Elizabeth Chats With…Lesley Deschner
I first met this month’s guest at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School of which she is the current Treasurer. She has also served as Secretary to the School in the past….
Writerly Round-Up: March 2019
While last month was filled with gastronomic treats, this month has been particularly theatrical. I saw two favourite singers, Irina Ilnytska and Jane Anderson-Brown, perform a programme of operatic arias…
My Working World: D Is For…
A few months ago, I started writing this series – and it seemed like such a good idea at the time. I’ve worked in more than fifty countries and many,…
Glass Half Full?
For the past couple of years, my first post in January has been a review of the previous year’s objectives: what I’ve managed to achieve; and where I’ve been less…
Elizabeth Chats With…Phil Collins
My guest this month was never, as far as I know, the drummer for a well-known rock band. But he is a musician and singer, a writer, and someone whose…
Elizabeth Chats With…Ingrid Jendrzejewski
My guest this month is Ingrid Jendrzejewski, Secretary to Swanwick Writers’ Summer School (and hence a very important cog in that particular wheel). She grew up in Vincennes, Indiana, studied…
August’s Pot Luck Club
Welcome to this month’s Pot Luck Club, a round-up of writerly bits and pieces. It’s Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK; which means, of course, that the sun has…
#Swanwick70: That’s All Folks
Friday already, and it’s time to hit the road. We’ve taken part in courses and workshops, learned from our tutors and fellow delegates, been impressed and inspired by our guest…
#Swanwick70: Who’s In The Book Room?
For the next week, this blog is moving to Derbyshire, to the little town of Swanwick, for the annual Writers’ Summer School. And this year, it’s a biggie: our seventieth…
Elizabeth Chats With…Sue Moorcroft
My guest this month is a Sunday Times and international bestselling author who has reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle. She’s won the Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award…
Nothing (New) To See Here…
It’s one of those rare months with five Mondays in it. And this morning I woke even earlier than usual (and anyone who knows me will realise just how early…
Same Time, Same Place
“Same time, same place, next year?” Those were the words I wrote on 2nd January 2017 when I prepared my last annual writerly review and listed my objectives for the…
#Swanwick69: Friday
And in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Like the shooting stars of last weekend, the Writers’ Summer School at Swanwick flashed into view, shone brightly and then…
#Swanwick69: Thursday
Today is the last full day of the Writers’ Summer School at Swanwick. The last few courses; the AGM; the Dregs Party and the Farewell in the evening. I’m going…
#Swanwick69: Wednesday
Wednesday and we are back to the normal programme. So every hour is timetabled for one topic or another. No relaxing today. And it’s also the last day that the…
#Swanwick69: Tuesday
Tuesday is the mid-point of the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School (what, already? It can’t be!) and the day when the main programme is temporarily halted, to allow delegates to take…
#Swanwick69: Monday
Another full day here at The Hayes. But for once, I am writing this late afternoon, rather than last thing at night, or even after midnight. And the reason for…
#Swanwick69: Sunday
The first full day at Swanwick, day 2 on the programme, is always a bit of a culture shock as the courses all kick off and the hard work begins….
#Swanwick69: Saturday
As it says in my Christmas letters every year: I can’t believe how quickly the past year has gone. It seems no time at all since we were all heading…
July’s Pot Luck Club
So for the second time in three months, we have five Mondays in the month. So, I offer you another helping from the Pot luck Club. This time, I’m going…
Elizabeth Chats With…Bridget Holding
I met Bridget Holding through our mutual links with Swanwick Writers’ Summer School and, as someone with a science background and a very ordered approach to life and living, I found…
No Place For Bystanders
Anyone who’s read any of my books on business skills for writers, or sat in one of my workshops at Swanwick, knows I am a strong devotee of the spreadsheet….
Why I Love My Work…
I was browsing the local newspaper yesterday morning when I came across one of those self-help articles so beloved of copy writers and readers everywhere. The title read: 5 Ways…
Looking Back Thankfully
It’s hard to believe, but there are only two Mondays left to this year. Next week, I’m going to be looking forward to 2015 and making some New Year’s (writing)…
Publishing Lessons Part 2
Back in October, I wrote about the first part of the publishing project for Gorgito’s Ice Rink. At that point, I’d only brought out the ebook. Now, two months on,…
#Swanwick66: A Final Chapter
Day six was, as always, a day of ‘finals’: the final chance for the early risers to gather in the chapel for Lift Up Your Hearts, or by the lake…
#swanwick66: A Theatrical Day Five
The Wednesday of Swanwick always seems a little frantic to me; it’s when we realise we are more than halfway through the week and time is starting to run out…
#swanwick66: Snippets from Days Three and Four
As the clock ticked around to 9.30 on Monday morning, the screen remained determinedly blank and I realised I wasn’t going to get my presentation to run, I grabbed a pen…
#Swanwick66: An Extra Special Guest for Day Three
‘Fame Starts Here’ were the words Aileen Armitage taped to the front of her typewriter to inspire her when she started her writing career. She first came to Swanwick forty…
#Swanwick66: Snapshots of Day Two
Day two started with a traditional Swanwick breakfast: sausage, hash browns, egg and beans. I tried to convince my neighbour that cooked breakfasts on Sunday contained no calories, but I…
#Swanwick66: Impressions of Day One
The year has flown by: it seems like only yesterday we were waving the coaches goodbye in the rain last August – and here we all are back at The…
A Writerly Round-Up: Blowing My Own Trumpet and Planning the Future
It’s been a busy few months. I spent much of May and June working on the publicity and logistics for our town’s annual summer festival, which took place earlier this…
Elizabeth Chats With…Jane Wenham-Jones
[This month’s guest is a funny lady who is also a talented writer. She was a guest speaker at my first Swanwick Summer School back in 2006; three things stuck…
The Business of Writing is No Joke
I’ve been running my own small business, together with my husband, for twenty-two years and it’s been a complete joy (well most of the time anyway). To start with, there…
Elizabeth Chats With… Author David Hough
[My guest this month is author and fellow Swanwicker David Hough.] Thanks for dropping in, David. Let’s start at the beginning; what is your earliest memory — and how old were you…
Blog Tour: My Writing Process
I’ve been following with interest the blog tour about writing process, so was delighted to be asked by Cathie Hartigan if I’d like to follow her in answering four questions….
Elizabeth Chats With… Tarja Moles
[My guest this month is an author, a publisher and the nicest Finn I know. I first met her in person at Swanwick Summer School a couple of years back, but felt…
Enrichment, Recovery and Twitter
I spent Saturday at the RSA South West conference in Taunton. The RSA (or the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce to give it its full…
Making it Bigger and Better
“Don’t be in too much of a rush to send your work out there. Make sure it’s ready first.” Like every debut novelist, I’ve heard that advice many times. Well,…
Swanwick65: Sixth Sense
Not content with giving us yesterday proverbs and moods to write from, Karin led Life Up Your Pens this morning with lists of sailing vessels (and we won’t go into whether a…
Swanwick65: Cruising in Fifth Gear
This is the point in the week where we are still motoring, but thinking of slowing down. There’s been a lot of writing to do today (which can’t be bad…
Swanwick65: The Inner Child Sails ‘Fourth’
Tuesday is traditionally the quiet, easy day at Swanwick. Half-way through the Summer School, it’s time to take a breath and look around; maybe go on a half-day visit to a…
Swanwick65: The Third Degree
There’s been a lot of questions, not to say interrogations, one way and another today – more of which later. But first, let’s pop back into Day 2 for a…
Swanwick65: Seconds Out…
Well, we’ve not got to the stage of fisticuffs yet, but we’ve virtually had a real fight in the world of Swanwick (do you see what I’ve done there?). I’ve been…
Swanwick65: A Day Of Firsts
It’s been a real day of firsts. Obviously, it’s the first day of Swanwick, with all that entails: the hugs on greeting old friends; the satisfaction of delivering books to…
A New Blog for a New (Writing) Year
July is finished; my writing break is over. I had great fun during my month off, as you can probably tell from the last piece I posted, but by the…
Going Away To Get Away
“Have you booked a holiday yet,” friends have been saying all year. “When are you going away?” “We’re not,” I reply, “at least not in the sense you mean.” …
Who You Gonna Call? Informal Networks
I’ve just returned from a packed weekend at my first Winchester Writers’ Conference. This event, which has been running for the past 33 years, was the brainchild of the wonderful…
Swanwick Day 6: It Doesn’t Happen By Magic
It’s all a bit of a blur: Malcolm Chislholm showed us how to use Twitter and Facebook; how to set up a website for free – and how to publish…
New-Time Publishing and Old-Time Music Hall: Day 5 at Swanwick
Wednesday already! Normal weather conditions have been restored; it poured at Swanwick today — there was no sitting outside this afternoon. The inspiration, enthusiasm and chattering are still evident —but…
Authorpreneurship and Fish-Nets: Swanwick Day 4
It’s been another brilliant day at Swanwick, but I can’t help thinking that when I said at lunchtime I’d enough material to write today’s blog — I should have actually…
Titantic Tweets and Furious Facebooking
Well, it’s been a strange day and a long one. It started with a (virtual) Welsh Male Voice Choir in ‘Lift Up Your Hearts’ and finished with Elvis and family…
Swanwick: Scurrilous Rumours and Graphic Murders
A delegate has been caught in bed with one of the lecturers at Swanwick just minutes after an “individual tuition” session. Half the class walked out of the Enticing and…
Swanwick: Intelligent Silliness and Thelma’s Pants
This posting should have been a detailed account of how hard we’re all working and all the writerly activities we are getting up to. As the title suggests, I may…
Swanwick: S Day minus 1
Every year, during the second week in August, around 300 writers gather in Swanwick for the Writers’ Summer School, which has been running for more than sixty years. I don’t…