Write-Place

11th November. Commemorated as Armistice Day and marked with 2 minutes silence while people pay their respects to those who died during the First World War. Yesterday, Sunday, wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and at hundreds of others across the country. Today across the world, memorial services will be held and thousands will quietly reflect on the enormity and consequences of that war. We also remember other wars and battles that have taken place where so many lives have been lost and so many families broken. WW2, the Cold War, the Gulf War, the Korean War,Vietnam, Falklands, Iraq, Afghanistan and many wars in the Middle East and Africa that continue to rage today and destroy people. It is easy to be sanctimonious and say that all wars should stop now or naieve and believe that there will ever be world peace. Sometimes it seems that if there ever was peace on this earth, then we would go further afield and declare war on other planets. I am not clever enough or ...

Today, 11th September 2013 is the 12th anniversary of the attacks on USA that killed almost 3,000. I would not dream of making a comment on how the family and friends of those people felt then or feel now. No words could ever justifiably describe the horror and devastation. We remember that awful event swearing that we will never allow anything like that to happen again. Hundreds of  human beings obliterated forever and hundreds more injured and maimed. We usually recall specific major terrible events by noting what we were doing at the time that we heard the announcement. For my generation that is often when President Kennedy was killed, when John Lennon was killed, when Diana (then Princess) was killed.   My parents generation remember the announcement of the start of WW2 and also the ending. All these events involved the unnecessary deaths of ordinary people - yes of course, even the ending of a war, where we in Britain rejoiced, while others died in the most ter...

Ok, so the article I thought I had shared to my Facebook, didn't actually share and the very intelligent comment that I'd posted to go with it looks less than intelligent without it. And yes, the smart comments of others are I suppose, deserved. It was such a good article too, but the most annoying thing is that I can't find it again, and I don't remember who the author was. In my attempts to find it, however, though not finding the actual one I have found a number of others on a similar theme. If I ever find the one that I read in the first place, I promise to reference it and the author properly and thank him/her now for the thoughts. It was about writer's not being thought of as doing a real "job" and so many times are expected to write, talk about their writing, give opinions and views on theirs and other people's writing ... for free, ie without proper payment. The article writer in question cited a time when they were asked to speak about the...

 There is something about a real book that is unique and gives such pleasure to reader and author alike. By real book here, I mean one made of paper that you can hold in your hands, feel the pages, smell the newness of and watch grow older and change as you do. Of course, the benefits - and drawbacks - of ebooks and digital technology is constantly discussed and the 'which is better' debate I think, will always be with us. Most of us have our views on which is 'better' but also most of us these days appreciate that all formats of written words have their place and deciding which is appropriate for which occasion is a personal preference. The One Word Anthology by Talkback Writers  was published as an ebook in  November 2012 by Alfie Dog Ltd  and is available there. It can also be purchased at  Kobo Books  and at  Amazon The authors, editors and publishers of the One Word Anthology are now very happy to announce the publishing of the real Pa...

Make me whole Just what are you seeing when you close your eyes? Is the sun always shining in perfect blue skies? Do your thoughts float through fluffy white clouds in your dreams? Or do you ever think this is not as it seems? When I sleep I still feel I have your hand in mine And I’m not alone and all things should be fine  for you’re there to protect me from all that I fear when the darkness comes closer and nightmares are here. Yet I’m lost in a world that’s not real but seems true Searching always for someone, and always it’s you Though I think you’re beside me as I feel your touch I’m still scared of these feelings that overrule much. So if you see sunshine and perfect blue skies When you lay down beside her and you close your eyes will you push past my dark clouds and look deep in my soul for the love that we once had and so make me whole.

He first went there with his school, long ago.  The teachers had told the classes that the stone work was from Roman times; remnants from hundreds of years back.  It turned out that it wasn’t Roman at all.   It was an old mill first used for smelting lead in the late 1600s and then between around 1760 and 1850 fine paper was produced there to wrap the products of the nearby iron and steel industry - often cutlery and probably the pins, needles and wire made in the local area. All that remained today was the pond which had provided power by supplying a water wheel  and some and some ruinous buildings.  Romantic maybe – but not Roman. When they had met years later, he could not wait to take her to this place, high up on the hillside in the depths of the forest with the stream trickling, then rushing down from the tops. Tawny, hazel, mustard and coral tainted leaves and ferns painted the background for the scene. And she had loved it too.      ...

To a Young Poet  by Mahmoud Darwish  Don’t believe our outlines, forget them and begin from your own words. As if you are the first to write poetry or the last poet. If you read our work, let it not be an extension of our airs, but to correct our errs in the book of agony. Don’t ask anyone: Who am I? You know who your mother is. As for your father, be your own. Truth is white, write over it with a crow’s ink. Truth is black, write over it with a mirage’s light. If you want to duel with a falcon soar with the falcon. If you fall in love with a woman, be the one, not she, who desires his end. Life is less alive than we think but we don’t think of the matter too much lest we hurt emotions’ health. If you ponder a rose for too long you won’t budge in a storm. You are like me, but my abyss is clear. And you have roads whose secrets never end. They descend and ascend, descend and ascend. You might ca...

A tweet from Richard Dawkins  (English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author - Wikipedia) this morning asked the question : "So why do so many Americans begin a story with "So" ? Is it the 140 chars version of "Once upon a time" ? " (for the uninitiated in the regulations of Twitter "chars" refers to the 140 characters or less that a tweet is made up of) My first reaction to this question was - I do this all the time, especially on blogs. If this is an americanism I think I should stop ! Other comments suggest that it is a way of framing - the time, situation, place without having to go into detail of the full context at that point in the story. "Anyway" is used in much the same way, or in some circumstances "well". Of course it's neither an American 'thing' nor an English one. Every language and culture appears to have a version. Bueno in Spanish, perhaps d'accord in French, W'allah...

A discussion on a writer's forum has me thinking. A comment I  made appears to be at odds with a number of views, so here I state my case.  I think that attending a religious funeral, singing hymns and praying whilst having no religious beliefs yourself, is acting hypocritically. I would feel a hypocrite by attending a religious funeral where my own beliefs were different to the general belief of the deceased and the other attenders - whether that was Christian, Muslim, Humanist, Creationist, Hindu or any other religion that has a name to it. I was brought up within the beliefs and attitudes of the Methodist Church. My father was a local preacher and played  the organ for weddings, funerals, christenings and Sunday services from around the age of twenty. He wrote and illustrated books on Methodism and the history of his local circuit. My mother I was brought up within the beliefs and attitudes of the Methodist Church. My father was a local preacher and played the org...

I started this post yesterday and today it’s in the news that as much as half of the world's food, around two billion tonnes worth is wasted. It's maybe coincidence (or one of those 'being drawn to things' scenarios) but it's relevant anyway. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said "the waste is being caused by poor storage, strict sell-by dates, bulk offers and consumer fussiness". The study also found that up to 30% of vegetables in the UK were not harvested because of their physical appearance. The institution's Dr Tim Fox said the level of waste was "staggering". World Food Waste  I’ve just done the biennial food cupboard clean out. I say biennial as I just can’t remember whether I did one this time last year or not but based on the ‘best before’ dates of more than one item, it seems as though if I did, I didn’t do it very well. In world food statistics I don't suppose my thrown out food plays a very big part but I ...

I've waited till today 2nd January, to write a blog about and in, this new year of 2013. Not because I haven't any thoughts about anything - for a change, lately - but because I wanted to refrain from using all those more than well used phrases like "it's that time of year again" and "standing on the threshold" and "new beginnings" and all that stuff. There's been more than enough reviews of the old year in the media too over the last couple of weeks. The 100 best songs, books, films, tv progs, plays, E readers, Smart phones etc. Just name something and it will be in a list of "best ofs" I can guarantee. Then there's the lists of "famous" people who have died, and notifications of ones soon to be born. It's natural I suppose to want to put the last 12 months to the back of our minds are rally forth with predictions, expectations and hopes for this next year. Mankind as a whole surely can not afford to contin...