The whys and the wherefores

So, I promised a story right ?   Ah, yeah, that’s right. That would be the one I’ve been working on day and night, thinking out what I could write, what might entice you to stay and while and read.   I finally found the story line in the most obvious place. Life. It is ...

In case you were wondering, this is the first time I’m writing fiction publicly. Let’s be honest, it’s the first time I’m writing fiction at all and possibly getting further than the first few-thousand words. Please help me – give me advice on how to improve my writi...

A few weeks back I had the privilege of helping out a sports day in a large comprehensive school. All the fast kids were doing the sprints and all the non-sporty kids were sitting on the ground to watch. My job was to lead the cheering, keep the watchers motivated in watching and the runners...

Or the British Heart Foundation to be more precise.     I can’t blog for the British Heart Foundation without plugging them in some way during these 24 hours. Think of this as being like an advertisement slot.   Why did I choose the BHF?   Because each and every one of u...

It was getting harder. The thumping of my heart was all I could hear inside my swimming cap. I hated that cap, sticking down on my head, pulling on my forehead, pulling my hair but right now I couldn’t let myself think about that.   What was there to think about? The flapping of the&he...

  30 minutes to …. do what ?   If you were my dog, you would say, waggle your legs in the air in time to your favourite dream and snore between the entries your mistress is frantically beating out on her old laptop.   If you were my husband, you tell me to play against&...

Tiny Void, who not only blogged her way through the A Schedule but monitored as well, as spent some time cheering me on.  It turns out her chosen charity was the American Heart Association. In fact, I think somewhere in the back of my memory, I remember look her up this morning. Anyway. She ...

Muriel was going to feature in my 'story' which isn't being told right now because I'm a lazy toad and I'm not doing it - queen of procrastination again. Muriel was one of my best friends. She was physically several years younger, mentally, much younger. She had been highly protected by her paren...

Michael was my little cousin. I didn't know much about Michael's problems but I believe his heart was back to front. I know he couldn't walk very far, I know he couldn't run. I know he hated being different from the other kids. I know that Michael had operation after operation after operation unt...

After days of hesitation and insecurity I have made a decision. I'm not going to open this blog to my real life friends and that means I probably won't make much money for the Heart Foundation. However, I am too shy to ask them for their money and even more shy to ask them to…