Tag: Imagination

Wasting Words on the Dock of the Bay

This coffee shop, in Cardiff Bay, is one of my favourite writing places.

This coffee shop, in Cardiff Bay, is one of my favourite writing places.  I like to abandon my laptop for a notebook and pen.  There is something reassuring about forming every single letter with my biro. With the onset of autumn, I remembered a blog post I forgot to publish last October, because I had been absorbed in the agony of the editing process.  I wrote this post when editing You Can’t Go It Alone.

My imagination roams free in this setting.

Once my coffee cup is empty, I let the pen wander across the page.  Hoping to catch some dialogue from the unsuspecting customers, I listen with my best writer’s ear.  I am happy here in this café suspended above the water.  Alas, the sound of my beeping phone collides head on with my imagination.  I stop writing and must look at the email from an insurance company.  I wonder if writers had less distractions prior to the digital age, so I google ‘writing quotations’. 

Virginia Woolf pops up on my phone, but she doesn’t look happy and she says:

Sitting on the dock in the Bay wasting words

‘Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.’

Obviously, Virginia never had to cope with the disruptive influence of a mobile phone. I decide my imagination has been temporarily locked by my phone: it is a twenty first century condition called ‘beepitis’.  Fortunately, I do not need to re-boot my imagination as it starts up again. I am trying to re-work a menacing scene in my book. Hoping to get inspiration, I look at the murky water from the window.  Despite the distracting background noise, I make a list of adjectives. The shopping list of words stares at me, defying me to write something coherent. It is useless! 

I decide to drive home via Cardiff Docks to gather some words for a scene in my novel. It is a sinister setting.

I decide to drive home via Cardiff Docks to gather some words.  I drive off absorbing the atmosphere of the autumn’s day and watch the leaves dance across the road.  Almost forgetting to stop at the red light, I look out for the sign to the docks, but realise I am driving over a new road.  I hate the massive construction with barriers at each side.  Finally, I drive through the docks and stop to pull over to make some notes for finishing touches to a scene.  I am considered with suspicion. I ignore the onlookers and write until my car beeps me to tell me there is something wrong with a filter.

Clearly, I need ‘a room of my own’ to write.

Time to go home to my laptop: time to find ‘a room of one’s own’, time to sculpt my manuscript and stop wasting time and listing words. The truth is the book is almost done but I don’t want to let the characters live their lives without me.

My book costs less than the price of a coffee and will last longer.

You Can’t Go It Alone has been available since May.  I have been delighted with the reviews. Reviewers have enjoyed visiting Delfryn and getting to know the inhabitants.  The agony of the editing process was worth it, as it helped readers to connect. In celebration of my thirteenth review, I am reducing the cost of the kindle format next week.  Of course, I would be delighted to receive more reviews.  My book is less than half the price of a coffee and will last longer.  Indeed, one reviewer wrote:

‘An intricate, thoughtful story of real people whose life will continue long after the author has typed the end’ Perdisma, Amazon reviewer

Here is a snapshot of my most recent reviews:

Reviewers have enjoyed visiting Delfryn and getting to know the inhabitants.

‘It’s a roller-coaster of a novel in which the beautiful Welsh countryside and weather take a leading role. I was gripped by these characters, and by Cahalin’s fascinating touches.’ Professor Maggie Humm

‘The author has a real feeling for character and place… Her ideas around plot and how a story unfolds are original, and well executed, with a good balance of lightness and shade.’ Welsh Annie, top 500 Amazon Reviewer

You Can’t Go It Alone is available on Amazon.

 ‘The author is not afraid to face life’s most challenging problems head on. What appeals about the novel is that she does not ‘go on crusade’ but underpins these problems with a deep, rich humanity …’ John Broughton, author

‘Complex and vivid tapestry of a story’ Jena. C. Henry, USA author, blogger and reviewer

‘As a debut novel, You Can’t Go It Alone is an accomplished read. Eloquent, moving and packed with vivid imagery…’ Audrey Davis

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

Another Chapter of my Writing Adventure

Meet the members of RNA South Wales and West Chapter meeting.

Desperate to fall in love, my characters have been demanding my attention for months.  They tease me with the knowledge I am writing a manuscript for the RNA New Writers’ Scheme.  I’ve been travelling back to the seventies with my book folk, Pearl and Jim et al, and we’ve had fun, tears and tantrums.  Pressing pause on the lives of Jim and Pearl, I attended the RNA South Wales and West Chapter meeting.

I discarded my writing clothes and magic slippers.  Resisting the temptation to visit Narnia in my wardrobe, I hunted down a skirt, lamb’s wool jumper and shoes.  Pearl was a little concerned about the choice of footwear and wanted me to wear suede knee length boots.  I shrugged at her concern because I felt the writer should be in charge for once.

It was a joy to meet a group of writers who had also emerged from their writing caves.   I discovered that there was a Norwegian writer, a writer of erotic fiction, a family saga author and romantic suspense author in our midst.   I didn’t ask which characters they’d locked in their caves back home, or if they’d left their companions in a good place.

Sue, an employee of House of Fraser, took us on a journey through the decades of the store that started life as Howells

The writers adjusted to daylight and ordered drinks before the speaker arrived.  Sue, an employee of House of Fraser, took us on a journey through the decades of the store that started life as Howells.  We learned of the Howells family and the changing face of the store.  The stories led us behind the scenes of the store to meet with the resident ghosts of Howells’ past.  As our imaginations travelled down the hidden subterranean corridors of the attic rooms, we were introduced to a woman dressed in grey and a man in a top hat.  The woman in grey chiffon danced in Jan Baynham’s imagination and will no doubt arrive in one of her stories.

My characters continued to knock on my imagination throughout the meeting.  I have since discovered that Evonne Wareham has a very effective way of dealing with petulant characters.  This is the kind of advice I need to keep me on track.  I am sure I saw the man in a top hat sitting at our table during discussions.  He wandered through my imagination and into the café where he barged Pearl and Jim out of the way.

It was fascinating to observe the way a wall of the old chapel is embedded into the store.

After the meeting, the man in the top hat led me to the site of the former chapel where the shoe department is now located. It was fascinating to observe the way a wall of the old chapel is embedded into the store. New stories and new characters created a fog in my mind.

As the handbag lady writer, I couldn’t help wishing I could nip back in time one hundred and fifty years to grab a vintage bag for the Handbag Gallery.  I would like to chat with Mrs Howells to discover which book she would like to place in the gallery.  I am sure I could also persuade Mr Howells to sell books in handbags.

The RNA Chapter marked a new chapter in my writing career.  I learned that I need to press pause on a chapter of my book occasionally. Leaving the writing cave gives my imagination a boost, and I am excited at the prospect of getting to know this group of local authors and hope to find out more about their characters.

Take a look at Jan Baynham’s experience of the meeting at:

http://janbaynham.blogspot.com/

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

My novel is available here.

How to Travel

The river meandered through the valley and spring was in the air in Delfryn.

Planes are grounded, but we can travel.  As writers we can allow our characters explore the places we long to visit.  I am forcing my fictitious friends to visit restaurants, parties and the fairground.  I am delighting in the hustle and bustle of the crowded locations and soaking up the atmosphere more than ever before.  A lockdown cannot lock my imagination and the silence helps me to find the words.

I have selected my seventies outfit, added some powerful eyeliner and made my way to a Valentine’s party

My work in progress, Loving You (working title) is set in the seventies so I escaped to another time and place. I selected my seventies outfit, added some powerful eyeliner and made my way to a Valentine’s party in a café located in Dockers Row, Aberynys. Lorenzo and Stella Ferrari introduced a community to Italian food.  It may be a simple menu, but I enjoyed the comforting aroma of garlic.  Food was plentiful and the atmosphere was heavy with the laughter.  I departed from the café before there was any sign of love, but I heard some soulful singing.  There were whispers of strike action at the sewing factory from some of the other guests.  I may need to share some of my store cupboard recipes with the factory girls.

Welcome to Aberynys, the home of my characters.

I bought a lovely red Mini Cooper and followed a Ford Zephyr out to Delfryn.  Oh, it is so beautiful there.  The river meandered through the valley and spring was in the air.  I spotted a young man absorbed in a painting.  I did not chat to Jim as I found myself back here in front of my laptop when the news headlines disturbed the flight of my imagination. Cake o’clock with and strong pot of filter coffee always gets me through the days at the moment.

I bought a lovely red Mini Cooper and followed a Ford Zephyr out to Delfryn.

Time to leave reality again, I travelled to France via Roseanna Ley’s novel, Her Mother’s Secret.  I met a writer in the novel who explained that:
‘The writer could be as selfish as he pleased. He could nip into that other world whenever the urge arose, returning to reality only when the necessary work was done.’

I love nipping in and out of reality and I find myself breaking simple rules of life to shake it up.  I can have cake for breakfast, bacon and eggs for tea and make up a silly dance to Abba music if the mood takes me.  I don’t care if the neighbour sees me dancing in the garden room: anything goes at the moment.

I invite you to make up your own rules in the comfort of your own home.  Book yourself into a good book or write yourself into the places you miss.  Seek solace in good old fashioned comfort food.  For instance, I made tomato soup with fresh tomatoes that were too soft and squishy.  I roasted the tomatoes with dried herbs, seasoning and olive oil at 180 degrees. When the tomatoes were cooked and deliciously sweet, I blended them with stale bread to thicken up the soup.  Delicious! This upside-down world meant we ate the soup at midnight and then I went on to plan a new village I will immerse myself in when writing my third novel. When my editor checks into Delfryn and Aberynys, I am going to write a light-hearted story set in Yorkshire.  I have already met Maisie and called in at Heatherbridge.

I am going to love you and leave you and wish you the power of your imagination to help you through this difficult time.

 

Please all my Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my first novel is available here.