Down the arm flows…

A close friend, who has been a successful blogger for the past eleven years (Corners of My Mind), is also a fiction writer and she is the person who got me into blogging back in 2007, then encouraged me when I joined the writing class in Beeston. She seems inexhaustible to me, although she would tell you otherwise.

In a recent short story she shared with me, she describes the act of writing to near perfection. The one thing I know about writing is that many writers will never get the acclaim they deserve. Writing is like acting and so many other things in life. Connections matter more than ability. With the former comes patronage of sorts. Of course there are exceptions to my generalisation, but I know enough from personal experience to stand by my claim.

My favourite book, A Month in the Country by J L Carr began life as a self-published book in 1980, before eventually getting the attention and acclaim it rightly deserved. Telling others about the book, as I have been doing since 1980, and the subsequent feedback, still gives me pleasure beyond words. 

I know it takes courage to share your work with others. A friend from my schooldays in Wembley, who is writing a life memoir for herself, modestly believes her life is no interest to anyone. It is not a view I share and have told her so on a good few occasions. One day I will write about our relationship and how a reminiscence blog posted by me brought us together again after a gap of fifty years.

In the ideal world I would have an editor, but for the past few years I have enjoyed the support and friendship of a 'writing buddy'. She tells me how she sees it and I love her for that. I will be taking her a printed booklet version of my latest short story, The New Volunteer, on Monday. In meantime I share it with you and would welcome your feedback too. Would you like the story to continue? Would you like to know more about Wendy?

I hope you enjoy.