RAWRR!
In the 1970s I remember watching game shows where the (always) male host would ask female contestants what their husbands did for a living. You know, the half of the marriage who wasn’t on the TV trying to win £50 and a radio. Last night on the BBC TV news, the highly qualified and successful human rights lawyer Amal Clooney was introduced as the wife of Hollywood superstar George Clooney. She was later asked if she felt her husband, actor, direcor and all round MAN helped raise HER profile. I sometimes wonder if we’ve moved on much in the intervening 40+ years. We still have pay gaps, women are under-represented in boardrooms, treated to a PINK bus on the Labour Party campaign trail, told to not dress provocatively so as not to encourage sexual...
Read MoreFlashes of Creativity
Last night I spoke to my husband about my recent burst of creativity. I suggested that now I’ve lost the physical ability to create life, my need to create has found new outlets. I mentioned this to my lovely, creative friend Mairi and she said that she, too, had returned to creative pursuits of late. She had a quick look about and found this post by The Menopause Goddess. It seems that we’re not alone. Hubby suggested that I look for or create a group for like minded women, and that’s where Flashes of Creativity was born – thanks to Mairi for the brilliant name. I’m not sure exactly what the group will end up being. It’s just starting today, but I’d like to think that it will become a safe place for we menopausal women...
Read MoreI’m Still Here
2016 has been a dreadful year for many of us. It seems that everyone has lost an idol: so many stars of the entertainment world have left us with naught but their ghosts on screen and whispered songs on our radios. Many of us have lost someone in real life. Several of my friends have lost a family member this year, some as the culmination of a long illness, some taken suddenly. Their loss has been great either way. The world has been an ugly place: wars, terrorism, civil unrest, earthquakes, floods. In the UK we had a disappointing result in the Brexit referendum and in the USA, well, Trump. I’m still trying to process that one. Many of us have had poor health, myself included. There have been times when the prospect of never being well has been too much to bear...
Read MoreA Christmas Ghost Story
‘Know whit’s traditional at Christmas?’ he said. ‘Ghost stories. Everybiddy loves a Ghost story’ I swirled the beer at the bottom of my glass and smiled. ‘Load a shite, in’t it?’ ‘Naw, naw. Look at Dickens and A Christmas Carol. Classic ghost story that.’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘Name another then.’ ‘Well, they don’t need to be set at Christmas, dae they? Take that MR James bloke. He wrote hundreds a ghost stories and used to invite his work pals tae his office, get them drunk and scare the living shite oot of them. And wis there no a series of ghost stories oan the telly at Christmas? Oanyway,’ he paused to take a swig of his beer, ‘it’s a tradition. Nothing else to say aboot it.’ ‘Dae ye think they’re real? Ghosts?’ ‘Naw! Gie us a brek! See me? Man o science. If...
Read MoreWe need to talk about Collin*
I was recently talking to a friend about depression – we have both suffered with it off and on and they are one of the first people I go to when I’m ‘having a sad’. Talking to them made me think about my own history. I have always tried to be open about my mental health issues and in this spirit of openness, I’m going to talk about it again. My depression first reared its head after the birth of my daughter. It wasn’t PND, but the shitty childhood I had had was suddenly back in my mind as something I was determined my girl wouldn’t suffer. In retrospect, I’d had depression for most of my life but in the 1960s, wee lassies (or adults for that matter) from working class backgrounds had to suck it up and get on with it or...
Read MoreNo Looking Back
I’ve been doing some research recently for a novel I’m beginning. It’s a crime fiction set in Glasgow and I’ve been using Google Maps to investigate the streets where the story takes place. I had two possible locations in mind: the Southside, where I lived last in Glasgow and where my more recent memories are from, or the east end where I was born and raised. Because I have an idea for a second book using some of the same characters which is very specific to a certain time and place, I had been going to plump for the east end. After poring over Street View, I’m no longer so sure. I knew that the house I was brought up in had been demolished many years ago, but the last time I visited Queenslie the old street grid was still there and I could pinpoint exactly where...
Read MoreA rose by any other name…
When it comes to ideas of what to write about, I am never short of ideas. One of my main problems is choosing one from among the many ideas flashing around my brain at any given moment. I can usually get a quick grasp on the most important elements of my characters; I can see the settings, hear the noises and smells the smells, but the element of writing I find the most difficult is choosing names for my characters. How do people do it? I invariably call every male character Mike or Dave and the females are usually Louise or Hannah. And if I have more than two characters of each gender, I panic. When I realise that I’ve used the same names again I then get so hung up on finding the “right” name that writing grinds to a halt. It’s a problem. I had a kid’s book...
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