My thoughts about books, writing, life and so many other things….Judy Leigh/ Elena Collins.
Stephen King famously said 'Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.' He followed William Faulkner in this idea: in order to become the greatest writer you can be, you must get rid of all your self- indulgent passages and your precious, unfeasible characters for …
Continue reading On identifying the darlings and then killing them
So, here I am in the middle of rural Brittany, up a very vibey hill which has legends of elves and korrigans and spirits and all sorts. The wind is moaning and dark clouds hang. Someone has just taken a photo of someone else and they have come out twice on the picture, no gadgets …
Continue reading Up a hill in the middle of nowhere. What would you miss most?
David Mitchell's novel, The Bone Clocks, passed me by last year although several of my writer friends raved about it. But I am on a writer's quest to read even more widely than I used to. Everything is inspiration: popular novels, YA, book club novels, clever writing, predictable writing, and - above all - successful …
In a previous blog, I hinted that Shakespeare's plays may have been early soap operas for the thousands of groundlings who cheered and hissed and threw missiles at the stage when the tragedy was notched up a gear. They would have paid a penny, these butchers and tanners, seamen, shop keepers, wig makers, to stand …
Continue reading Concerning Corrie: we need more grit and less suds
'... we will draw the curtain and show you the picture.' I loved Shakespeare when I was at school, despite my English teachers. They were not the enthusiastic pedagogues of today, striving to make the bard accessible because every child mattered. My teachers were dry pecking birds who wanted to perpetuate a class system in …
Continue reading Sublime Shakespeare: ‘Tis Beauty Truly Blent
Dancing is such a great way to celebrate and to enjoy how our bodies react when we're enveloped in the rhythm and the emotion of music. I have decided this summer is all about spontaneous dancing. When no one expects it. Unplanned. Grab someone by the hand or just leap onto the table by yourself, …
Continue reading We should dance more! Join me – become a crazy dancer..
This weekend, four of us bundled ourselves in an old Peugeot Estate with heated seats and we hurtled up to Loughborough for the Wordsmith Award Ceremony. It didn't take us too long to get there from the sunny South West, but there was an exciting whirl of a snowstorm in Tamworth and by the time we …
Jürgen Klopp came to Liverpool six months ago, inheriting a tired team who played slack and lacklustre football. He has brought with him a reputation, a rock star charisma, a keen and articulate intelligence and a unique sense of humour and mischief which would quickly endear him to fans. More importantly, he has brought the …
Continue reading What if Jeremy Corbyn were more like Jürgen Klopp?
Lots of people tell me they don't get Samuel Beckett. Perhaps they have stared at a script in a Drama lesson at school, or watched a little bit performed out of context on film. My own first taste of Beckett was watching a play called 'En Attendant Godot', aged 18, all in French, in a …
Continue reading Best of Samuel Beckett: Mark Rylance hamming it up. (Part 1)
Today, April 8th, is International Roma Day. It is a day where we celebrate Roma culture and raise awareness of some of the issues faced by Romani people all over the world. In the 21st Century climate of globalisation, inclusion and respect for minorities' rights and culture, Roma and Sinti people seem to have been forgotten, viewed …
That quintessence of dust 