Hello all! I’m sure you are sick of me going on about this just as much as I am, but my feeding is still not right. I’ve had a letter from my consultant to say that I have a tubiegram (fancy name for an x-ray) on the 9th May. It feels like a very long way away at the minute, especially given my extremely disturbed nights and increased levels of discomfort. My consultant only knew I had a problem on Monday, and got an appointment through to me by Tuesday. He’s so efficient and really cares, he’s just fab!
I have reached 200 subscribers on YouTube (click here to see my channel) which I just find absolutely mad! I can’t actually get my head around the idea that so many people want to listen to what I have to say about books? This has been something I have always wanted to do but never had the confidence. In one year I have set up a blog and a YouTube channel. I have gone from content watcher/ reader to content creator. I am so glad that I took the plunge and did it. The aim of having three creative projects a week (2 YouTube videos and one blog on here) is really helping me to keep my spirits up. I am making connections to people online that have the same loves as me, and I’m hoping they will become online friendships!
I have been feeling a little down, if I am honest, this last week. Can you guess what cured my sadness? Dove Cottage Young Poets! The group is always so lively and really gets me thinking. It combines loads of my favourite things – good banter, good poetry, amazing company and some really intelligent conversation. I’m not sure how Kim Moore does it to be honest. Every time I am feeling a bit down before the club mum says “You’ll feel better afterwards” – and I do! Kim puts so much effort into our sessions and you can tell she genuinely cares about our poetry. Thanks Kim!
This week I have read ‘Lying about last summer’ by Sue Walkman. This is a book from the perspective of Skye. She is at a summer camp for bereaved teenagers after her sister died in a tragic accident. When I began reading this book I thought it was going to be basic and much less enjoyable than it was. There were numerous dynamics between characters and unexpected dramatic twists. I would say stick with the first third of the book, that third is simply there for world building. The second two thirds make some very good YA fiction.
I have also read Ruby Robinsons’ ‘Every little Sound’, which is a poetry collection. The collection focuses on the absolute of tiniest details in everyday things. For example, this from the poem ‘undress’:
“…Black veins of branches
shake against the blue screen on which they
hang. Small mammals are hibernating
in pellets of warm air under ground…”
I love this kind of poetry, it allows you to see things very clearly through the poets eyes. I think my poetry is a bit like that sometimes (obviously not up to this standard yet), so this collection really made me think about how I could incorporate miniscule details into my work. I wasn’t overly keen on the very long poems, if I am honest. However, this does seem to be a ‘thing’ with me in poetry collections, so don’t rule them out.