Tag Archives: livecreatively

Miners

Hello! It has been a long time since I’ve posted here and some changes are happening! I’m self-publishing my YA dystopian novel later this year and am so relieved that it will finally be out in the world. I’ve also started blogging over at Substack. Miners is a newsletter for tired creatives. Check it outContinueContinue reading “Miners”

Faith and Mystery

  Because I am a writer, I believe in magic.  Because I have a faith, I believe in what cannot be explained.  I believe that life is a story, at times hilarious, sad and uncanny, that the strangest things happen all of the time.  For me, living with a Christian faith is about accepting theContinueContinue reading “Faith and Mystery”

Letting Go (An excerpt from Circles)

The following extract from my new book Circles: Nurture and Grow your Creative Gift is about that action of releasing what we have made into the world and the feeling of vulnerability that comes with that.  Also the fact that our works are not extensions of us, but they are their own thing somehow, setContinueContinue reading “Letting Go (An excerpt from Circles)”

Are we all creative?

This is a question I have often pondered and I think that we are all creative to a degree but there is always a choice. The creative path is presented to us, but it doesn’t force itself on us. For it to take root in us, we have to say yes, come and turn myContinueContinue reading “Are we all creative?”

About me and why I wrote Circles..

My forthcoming book, Circles: Nurture and Grow your Creative Gift was born out of a collection of writings from a crazy time in my life when I had two very young children and a third on the way.  I was longing to create but felt that all my creative energy was being sapped by parenthood.ContinueContinue reading “About me and why I wrote Circles..”

Why I write about motherhood

I just want to put it out there that I’m not a self-certified expert on parenting by any means.  I run courses on writing motherhood because I write, I always have done; it’s how I process my feelings – my grief, my joys, my disappointments, and it’s how I can convey my wildly fluctuating feelingsContinueContinue reading “Why I write about motherhood”

Living with Type One – What it looks like

Note: I think there may be quite a bit of type 1 jargon in here. Apologies for that. Also a normal blood sugar (what we’re aiming for) is 4-8. I haven’t written that much about type 1 diabetes on here although I have intended to but two of the poems about Type One diabetes inContinueContinue reading “Living with Type One – What it looks like”

Some Thoughts on Winter

Some thoughts on Winter I don’t know about you but I don’t think that I was made for winter. My feet can’t cope with the cold, my shoulders feel permanently hunched over. I feel like I can’t relax for half the year. I think January and February are hard for lots of reasons. Gone areContinueContinue reading “Some Thoughts on Winter”

Putting Your Work Out There: There You Are, 34 poems about Motherhood

Who are these crazy dreamers who plug away at something, for hour after hour on their own, believing that one day it will come to something?  I am one of them, and although sometimes I feel deluded (!), I know that there is a quiet faith that my writing will see the light of dayContinueContinue reading “Putting Your Work Out There: There You Are, 34 poems about Motherhood”

Letting Go

Sending my novel out to agents feels a curious thing.  I have finished at last.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  I am proud of what I have achieved.  But I also find myself stepping back from it.  It is its own thing, launched into the inboxes of strangers.  I can’t imagine how is perceivedContinueContinue reading “Letting Go”

Commissions by Little Bird Editions

Really pleased with this commission for a friend. Her own words and a gorgeous icy blue for the print. Commission your own print- you can request commissions from the shop here. Happy days #livecreatively

Trembling Heart

A poem about the night that my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1, back in 2013 when she was 2 and a half.   I held you to me on the bed and smelt your hair, felt your lightness,as your father bustled in the darkness for your favourite things.We had been to the doctors thatContinueContinue reading “Trembling Heart”

Afterwards, a work in progress…

And breathe… first day back to school for the kids which means I finally have some time! Here is the latest work in progress. To be included in a book of poems that should be ready by Autumn 🤞 🙏xx #handlettering #poems #instapoetry #livecreatively #parenting EDIT: You can find the finished poem in There YouContinueContinue reading “Afterwards, a work in progress…”

Uncle John

A very old poem and a kernel for the novel. The smell of the strawberry jam, the decay, the wildness.. The jam thick with whole strawberries  hadn’t seemed so wonderful to me at the time.   Only now, sitting in my room with morning toast do I feel the loss,   as I remember themContinueContinue reading “Uncle John”

Messy Desk…creative mind…

Believe it or not, this is the tidiest my desk has been in a long time..!😂 this is place I wrote and redrafted my novel which is now going out to agents 🤞🤞🤞 and also the place I design my hand lettered poems and also where I think up creative ways to teach creative writing.ContinueContinue reading “Messy Desk…creative mind…”

Love Poem: Poetry prints by Little Bird Editions

My children exhaust me and bring me to the end of myself but they make me who I am and they were the ones who taught me to love. I have recently launched a collection of prints which are my own hand-letterings of some of my poems about the early years, when everything is aContinueContinue reading “Love Poem: Poetry prints by Little Bird Editions”

Pick Up Your Violin!

When I am reading to my children, I am half-asleep, I am not distracted, my defences are down, and for me that is sometimes the best time to hear God. The latest one is Patrick by Quentin Blake, a tale of wonder and music.  You can read the story here: https://archive.org/details/Patrick-Eng-QuentinBlake  The message in this amazingContinueContinue reading “Pick Up Your Violin!”

Marianne Williamson on being given permission to shine

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child ofContinueContinue reading “Marianne Williamson on being given permission to shine”

To Lavish

To lavish (def: bestow something in generous or extravagant quantities on). I love the fact that God’s ways are not our ways and that the eternal mysteries of God are something that we keep learning over and over.  They don’t naturally make sense to us, we can’t see them coming.  In the world, we sayContinueContinue reading “To Lavish”

Gifts

I sometimes have to remind myself that God wants to use me; who I am, as I am, right now.  It’s easy to write ourselves off and to think we’re not ready yet but God is looking for people who are ready and waiting; first to hear his word and then to obey it.  HeContinueContinue reading “Gifts”

Will Gompertz on the act of creating

YES! ‘The act of making and creating is deeply satisfying, life affirming and rewarding. Yes it can be infuriating and at times disheartening, but nothing else can make you feel as truly alive and connected to the physical world as bringing your ideas to life. It is, I suppose, the ultimate affirmation of our humanness’ContinueContinue reading “Will Gompertz on the act of creating”