Still at it

Okay, that's an ambiguous blog post title. What am I still at? I'd like to say writing my novel, but I've been getting distracted again. It's about ten months since publication of 'The Dark Threads' but I'm 'still at it' trying to make people aware of my book who just might find it interesting or useful. Although it is mainly aimed at the 'general' reader, I've been told it would also be excellent for teaching purposes on mental health courses. So . . .

I've been contacting universities all over the UK, trying to convince course leaders that my book is just what their students on mental health courses need. Actually I'm sounding a bit flippant now, but this isn't just about my book. I do honestly believe that students in training to become mental health professionals would benefit from an understanding of how it feels to be on the receiving end of treatment. They have enough dry and stuffy textbooks to read, written by professional experts who have the theories. The perspectives and 'lived through' experiences of both current and former patients are often missing, and much needed. Fortunately, it seems that nowadays some course leaders fully agree. I'm delighted at the positive responses I've received so far.

But it's all very time consuming. My novel is taking a back seat again, though hopefully not for too long.

Catching up

The months are rushing by and I'm lagging behind. I've got so much catching up to do, so I'll start with this blog. I can't believe it's mid-June already. I've sniffed and sneezed my way through the past few weeks with hay fever, but I think the Beconase is now starting to work. I'm funny about taking medication for anything, perhaps because of the drugs (prescribed) trouble I had in the past. I know that was different, but now I just don't like taking any sort of medication if I can help it.

I've been working on my novel but it's been a case of two steps forward and two steps back. I write a chapter, feel pleased with it and then the next day I read it again and I'm not. My recycling bin is full of discarded pages of my manuscript.

We had our 26th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. What did we do to celebrate? Well, we had a plate of chips in Morrison's (romantic, eh?) and then we trailed around trying to choose furniture for our spanking new (almost ready) conservatory. We came home feeling tired, shared a bottle of wine - and went to sleep.

This, as you will have gathered, is a disjointed blog posting where I jump from one unconnected subject to another. Blame the hay fever (or is it the Beconase?) for my butterfly mind.

Documentary

The sound of my recorded voice always catapults me up the cringe factor scale. Hearing myself on the BBC4 documentary 'Mental: A History of the Madhouse' was no exception. However, I'm pleased that the programme makers took a sobering look at the dark side of the history of psychiatry. What went on in those places needs to come out in the open. And, as I once read somewhere: 'Once you know, you can't unknow.'

By the way, if anyone who's interested missed it, BBC4 are repeating it on Tuesday 25th May at 11.30pm.

Memory

Well, I suppose it is inevitable that the memory cells of women of a certain age will sometimes clock off and go to bed.

Last week I was happily browsing facebook when I suddenly looked at the clock and thought, 'Erm, shouldn't I be somewhere at this time today? Work!' To be fair, I do work irregular days and hours, doing different shifts to cover for staff leave. But, forgetting to go to work! Oh dear, that's a new one even for me. I had to get off my backside and rush off out, to arrive late at work, full of apologies, with some feeble (though true) excuse of forgetting what shift I was on.

Yesterday I was half-way to a group meeting at a health centre where I was booked to do a talk/reading when I realised I'd forgotten to bring the book I was supposed to be reading from ('The Dark Threads', of course). I had to rush back home to get it.

And now, after reading a really scary article by Blake Morrison in The Guardian about writers quoting from pop songs - click here to see it - I'm frantically looking through my book to check that I remembered to take out before publication all the lines from songs I'd quoted. If I've forgotten to remove some of them, it's too late now. Fortunately I haven't come across any forgotten ones so far - I realised in time that I needed to remove them, though I hadn't realised quite how steep the price of leaving them in would have been.

Spring has sprung

Well, it really does look as if spring as sprung. Lovely weather for the past few days. I hope that it doesn't unspring again. Not that I've been out much lately. I've been keeping my head down (no, not lying on the sofa) but getting on with writing my novel. I seem to work in fits and spurts. It goes really well for a while, and then I hit a block again (as I've done now).

This is the lull before the storm. From tomorrow onwards for I don't know how long, there'll be workmen all over the place. We're having lots of jobs done on the house, not least fitting a conservatory. I can't wait until it's all finished. I don't like the thought of all the upheaval, and I'm untidy enough without anything adding to the chaos.

I was delighted to see four copies of The Dark Threads in Waterstones, Leeds. The time before when I looked, there was only one, so (yipee!) they must have decided to order some more, which (double yipee!) must mean my books have been selling. The woman standing next to me pulled it off the shelf to read the blurb, and I managed (just) to resist the temptation to tug at her sleeve and say, 'Hey, you must buy that. It's a really good book.'

I'm also thrilled to see a super-dooper review, which you can read here.

And so to bed...

Authors North Spring Meeting

I enjoyed the SOA's Authors North Spring Meeting on Saturday, which was in Chester this year. The theme was 'Fantasy and Terror' and the two speakers were David Whitley and Ramsey Campbell. David Whitley's presentation was particularly good. I must say I haven't read many books in that genre, but his enthusiasm and skills as a speaker drew me in. I also found myself observing his talk with a view to improving my own public speaking skills.

It was lovely to meet new people and also to see again some of those I met last year. There was a table to display our books. We weren't allowed to sell our books, but I 'exchanged' mine with Carol Fenlon for her novel 'Consider the Lilies'.

I started reading Carol's novel last night and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I've nearly finished it as I couldn't put it down to get to sleep. The themes are multi-layered, but, basically, it's about a girl's feral childhood in 1960s Lancashire and her friend's search for the missing homeless adult she becomes. As it says on the blurb, this 'powerful and thought-provoking debut novel uses unique language and devices to challenge perceptions of homelessness, identity and exclusion in modern society.' It's poignant, beautifully written, and well worth a read. I'm off to get back to it now.

Break

I didn't mean to have a break from blogging. It just sort of happened. Okay, that's a poor excuse. Other people, many of whom I'm sure are busier than I am, seem to manage to blog regularly. It's not even as if I'm putting off something I don't want to do: I love blogging. Even if only very few people read it, it is something I want to do. But somehow it's got left behind in my recent burst of activity. So what exactly have I been doing?

Well, on the writing front, I've been working hard on my novel and aim to have it ready to send out to agents soon. I've also been writing articles for magazines and journals. Just had one published (though I wrote this one ages ago) in the Healthcare, Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal (HCPJ).

On the book-promotion front for 'The Dark Threads' I'm continuing to give talks (though not many, I must admit), and I'm plodding on at the Speakers Club towards my Certificate, which tickles me a bit because public speaking is (or used to be) about as un-me as you could get! I've been participating in a project with the Huddersfield University who are putting on an exhibition which starts at the Thackray Medical Museum in a couple of weeks. I'm about to make an exhibition of myself. Watch this space.

Other stuff: we're going to have a conservatory built onto the back of the house. I have dreams of sitting there sipping G & Ts and watching the sunsets. However, first there is the alarming level of disruption to put up with. We need the boiler moving, the gas meter moving, and various other building work before they can start erecting it. We're also about to have a hole made in the living room wall to fit a gas fire and other disrupting jobs done. Perhaps I'll escape to a cafe to escape all the muck, dust, noise and chaos. There, I can sit happily and write (like J K Rowling).

I'm going to the Authors North Spring Meeting of the Society of Authors on Saturday, which is in Chester this year. I'm looking forward to that.

My plans for the weeks ahead are to continue to get my novel finished, get back to writing my blog - and, oh, yes, just have a good time, as I hope anyone who might happen to read this is doing.