Setting sail into the unknown

‘I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I begin to look at it, until it shines.’
~ Emily Dickinson

I’ve called this blog ink on my fingers as that really does sum up where i am in my life right (write) now. I’m living by the sea on the south coast of England – living by myself, I should add, the most positive life-affirming thing i think I have ever done – trying to keep the wolf from the door by writing articles for magazines and websites, while making my brain expand and contract as I write my book. Ahh yes, The Book…. the thing/object/dream/cathartic exercise i have been working on for the last five months… i have a sneaking suspicion that TB will be creeping into these postings as i get into my stride. perhaps i’ll turn into Charles Dickens and share a chapter at a time, or more likely, i’ll send out little snippets, like butterflies into the ether and see what comes back. i look forward to connecting with other souls with inky fingers (and bells on their toes)

The first six chapters are with my agent now, a wonderfully feisty Irish woman who i have complete faith in, and if all goes well I’ll be in London next week to meet with her so we can roll up our sleeves and plot the next stage – to find the right publisher. But in truth that feels like a dream – to get the work published and in readers’ hands would be amazing, but before that can happen I know I have many more red-wine-and-cigarette fuelled nights ahead of me, with ink on my fingers and pieces of paper strewn over my living room floor (literally cutting and pasting, with scissors and sellotape, has proved to be the best way to focus the mind when the words start swimming across the monitor)…

so I spend all day writing – writing articles, writing TB, writing in my diary, writing lists of things I should be doing, will be doing, want to be doing – and now, at last, I’ll be writing here too. The photo is a painting my beautiful sister did for me as a christmas present – the way she sees me writing, with my head lost in thought. I’ve always been in awe of her talent, what a gift to be able to put what you see in your head down on paper – shiny serif words never feel quite the same…

I’ve found so much inspiration from reading other’s blogs that the temptation to join in and get cosy in my own corner of cyber space was just too irresistible. of course, whether I write anything profound, that helps and inspires, or just plain amuses, remains to be seen…

but it’s exciting to see how this new project will grow.  It also feels strange to be writing for/to readers who can leave their comments (and please do!) – you get used to writing anonymous words for magazine readers, where you don’t have to put yourself into the text – and I’ve kept a diary since I was eleven, a conversation that I don’t think will ever end – but a blog is different, and as I’ve read more of them over the last few months I’ve come to see that there is such an incredible network of like-minded souls out there, a real community of artists, writers, dreamers and believers all sharing their thoughts and lives. So here I am, cup of rooibos tea by my keyboard, sun shining through the window, ready to set sail into the unknown.

~welcome to my blog~