First, thanks to Emily for last week’s blog. I really admire all the hard work she’s putting in to get the first draft of her novel down on paper. Sometimes you need a deadline, or a bit of pressure, to force you to get on with a projected of this kind. But I suspect that the really hard work will start when she goes back and starts knocking her first draft into shape. I’ll make sure she lets you know how she’s getting on in six months’ time. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi!

I’m sure that like me you’re all thankful that Election Day is finally upon us and the whole thing will soon be over – for better or for worse. And being the pessimist that I am, I suspect that no matter who gets in it will be for the worse…for most of us. Oscar Wilde said “A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal”. That being the case, I don’t think our current raft of politicians have much to worry about!

I got that quote from the Brainy Quote site, and must confess to having wasted a bit of time this morning trawling round and looking for other good quotes. It’s easy to use – you can search by subject or by person, there’s a ‘quote of the day’ and lots of other quirky info.

And on the subject of ‘quirky’ why not enter this month’s 21st Birthday Competition? All you have to do is provide a witty or amusing caption to a photo on our website and you can win a Writers Bureau Freelance Journalism Course.

This weekend I’m off to visit The Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park in Grewelthorpe, North Yorkshire. Don’t you just love the name Grewelthorpe? It rolls off the tongue and conjures up visions of Dickensian schools, or corner shops staffed by the likes of Ronnie Barker in ‘Open All Hours’. No offence to the residents – I bet in reality it’s picture-postcard perfect. But all will be revealed on Saturday!

Next week, you’re having a break from me. My guest blogger is Lorraine Mace, Writers Bureau tutor and writer of many talents. She’ll be telling you how to sell work time and time again to make as much money as possible from it. In the meantime, you can watch her talking about her humorous writing by visiting the Writers Bureau website.