Adventures and Progress

It’s been a few weeks….lots has happened. We have had a ton of adventures; wild swimming with my boy (miracle as he hates cold water!), welly walk in the rain (and hiding in caves when it got torrential) and finding hidden mountain bike trails in the city centre of Bristol. Unsurprisingly, all of this has given me some much need energy and inspiration to write. Thank god as I have barely put pen to paper since commencing ‘Project Author’ 😂

I also got an amazing boost, just when things were getting a little difficult in other areas of my life, from Ro’s amazing friend Maisie. She knows exactly how to make people feel better.

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So, some ideas for ‘stuff kids get up to’ is done. Now to translate that into a book….yep, that’s a tad more tricky it turns out. Tried them in a typical story style, with morals as per Aesops Fables. Not for me, too boring and I have low morals 😂

Tried them in rhyming couplets…..ah ha, now that’s what I am talking about. I wrote them down, read them back and loved what I had done.

Yep, loved it.

I am not going to play it down, it felt totally right. I obviously shut my notebook and left it for a week. Too scared to share with anyone else or admit that I might have found my mojo.

Until yesterday that is. Rowan and I went early morning wild swimming with a friend and his Mum. Turns out it was her first time wild swimming (she told us afterwards!) and it was her birthday (she told us afterwards!) so her bravery, the feeling of tingly skin and a warm belly full of hot chocolate spurred me on to share my first ‘chapter’ with my boy.

Half way through Ro exclaimed, ‘Mum you are really good at this!’ I could have cried, genuinely. I then bravely went on to share it with my other half. Although he’s deeply supportive, he’s also an adult who might be more honest than my boy. He looked at me and quietly said, ‘That’s bloody amazing.’

The rush of adrenaline was incredible and spurred me on to write another chapter. My critics so far are, of course, deeply and wonderfully biased, but I will take their thoughts for now and build myself up in confidence.

What I loved: Adventures and fun, amazing books (links below to some beauties I have read this month) and the support of my family.

What I haven’t loved: Fables (!!) and finding space and time to write.

• Books I have loved this month
• A poem for every feeling, love the variety and emotion this one provides
• Just another mountain, a true story of determination and discovering yourself. Provides deep hope in the face of illness and adversity.
• Everything I know about love, is an uplifting and witty journey that will have you laughing and crying.
• Finally, Man’s search for meaning touched me deeply. From a survivor of the Holocaust, who is now psychologist, it looks at the real reason people thrive and survive – they have meaning in their lives.

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