It's coming up for about a year since I started writing here (somewhat) regularly. At the time I didn't post any chatty 'here's me and here's why I'm here'-type post, because I couldn't do it without it becoming long-winded, and because it's really not very interesting, and because attempting it was becoming a barrier to writing… Continue reading The Frustrated Nester – A User Guide
Category: Writing
Recalibration and Carrying on Regardless (with NaNoWriMo)
When I started teaching - hard to believe now - it was in front of a blackboard, the heel of my hand permanently chalky. But a few years later, a brand new interactive whiteboard was installed in my classroom. For the uninitiated, this now-standard (in UK classrooms at least) piece of equipment uses a special… Continue reading Recalibration and Carrying on Regardless (with NaNoWriMo)
The Leaving Season
It was around midnight, but still warm enough to sit outside the Irish pub in the French town on this early summer evening. My leaving night had taken us from the hip café restaurant in the old town, via a relaxed wine bar, to here, where we had taken a table beside the boulevard, looking… Continue reading The Leaving Season
Congo Sketch – Balls to the Wall
Another Sunday, another trip up the coast for some beach time. After a couple of years of African living I don't always stare out of the window on every road trip, like I did at the beginning. But I still do it often. There are moments where the thought presents itself - I'm living in… Continue reading Congo Sketch – Balls to the Wall
Am I Actually A Writer?
I had to answer this question a few days ago. I was on my way out of a creative writing workshop I'd opportunistically attended, one of a series that formed part of the 'Aye Write' book festival in Glasgow (there can be no better name for a Glasgow-based literary festival). Despite my usual resolution before… Continue reading Am I Actually A Writer?
Congo Sketch – Departure Lounge
Barely an African-looking face amongst them, cheeks bump in constant cheery bisous. Every couple of minutes another healthily glowing French family emerges at the top of the stairs, smiling in anticipation, and so begins the procession of politesse as they saluer each family they know. They fan out in formation to greet colleagues and fellow school-gate… Continue reading Congo Sketch – Departure Lounge
Recreating Missé – Part Two
It's a mere 5 months since I wrote Recreating Missé - Part One, and I'm sure both of you who read it have been on tenterhooks...or more likely you dismissed me as a two-post wonder and moved on. When I wrote that post, full of inspiration and plans, I knew nevertheless that it was about to… Continue reading Recreating Missé – Part Two
Congo Sketch – Waiting Room
The clinic's always busy on a Monday morning, the maladies of the weekend being called to order as the doors open. Patients sit, patiently, on long wooden benches set in schoolroom rows. Like the GP waiting room I remember from my childhood, where eyes were all raised expectantly to the number display. (I remember that waiting… Continue reading Congo Sketch – Waiting Room
Recreating Missé – Part One
Welcoming retreat There was so much I hadn't expected from 'A Writer Begins' with Circle of Missé. I didn't expect this retreat to feel as if I was being welcomed as a house guest of the family, while simultaneously having the impression of a boutique hotel where every little need was anticipated. I didn't… Continue reading Recreating Missé – Part One
Catriona Turner Books & Blog 