then laughed slightly madly just because of the day I'd had (how insane must I have looked?) and and yes, there was a queue and yes it was those damn index fingers again.

Stress affects my sanity.

So, I'm calling it a day, now. Still not quite completed the assignment. I have a feeling I may be driving it to Winchester Sunday evening, rather than getting it in the post in time for Monday.

Good News

2007-12-15T18:42:00.000Z

Good news number 1: I am officially on holiday! YAY.

Despite the dark and cold I am determined to have a good break. I may even escape this hideous weather and find some warmer climes to enjoy. I have some work to do for my MA but I have no intention of not relaxing.

Good news number 2: earlier this week I discovered that my writer friend Candy Gourlay had got herself an agent, which is not surprising given how fantastic a writer she is. It is of course brilliant news and encouraging for all us unagented writers.

I went out for a pub lunch today with a friend in an attempt to distract myself from the weather and tomorrow I am trying out meditation for the first time and spending some time with another friend. I shall hopefully be very relaxed after the meditation and definitely in holiday mood.

Looking forward

2007-12-09T19:42:00.001Z

Well, just this week left before we break for Christmas holidays and I can safely say I cannot wait.

I am completely exhausted after a very busy term and, with the weather as miserable as it is, I am looking forward to not having to get up in the dark and return home in the dark.

I am also looking forward to reading all these books as part of my preparation for an MA writing assignment:
What my Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones; Stop Pretending: what happened when my big sister went crazy by Sonya Sones; Monster by Walter Dean Myers; Beast by Walter Dean Myers and Street Love by Walter Dean Myers.

I'm also doing some other research and reading but I won't bore you with it now! I shall save that for another day.

I went swimming yesterday and for a walk today in an attempt to beat the winter blues and, well, with just this week to go I think I am well on the way to happy land.

Eye Candy

2007-12-04T23:39:00.000Z

Well it's been a week since my last post so probably time for an update, methinks.

I am seriously tired; my eye is twitching in a comical fashion because of this. Yes, go on imagine it.

Well, it's either the tiredness or my contacts that are causing this twitching! Aah... contact lenses. I have this really weird fear of being somewhere like a desert island and losing my contacts and glasses and not being able to see - a thing. I hate being dependent on anything! I have actually contemplated getting laser surgery on my eyes because of this ridiculous fear.

In any case, that is not why I am here.

I am here to tell you about American Gangster, the film, which, those readers in the UK will know, is out at cinemas at the moment. I went to see this film a couple of weekends ago with a friend, for no particular reason other than it looked to be the best thing out at the time and well... despite it being not at all my kind of thing, I was completely into the film. It was a thought provoking and fascinating insight into not only one man's life but the very nature of gangsters who could so easily be depicted as cardboard stereotypes.

Even if you hate violence, are not a man or don't like films about gangsters watch American Gangster. It stars the gorgeous and fantastic actor, Denzel Washington, and the equally talented Russel Crowe, not looking his Gladiator (which incidentally had the same director as American Gangster) best, but still strangely alluring. For all you ladies out there, I'd go for the eye candy! That way, anything else you get out of the film will be a bonus.

SCBWI Writer's Day

2007-11-27T18:09:00.000Z

Hello one, hello all

I am in the middle of the most exciting task of writing reports, so of course in my work avoidance mode, I have decided to write a post, whilst listening to the wonderful and legendary Fairuz, a Lebanese singer.

Well, to be honest, I feel obliged to spread the glorious news that SCBWI Writer's Day was fantastic, awesome and spectacularly brilliant.

I attended the critique and social on the Friday evening, which was a really useful exercise. I drank copious amounts of wine, met some new writers and illustrators and talked through a manuscript I am currently working on. Saturday was jam packed full of writerly fun. The brilliant David Almond was the keynote speaker and his talk was inspiring. He talked about how it had taken him 17 years to finally get a full book published. That gives me hope!

I then attended a seminar run by Cornerstones which was very useful and another by Andrew Melrose, writer and lecturer at Winchester University, and of course alongside all this bookish stuff I got to meet with some fellow blogging writers, people like Jon, Anita, Sue, Candy and Addy. In fact Candy gave a pretty fab talk on the internet and writing. She's a mega energetic, absolutely fabulous font of knowledge!

So, in all a wholly inspiring weekend. Well worth the effort.

Liberation

2007-11-23T00:56:00.000Z

I am feeling strangely exhilarated. Today something happened that upset me greatly at first but then when I thought about it, I felt released- like a huge burden had been lifted.

I no longer felt committed to a path and I realised something that I think I had forgotten.

And that was liberating.

So was talking to a few close friends and relatives, and getting their advice and feeling supported. It's all very cloak and dagger, I know... but it has to be, I'm afraid. Don't ask me why! It's a secret. Shhh.

What isn't cloak and dagger is the fact that I have to complete almost 100 reports for Wednesday, the end of term publication by the end of tomorrow, I have a writing assignment for Monday and I am attending the SCBWI Writer's Day in Winchester this weekend, which, incidentally, I am REALLY looking forward to. I hope it is as good as people have said.

In the winter darkness, my MA is my light; writing and exploring children's novels provide such a relief from the weight I find myself under at the moment. I can whole heartedly recommend doing an MA.

Meditation

2007-11-16T14:13:00.001Z

My last post was rather a miserable one, I have to admit, but it comes on the back of a very stressful time in work and a general feeling that I am getting little reward for my hard work. But such is life I guess. And there are many more worse off than me.

I'm trying to get myself into a more positive frame of mind today. Can you tell?

To this end, I am going to meditate and listen to music, go for a walk and try to relax.

A friend of a friend has asked to see some of my writing with the view to perhaps helping me get published. This is of course very positive but as always I am not going to get my hopes up, just in case, as has happened before, nothing comes of it.

Okay, time to meditate.

Every day is a weekend

2007-11-09T13:28:00.000Z

It's Friday and that means the weekend, and that means -tidying my place, reading, marking and yes, joy of joys... sleep oh sweet sleep. I am feeling seriously sleep deprived. And grumpy. Why? Oh there are many reasons but for now I shall tell you the most relevant. REJECTION. Yes, I got yet another rejection from a publisher for my teen novel.

A month or so ago I got an email from a reader at Chicken House who had read my first three chapters and liked them. She asked me to email a synopsis of my novel One of a Kind and promptly then asked for the whole novel. I sent this to Chicken House with little hope but what hope I had has been DASHED.

I got a letter from her two days ago telling me that she enjoyed reading the book, liked the background which she felt was authentic but didn't think the lead character's story was strong enough. Those of you who have followed my blog for sometime will be aware that this novel has had a number of comments passed on it, ranging from it having a strong story to it not having one, so I think it's safe to say that these things are subjective. Of course I like the book but I am biased. Nevertheless I have decided to put this particular novel to the side for now and concentrate on my other ones.

I have a whole load of work to do for my MA and a ton of marking for work, so I can't really afford to dwell on these or any other rejections but suffice to say that these experiences have made me contemplate running off to a tropical paradise where every day is a weekend and I can sleep beneath palm trees listening to the gentle lapping of the ocean as I plot my next novel!

Pity, I don't have the money.

Reading and being pampered

2007-10-29T12:43:00.001Z

I am in the middle of reading Tiger by Geoffrey Malone, as part of my MA in Writing for Children. After our reading week, this week, I am supposed to give a presentation on the book and author.

So far, I am quite enjoying the read, although the subject of tigers does not particularly interest me. However, I cannot for the life of me find any detailed information about the author who has not responded to my email. Perhaps he did and it got lost in cyberspace or perhaps my email to him went down a deep, dark, black hole in the vastness of the internet- something like this:

I may approach his editor whose email I also have. In any case I am considering how best to give my presentation and what to include. As part of my studies, I am also reading Junk by Melvin Burgess and am due to read Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins. I am glad I have this two week half term to do all of this. Otherwise I would be seriously falling behind. I need to also complete a 1000 word writing assignment for the MA and re-read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as I will be teaching this to my fast track GCSE students when I go back to work.

It is comforting then to be visiting my Dad and his wife; I do not have to worry about having to cook and clean and I can be pampered for once. Unfortunately I may get too used to all of this and may even have to resort to employing a housekeeper ... when I make my millions of course?!!!

My Celebrity Look Alikes

2007-10-23T10:14:00.000+01:00

Ever wanted to know what celebrities you look like? Well, now you can!! Here are mine. Ha ha. Who'd have thought it. I clearly missed my opportunity to use my looks to become famous... I think this photo is flattering to be honest and there's no way I look like some of these people! Still- just for you:

The Return of the Muse

2007-10-16T09:57:00.000+01:00

Okay, yesterday, at my MA class, I was seriously inspired. Perhaps it was the exercise. Perhaps it was the timing.

Whatever it was, I have a new idea for a novel which I am going to work with. I have to say that sadly once again I'm going for gritty realism. I wish I could do magic or something surreal, but it seems that magic and fantasy just aren't up my alley, at the moment.

Maybe they will come to me at a later date. My adult novel is on hold currently but with my half term coming up I am really looking forward to getting some reading and writing done. I think I have found my muse once more.

MA in Writing for Children

2007-10-07T14:24:00.000+01:00

Following requests to post about my MA in Writing For Children, here I am posting about it.

As I am doing the course part time over two years, I attend one weekly session at the Winchester site for three hours. So far I have attended two sessions. My first was an introduction to the course and to my current module Creativity led by Judy Waite.

So far, the sessions have been a mixture of discussion and writing. Last week we discussed Roald Dahl's BFG and did a little bit of linked creative writing. Previous to this, we took part in a writing exercise stimulated by some secret objects.

This week we'll be discussing The Bad Beginning and following up on some creative writing homework. Yes, we get homework! And this week, having had a cough and cold to contend with, getting the homework sorted has been a challenge!

Other students following the course on a full time basis cover another module but as far as my experience of the course so far...so far so good!

Writing Strengths

2007-09-25T18:07:00.001+01:00

Verillion tagged me with a meme to list five things that I am good at, as a writer, so here goes:

1- Coming up with ideas and opening lines or pages
2- Observing others and mentally noting things for future reference
3- Typing
4- Getting excited about what I am doing
5- Reading material to help me write better

I could equally list another five that I am not so good at like gluing my bum to a seat and getting on with it or scheduling 'me' time for writing.

These last two I will see as learning opportunities as Rob Long would say and I will work them round to a positive... somehow. I WILL make more time!

Catch up News

2007-09-15T13:53:00.000+01:00

This weekend I have a ton of marking to get through and I've just mowed the lawn. Go figure. I just need to fix myself to a chair and do it!

I heard back from an editor at Puffin who kindly looked at One of a Kind, even though Puffin don't usually accept unsolicited manuscripts. She said she enjoyed it and kept reading as she wanted to know what happened, which is a good sign, I think. However, she didn't think it was strong enough for the small and competitive teen market.

She suggested I re-write it for a younger audience and that I change some elements of it. That novel has been redrafted too many times for me to remember and I've had a lot of conflicting suggestions regarding it, so I'm going to put it in a drawer for now.

I haven't done much writing recently as work has been really hectic. We had a twilight inset yesterday on behaviour from an educational psychologist, Rob Long, who summarised his talk into several mantras for us. Let's see if I can remember them:

Fight fire with water
Analyse the behaviour; don't personalise
The problem is the solution not the student
Every mistake is a learning opportunity

I was also contacted this week by a producer at Teachers' TV who was wanting to talk to me about perhaps helping out with a programme. As it turns out they no longer need me, but the producer said she'd keep my details on file. I've been on TV before, in 2004 when I was filmed at my then writer's group, in Westminster for an interactive part of Jeremy Vine's BBC series Page Turners.

Who knows maybe I will be hitting the screens again?!! Now, back to my marking.

Memories

2007-09-02T17:41:00.000+01:00

It's back to work tomorrow. Joy of joys!

But before I get caught up in the frenzy that is my life in term time, I thought I'd post a few pics from my holiday in Kuwait. If you haven't joined Facebook, join it. Now.

I managed to locate three friends from my primary and secondary schools that I haven't seen in over ten and in some cases twenty years. Isn't the internet amazing!

I've also been looking into taking up a team sport and a martial art. I will keep you updated about whether these things actually materialise. If they do... not sure where the writing will fit in... mmm so much to do ... so little time.

Here are the pictures in any case!

Holiday

2007-08-31T21:22:00.000+01:00

After my extended holiday, I have been madly trying to catch up on work.

Proofs for the Philip Allan Key Stage 3 English Teacher Resources for Year 9 arrived and have been read and amended. I didn't quite make the SCBWI anthology competition and I haven't done as much writing as I'd hoped to but I have been to the gym and I have relaxed so, all in all, I'd say I've had a good holiday.

I'm trying to tease out my last two days now.....

Memory Lane

2007-08-24T14:45:00.000+01:00

I am writing this with a very slow internet connection... we're talking slower than a snail, so this will be short and sweet and I will definitely not be attempting to upload any pictures. It is 45 degrees centigrade in the shade out here in Kuwait where I have been taking a walk down memory lane, it being the place I grew up. Given that it's been some seventeen years since I was last here, things have changed just a little.

I've visited my brother and his family who now live here. My three nephews who are lovely in small doses have, after ten days, driven me on occasion round the metaphorical bend and solidified my beliefs regarding when and whether to have children?!!

Nevertheless, I've reminisced, I've read, I've swum and I've shopped. And I have the slightest tan and painted toe nails. All in all, I'd say it's been a wholly successful and relaxing holiday. Back to the UK later today, so it'll be back to normality tomorrow. And back to school next week. I cannot wait ;-)

A Poem

2007-08-14T22:57:00.000+01:00

I wrote a poem today which I thought I'd post for your consumption, inspired by Jason Evans' poem on his blog.

It tasted crunchy at first
Like grit in my mouth
Then bitter and hard
Stinging my throat

Like crumbling rock
It caught
between
my teeth
And stuck.

It clung there
Lingering

Before a sweet
subtle
softness
Tingled on my tongue

Where it rests now waiting

Fitness Frenzy

2007-08-10T20:48:00.000+01:00

I am still in Wales, although I am hoping to go abroad soon for a bit of a break which will be nice. I may even come back with a tan.

You'll be thrilled to hear that I went to the gym again yesterday even though I am 'sporting' a bit of a back injury- one I sustained when I played badminton.

I'm on a bit of a keep fit frenzy at the moment, in case you hadn't guessed and I'm hoping to sign up to a few different things when I'm back home. I'm looking forward to getting back some old fitness. Will let you know how I get on.

This of course means that I have had little time to write- excuses, excuses- but I have been reading a little. Hope all of you are enjoying the summer.

KS3 CHALLENGE ENGLISH

2007-08-05T11:28:00.000+01:00

I discovered yesterday that my co-written texts for WH Smith are now on display and available in WH Smith shops, so if you are looking for some excellent texts for your no doubt bright kids so that they can practise and improve their English reading and writing skills beyond what they might do in a classroom then please do purchase a book. I took the liberty of snapping the books on display. Here are the Year 8 and Year 9 books!

On a high

2007-08-03T14:05:00.000+01:00

I am feeling psyched and very very positive today. This is for several reasons but I shall just name a few here:

1- I went to the gym and am on an adrenaline high

2- I am honoured to have been given a thoughtful blogger award by Verilion

3- I spent an evening with my nieces and nephew earlier this week and had an entertaining and enjoyable conversation with my lovely niece Hannah, aged 4, who is just sweetness itself

4- I have been having fun on Facebook.... throwing food, biting and poking people

Let's play tag and get fit!

2007-07-31T23:24:00.000+01:00

I went to the Gower today, a beautiful area in Swansea, on the coast, so I got to walk on the beach! I also went to the gym and am going again tomorrow! I am trying to get back to my former fitness.

Wilf over at Wilf's World has tagged me with this meme so I thought it best to play along. I thought I'd go global so...

5 people who will be annoyed that I tagged them.. mmm:

Jason over at Clarity of Night and in the US who is in the middle of hosting a competition (which I entered by the way)and will probably be too busy to do this!
Nicky (aka Absolute) in South Africa who's always up for speaking her mind
Jon M over at Writing in a Vacuum who's recently visited here and who's a fellow teacher in the UK
Verilion in Paris and Sally in Australia! Let's see whether they take up the challenge.

4 things to go into room 101 and be removed forever from the face of this earth:
Parasites- all kinds
Liquorice- yuk, hate the stuff
Donald Trump's wig- who's he kidding?!
War (had to do my Miss United Kingdom bit)

3 things that people do that make me want to shake them violently are:
Repeat the same mistake over and over and over and over again
Not adapt to changing circumstances
Indulge in self pity and laziness (is that two?)

2 things that I find myself moaning about are:
People who are lazy
People who are intransigent

1 thing the above answers tell me about myself is:
I don't like lazy intransigent unadaptable wig wearing, liquorice eating parasites

Your turn!!

Glorious Sunshine

2007-07-24T16:04:00.000+01:00

What do these singers have in common: Katie Melua, Jamie Cullum, David Gray and Fairuz?

Guessed yet? It's a silly question really because you wouldn't know unless you were sitting here next to me. The answer? Their CDs have all been bought by me.

It's been a while since I treated myself to some music so that's what I've done... and I am sitting here enjoying them as I type, and perhaps even as you read. I bought them from BORDERS, a shop which I only came across when last I was up north. I've heard there are BORDERS stores down south but I haven't visited one yet.

I've spent longer than I care to admit trying to figure out how to send a photo from my phone to my email address so I can upload an image of the grand city of Birmingham where I currently find myself. I have been assured this is possible, but if it is I have not been able to figure it out as yet; I need the manual, me thinks. I do not have my USB cable which I would normally use so I am afraid fellow bloggers, you will have to make do with my description of this fine place and these imported images.

Birmingham has a lot to offer, I can tell you. The Bullring, Victoria Square some beautiful architecture and much more. Enjoy the images! And the weather. Glorious sunshine for once!

Writing and reading

2007-07-22T15:04:00.000+01:00

I am currently working on some educational writing. My novel View from my Window has ground to a halt mainly because I'm actually finding the subject quite depressing. I think I will focus on a happier project for a while before returning to this sad one.

Yesterday I went to Waterstones and fell for the 'buy three for two' offer. I bought a book I had seen some time ago but did not actually buy- The Yes Man by Danny Wallace and I also bought The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson and the 2007 Orange Prize winner Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. So far I've started the Yes Man and am enjoying it, never having read anything by Danny Wallace before.

I wonder how many of you bought the new Harry Potter book. There seemed to be a good supply of them in the shops.

Oh and I've just done these IQ and business acumen tests. Not sure how reliable they are but they were good fun!