Wednesday 27 June 2018

Holiday!

Thanks to my dear friend Heather, I had the most wonderful week in Spain, arriving back last Wednesday at crack of dawn. Where has the week gone?!

It's 35 years since I last went to Spain and I've never been up in the mountains - the last one I climbed was Carder Idris when I was 11. So I was utterly stunned by the majesty of the landscape. The picture above is the view from their terrace as the sun went down. And the weather was HOT!

Even so, we managed some stunning walks - up various mountains, through vineyards and orange trees, we swam every day, attended a Moors v Christians procession one night, and had some relaxed reading time and enjoyed eating and drinking outside every day.
I'm quite in love with the place and it did me a lot of good to get right away from everything. I missed my darling Moll terribly (and vice versa), but it was worth it to have a week in such a stunning place, and with such good company.

Just as well as life has been very stressful since I got back, but hopefully things will resolve soon!

Tuesday 5 June 2018

Confidence


This was taken at Penberth Cove, last Sunday, where I did another walk for the current book. I'd had a busy few days doing Meet the Author sessions at the Great Estate festival at Scorrier - which is a great one to be at, by the way. And the weather was good, too.

Anyway, I had two slots and luckily my friend Heather came along for moral support, which I was very glad of, as you never know if anyone will turn up to meet authors unless they have publishers who are prepared to spend a lot on publicity. Which let's face it, few are. And certainly not those of walks books.

So we arrived at the venue - the Whispering Garden - and it was all set out with a little covered stage, a microphone and plenty of seating. So far so good. A big board outside announced the programme of events, but it transpired later that none of these had been put n the website, so most people didn't know I was there.

I stood on the stage feeling like real Billy No Mates while Heather tried to hijack passers by and eventually we had a few - literally - and I started talking. But by the end of it we had a few more, and one of the ladies who'd actually turned up to have a rest, ended up buying two of my books, so I was delighted. What had started off looking like an unqualified disaster was saved and my confidence restored.

The next day we had several people and though I sold no books, I could tell people were interested and several stayed behind afterwards to talk about my books, writing, and to ask if I'd do workshops of any kind. It was such a lovely gathering I felt really glowing afterwards - especially when dear Heather introduced me and said such glowing things about my writing. I stood there, feeling quite overwhelmed thinking - does she really think that about my books? Wow!

Afterwards we were talking about confidence, and how important it is in all walks of life - whatever we're doing. Many writers suffer from chronic self-about - myself included - and I find the only way to conquer it is to keep writing. Grab any opportunities that come up - well, any that sound different - for you never know what can lead to all kinds of things - and keep submitting. Rejections are part of a writer's life. Don't take them too personally.