I’ve been writing for about twenty years; was very active, in the beginning, sending work out; had a lot of poetry published in the lit mags. I lived in Newcastle Upon Tyne for 15 years and had a small press that published local writers. I was paid to set up a youth drama group in the West end and that gave me a taste of drama; I went to college to study it and finished up with a degree in performing arts. I was a single parent with three children so had to earn a living; this has taken up my time over the rest of the years. Most writers and artists teach to get by…but I hate teaching, and I hate kids; well I don’t mind them in small dozes, if they are very well behaved. I didn’t discover this until it was far too late and I already had three of my own! When I finally got rid of my children and set out on my adventures, I didn’t know where I wanted to go…so I went to Devon, and ended up doing much the same job as I had been doing…only it was live-in. Actually, I have found the perfect job for me; I have a lot of patience with elderly people, and never, not want to go to work. It is all very pleasant; even the dying. I have met some wonderful people. I took a TEFL course in Barcelona a few years ago, then went to work, first in Poland, then Alicante in Spain…only to discover all over again…that I hate kids. Why did I think that teaching English to a pile of giggling 10yr old Spanish children would make me happy? So I went back to Devon and worked 4 weeks on and spent my 4 weeks off in Spain. It was great…for a while. What I learnt about myself during this period is that, it doesn’t matter where in the world I am…I do the same stuff; so I may as well be up in Glasgow with my three children and six grandchildren…and take a trip when I feel like it. So now I’m working all this year to earn the means to make that happen. I’m going to get a little flat in the Loch Lomond area beside No.1 son and his millions of kids; hoping to be settled by the end of the year…and we’ll see what happens where work is concerned. Thought I’d do a book list so you can get a better picture of me. These are some of the best books I’ve ever read.
SOME OF THE GREAT BOOKS THAT I’VE READ OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS
Jeffrey Eugenides ‘ MIDDLESEX’
Yann Martel ‘LIFE OF Pi’
Jodi Picoult ‘KEEPING FATH’
Jean Auel ‘CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR’ (series)
Natsuo Kirino & Stephen Snyder ‘OUT’
Chuck Palahniuk ‘LULLABYE’
Joanne Harris ‘CHOCOLAT’
‘THE LOVELY BONES’
Julia Darling ‘THE TAXI DRIVER’S DAUGHTER’
Julia Darling ‘SUDDEN COLLAPSES IN PUBLIC PLACES’ (poetry)
Wilbur Smith ‘RIVER GOD’ and ‘WARLOCK’
Ian McEwan ‘ATONEMENT’ and ‘SATURDAY’
Margaret Atwood ‘ORYX & CRAKE’
Sebastian Faulks ‘BIRDSONG’
Arthur Golden ‘MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA’
Audrey Niffenegger ‘THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE’
Mitchell David ‘CLOUD ATLAS’
Anne Rice ‘LASHER’ and ‘TALTOS’
‘THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT’