Welcome
|
A big thank you on behalf of Helen & Douglas House to everyone who has so generously contributed to my ongoing fund raising project! Welcome to my website. I hope that some of my ideas about teaching and writing may be of use to you, and that you’ll write to me about your own experiences. Piano teaching has to be one of the most privileged professions in the world, with all the opportunities it brings. Because we spend time with our pupils one on one, we’re able to glimpse what makes them tick – what excites them, what they love best. And as their playing develops, we’re in a position to watch their self-esteem grow. But we all need new ideas and the occasional boost to refresh and motivate us, and I hope that the teaching section of my website will become a forum for sharing discoveries. |
 |
| Photo by Julian Barton |
If you’ve always wanted to write a story, or a novel, or anthing at all, but somehow haven’t been able to quite get going, I hope that my own experience might encourage you to make this the year that you started! I would like to be able to say that something wonderful and exciting started me off with my writing, but in fact, the first sentence of my first story came to me one gloomy night quite a few years ago now, when I was feeling rather low and unmotivated, and all I could manage to do was scrub the kitchen floor. And considering my standards of housekeeping in those days, that was really saying something! (I’m happy to report, however, that since then, the art of domesticity has become one of my greatest joys, which just goes to show that we can all change dramatically in all sorts of ways!)
As I was dumping the unspeakable water into the sink, that sentence came to me utterly out of the blue. I’d never thought about writing stories – it hadn’t even been a childhood pastime. And so when it came into my mind I thought “That might make a nice opening for a story … what a shame I can’t write.” Sometime later, another few sentences came, and I had the same reaction as I’d had with the first. But as time went by, those first seeds grew, and I finished it. Later I sold my first story to The People’s Friend magazine published by D.C. Thomson, and it appeared in their 1999 hardback Annual. I never would have guessed what this first success would lead to, and that eventually my first novel would come out, published by Robert Hale Ltd, London.
Of course, writing takes an immense amount of work and determination. That demon called discouragement can rear it’s niggling head and make everything feel too hard or even impossible. But postive thoughts and a fresh angle can sweep it away and leave one filled with renewed energy. So please do write to me – I’d love to get to know you online and exchange ideas!
May your New Year be filled with new experiences and discoveries – the best kind of magic.
