ONCE UPON A DREAM; A Poetic Winter Begins

 

Today is cold and there is the bite of frost in the air.  Snow has been forecast for this week and it feels very much as if winter has finally arrived.  It's the time to enjoy the last few days with the Yuletide tree and the house all aglow with fairy-lights.  Very soon people will return to work and school, so this cosy time at home is to be treasured and enjoyed.  It's a time to listen to festive tunes and enjoy all the lovely gifts you recieved for Christmas, while eating treats and drinking with merriment as you Zoom call friends and family.  

I've been very grateful this year that I come from such a small family, because unlike lots of families, no-one has had to be left out!  There were no agonizing decisions as to which side of the family to bubble with, or who was going to be invited round.  The restrictions haven't really had a negative impact on me in any way and I feel very lucky to be in that position because I know that this Christmas will have been tough for a lot of people.  

Winter is such a festive time, even after the Christmas trimmings have been put away.  There are still winter markets, ice-skating and snow flurries to enjoy.  For me there is nothing more beautiful than driving by the local woods and seeing it all frosted over, white and silvery in the mornings.   

I got this new book, A Poem for Every Winter Day which epitomizes the season perfectly, with a poem for each day of winter, from the 1st of December until the 29th February.  Some of the poems are wintry themed, waxing lyrical on the beauty of frost and snow.  Here the classics are represented with Christina Rossetti's In the Bleak Mid-Winter,  Thomas Hardy's Snow in the Suburbs and Robert Louis Stevenson's Winter-Time.  Robert Frost's famous poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is well known among literature students, but here too is his poem Dust of Snow which is beautiful in it's simplicity.Modern poets are also represented in this anthology too, from Maya Angelou to George the Poet, from Carol Ann Duffy to Spike Milligan.

As an art form poetry has the reputation for being a little intimidating, but this anthology is a fantastic primer for anyone who wants to read more poems without being bogged down in the academia of it all.  A Poem for Every Winter Day will give you a taste of winter at any time of year, which is another reason why I like  it so  much.  Some of the poems are short and simplistic, others are extracts from longer works of literature.  It's a great book to dip in and out of, and by reading just one poem each day of winter you will be well-versed by springtime.  And just look at that stunning cover art!  It's one of the prettiest winter books I've ever seen and I feel happy just looking at it underneath my Christmas tree where the metallic font glimmers in the fairy-lights!

As early winter darkness falls I'm enjoying some of my Christmas presents; I'm wearing Pandora's Cinderella jewelry and Vera Wang's Princess perfume which is just lovely, and I plan on curling up for a evening of reading.  I recieved Jason Fox's new book Life Under Fire which I like even more than his first book Battlescars.  This book is extremely helpful and I know I'll be referring back to it time and time again, so I want to finish reading that tonight.  Then I can start on this pretty book of winter poems.  But whichever book I'm reading from now on it will be propped up on the velvet book pillow I got for Christmas.  I've wanted a book pillow for years, so this silvery-grey velvet one is much appreciated and has been in use since Christmas day.  I squealed when I opened it, I was that excited to finally have one! 

So I'm going to light my new Frankincense and Myrrh candle, play Medwyn Goodall's A Christmas Tapestry CD, open my box of cherry liqueur chocolates, pour a glass of the matching cherry brandy and settle down with my book pillow and a new book, while the chestnuts roast in the oven.  I hope that you enjoy the rest of the festive season and that Father Christmas brought you some marvelous new books this year too! BB Marie x

MUSICAL DOLL; Cold December Night

 Definitely my favourite track on Buble's Christmas album...

Merry Christmas!

BOOK NOOK; Mr Dickens & His Carol by Samantha Silva

 

"...I deliver it to the printers tomorrow, first thing.  At last done with the tyranny of deadlines and pages and word counts, in short, the sufferings and torments of those who are bound to the life of the pen..."

Charles Dickens has writer's block, a state of being brought on by the fact that his last book, Martin Chuzzlewit was a complete flop.  His agent is on his back wanting to know where the magic's gone and his publishers have demanded that he write a new book by Christmas - indeed, to be published in time for the lucrative Christmas market, which is something that publishers still love to tap into today.  

But it's already November, his house is full of distractions with a new born baby, five other children, three dogs, a cat, a wife who likes to get 'spendy' and go on shopping sprees, not to mention his own blood relatives hanging off his coat tails.   It seems that everyone is depending on him for their bread and butter, yet his genius has left him and debt dogs at his heels.  

Such is the opening of Mr Dickens and his Carol, a fantastic novel based on the life of Charles Dickens during the time when he wrote his most famous tale of all, the novella A Christmas Carol.  With the creative wound of Chuzzlewit still bleeding and his rival William Thackery rubbing his nose in his failure, both in print reviews and in person at the gentlemen's club favoured by the Victorian Literati, Dickens is depressed, tired of the obligation to pen an income for others to feed off and convinced that he'll never write anything worth reading again.  And if he isn't the celebrated author, who is he?

This novel perfectly illustrates how writers' identify themselves with the their work, with the opportunity to publish their work, and with the success or failure of that work.  It makes a point of highlighting how difficult it is to live by one's pen, how precarious, how mercurial a writer's life is due to the constant highs and lows.  The buzz of publication day fades in light of the first envious review;  the elation of having finished a book and submitted it to the publisher is mitigated by the editor excitedly asking "What's next? Have you started it yet?When do you expect to finish it?" the gleam of money in their eyes.  They can afford to be excited, because they're the ones on a salary.  But for the writer in such a low paid, and sometimes unpaid profession, the only way to survive is to keep churning out the words as quickly as possible and just hope that they sell. Yet, to this day, being an author remains one of the most coveted jobs in the world, and I have to admit that nothing beats it when the writing is going well.  It's certainly the best job I've ever had and I love being a writer, above all other things. 

Dickens wrestles with all of this. Feeling that his public has turned against him, he has an identity crisis which impacts on his motivation to write.  He questions his own talent, his former plot lines and wonders if maybe he shouldn't have killed off  Dorritt after all, as perhaps his readers have refused to embrace Chuzzlewit by way of punishment?  All this and more swirls around in his head as he walks the streets of London, looking for inspiration, for a muse, for an opening line, for the Christmas book that will save him and his publishers from bankruptcy and debt. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel.  In some ways it reminded me of the film The Man Who Invented Christmas, but this is a different story altogether. It is thick with Victorian, Dickensian atmosphere and you do feel like you're right there in the wintry fog of a London street, wandering with Mr Dickens around the publishing district of Clarkenwell, which is where one of my own publishers hail from.  It is like taking a peep into the past and seeing the world through the eyes of one of England's most famous and prolific authors.  

Mr Dickens and his Carol is the perfect book to snuggle up with this Christmas Eve and it definitely needs to be read at Christmas-time, with a steaming cup of mulled wine and a few roasted chestnuts to nibble on. 

Have a blessed Yuletide

BB Marie x

BOOK NOOK; The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

 "It was a day for wearing thick socks and soft sweaters, for gathering around the Christmas tree and sipping hot drinks in front of a flickering fire."

Nothing beats curling up with a Christmassy romance at this time of year and The Christmas Sisters has no less than four romances going on, so you get a lot for your money.  It tells the story of the McBride sisters who were orphaned in a mountaineering accident over twenty years earlier.  The accident has left it's mark on all of them, but each has adapted and copes in a different way.

Hannah is the strong capable career woman, working in New York City.   Beth is the middle sister and the first one to marry and give up her career to be a full time mother, also in New York.  Then the youngest is Posy, an adventuress who is feeling trapped as she helps to run the family business in the Scottish Highlands.  In a way, these sisters reminded me of the three Halliwell sisters from the original Charmed TV show. (I haven't even watched the tragedy that is the reboot and I don't intend to!) They have similar characteristics to Prue, Piper and Pheobe. 

The three women have grown apart as life has taken them in different directions, but once a year at Christmas time they all gather together at the Highland lodge where they grew up.  It's usually a time fraught with tensions.  Jealousy is a running theme throughout the novel, as each sister assumes her siblings have a better and easier life, but over the course of the holidays they come to see that they have all been left traumatized by the accident and that it is time to start dealing with that trauma.

On the surface trauma is not a particularly festive theme, but as anyone who has ever experienced trauma will tell you, the pressure to be perfect is never more apparent than at Christmas, so if you are dealing with additional trauma too, it can make for a melting pot of emotional outbursts.  This novel deals with the long term effects of childhood trauma in a very sensitive way, using humour as a buffer so that the book doesn't become too heavy.

It is a festive mash-up of secrets, surprises, romance and snowy adventures.  The sisters must learn to overcome their past and move forward into a new understanding of themselves and each other.The Christmas Sisters is a lovely easy read to pick up and put down again as you work your way through your own festive to-do list and it is an entertaining chick-lit novel.  And as we can't get to enjoy Scotland in the snow for a festive break this year due to the Covid 19 pandemic, reading this book is the next best thing to a winter holiday in the Highlands. Happy reading!

Marie x

MUSICAL DOLL; Evermore

 I swear you were there...

MUSICAL DOLL; One More Sleep - Acoustic

Love this version...xxx

BOOK NOOK; Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige

"It is possible with enough time and imagination to break your own heart"

Stealing Snow is a retelling of the classic fairytale The Snow Queen.  It begins in an asylum in New York City where troubled teenagers are held for their own safety because they each hold a belief that they are somehow magical.  One girl believes that she can fly, a boy has an obsession with fire, while our main protagonist was confined because she walked through a mirror trying to get into Wonderland.  Her name is Snow and this is the tale of her dysfunctional family.

When Snow's best friend is kidnapped she escapes through a wall to rescue him and finds herself in one of the magical worlds her therapist has been telling her don't exist.  As you would expect from a Snow Queen retelling, this is a world of ice, snow and northern lights, but less predictably it is also a world of pink penguins and flying dresses; a world where the snow itself is magic, a commodity to be used by the heroes and abused by the power hungry. In this book even the golems and familiars are made of snow.

As Snow chases after her friend on a rescue mission, she meets many familiar characters such as Gerda and Kia, and the Little Robber Girl, but they are none of them what they seem and Snow has to try and identify who she can trust in this world that makes no sense to her and yet which feels like a part of her soul.  Here she meets a Snow King, a Fire Queen, a River Witch and a flirty lad name Jagger who promises to be her guide.  

Snow wrestles with her new feelings for Jagger which she thinks are a betrayal of her friend Bale and a distraction from her mission.  It is a lesson in seizing the romance that is before you, rather than holding onto dreams of a lost  love.  

As she learns more about her past she discovers that she has powers of her own that she must learn to control in preparation for the final snowy battle that will determine who the next monarch is to be.

Stealing Snow is a lovely little book that is full of wintry magic and while it can be a bit predictable at times, it is still a festive fireside read for December. 

Enjoy!

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Cosy Winter Reading Days

Today is a dull grey day and the sun is hiding away behind a thick duvet of cloud as the rain falls in drizzles.   Yesterday I put up my Christmas tree and decorated my house for the festive season so while it's dull outside, indoors is all aglow with fairy-lights gleaming and sparkling in every room.  It looks so pretty!  I've spritzed Festive Spice room spray from M&S all around the house and I have the matching oil simmering in the oil burners, so my home smells as festive and Christmassy as it looks.  I had all their Christmas fragrances delivered last month in sprays, oils and tealights and while I enjoy the Winter's Eve and Frankincense & Myrrh scents, their Festive Spice one is my favourite.  I use it every year.

One of the things I most enjoy about the dark season is that it gives permission for slow living and cosy days.  At this time of the year it is perfectly acceptable not to stir from your living room, unless it's to put the kettle on.  It's acceptable to enjoy being at home as much as possible, to draw the curtains and close out the night, light candles at noon and have the fairy-lights on all day.  This year especially we have an additional excuse for all this cosiness because we are all under restrictions due to the Covid virus pandemic.  Now we are forced to keep winter as it should be kept - by being as warm and toasty as can be and staying in with a  nice film or a great book.

Universities always factor 'reading days' into their courses.  This is time when students can catch up on any reading they might have missed, or do their extended reading around a particular topic.  It's good to get into the practice of setting aside a specific day for your reading.  It's isn't about being lazy, but it's essential to increase your knowledge and to give your brain fuel to burn.  A reading day is also an enjoyable form of self care, but many people think that they are too busy to spend a day reading books.  I would say that they are too busy not to! 

I have a few reading days on my university timetable coming up next month and I am looking forward to them.  In addition I have a pile of new books that I need to read and review for my blog, so that is what I plan to get to started on today.  The books I've complied are all snowy, wintry books that evoke the spirit of winter, so look out for Book Nooks on them coming over the next two or three months.  At this time of year, when the Christmas lights are twinkling and the fire is aglow, there is nothing better than curling up under a faux fur throw with a hot chocolate and reading a book of festive cheer, whether that's an old childhood favourite such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, a classic fairytale like The Snow Queen or a new festive romance you picked up at the supermarket.

Books are a part of everyday life, but never more so than in the winter months, when the imagination naturally leans towards tales of myth and magic and romance.  I like to make my reading days as atmospheric as possible, playing an ambient DVD and a CD softly in the background at the same time.  Today I have The Sleigh Ride on the TV, which is a long journey through the snows of Norway on a reindeer pulled sleigh and I'm playing The Box of Delights soundtrack.  The two together, along with all the Christmas lights, make up an enchanting festive reading grotto.  

I do encourage you to make time for your own reading days, because if you don't plan them and schedule them in you might not find the time.  It's a lovely way to spend a day, during a time when we can't actually go anywhere anyway, and if you create a pretty festive atmosphere you'll enjoy it even more.  So I'm off to get started on this pile of wintry novels I want to review for my blog and I'll be spending the next week or so curled up by the Christmas tree and lost in a book. 

Enjoy your cosy reading days because this is what keeping winter is all about.  

BB Marie x

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Lock-down Birthday

 Do you believe in magic?

So what does a birthday in lock-down look like?  Well, it's been very nice so far, despite all the things I had planned for today (and December) already being cancelled due to the pandemic - it's been rather lovely actually.   It began with a festive shopping trip - because there's not really anything else we're allowed to do.  The Christmas Markets have been cancelled, but some shops are open, including The Range, who have ingeniously shoved half a dozen chest freezers into a corner of the shop to sell food so that they can legitimately stay open!  I love that sense of adaptation and survival - what a genius idea!  Of course, the shop was busy, with queues waiting to go in - and no-one was actually buying the food from the freezers, everyone was heading straights for the 'non-essentials' - but they are managing to stay in business and maintain jobs which is the main thing.

I had my very first Starbucks Eggnog Latte and it was delicious; sweet and creamy, with a hint of festive spice.  Then we went to buy new trimmings for our Christmas trees.  I picked up a pretty mouse-queen ballerina, a sparkly ice skate, unicorns and an ice-skating squirrel.  I'm looking forward to putting the tree up soon.

I recieved some pretty gifts too, including Kylie's new album Disco, which is great.  Magic is my favourite song so far, and I also like Mary Mary.  I got the limited edition transparent vinyl in an aquamarine colour.  It's lovely and goes nicely with the jade vinyl double album of Kylie's I got last year.  I've been playing Disco this afternoon, as I found places for my new presents.

My Mum also bought me a stunning fountain pen.  The only thing on my list this year was a new fountain pen and she has found the prettiest one I've ever seen.  It's a pastel pink pen with gold nib and pocket clip from Ted Baker.  It's so special and I love it.  Plus she got me a musical carousel ornament, as the carousel is my favourite ride and I haven't been able to go on one at all this year, because of the corona virus.

Of course I got lots of sweets, chocolates, cards, scented candles and bath products to pamper with, plus a baby soft sleep mask to wear in bed.   I'm currently burning Snowflake Cookie, which is my all time favorite festive candle and my house smells amazing.  In addition I got the Too Faced festive Enchanted Wonderland eye palette set.  This is dreamy, with gorgeous woodland animals on the front of each book-style palette, all wearing sparkling crowns and tiaras.  There is a Swan Queen, a Doe Deer and a Raccoon.

I treated myself to a few bits too, namely a pair of beautiful stud earrings from Pandora, fashioned to look like Cinderella's pumpkin coach.  They haven't arrived yet, but they should be here soon.  I might wear them for my next graduation ceremony.  I also bought myself a couple of box-sets - Outlander 5, which has become an annual birthday tradition - and the ITV series Cheat, a work of dark academia/thriller, set in Cambridge University, so I think I'm going to curl up with a slice of my Belgian chocolate birthday cake and watch that this evening.  So all in all, despite the very best efforts of Covid 19 to ruin everything for everyone this year, I have had a very enjoyable birthday and I feel spoilt rotten!  But you're allowed to be spoilt on your birthday 😊

 

BOOK NOOK; The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane

 

I adore synchronicity and I always feel like magic is afoot when serendipity turns up in my life.  A few weeks ago, before lock-down, I came across The Lost Spells and after flicking through and reading some of the poetry I knew I had to get it.  It's a beautiful book of nature based poetry and stunning water colour illustrations.  The words have great musicality and the artwork is very dynamic and full of  movement.   It's just the kind of poetry book that has a universal appeal, because its not too heavy and the illustrations add another dimension to the word pictures that the poems create. 

I enjoyed reading the book and loved it's almost pagan elements of connecting with the natural world around us.  My favourite poems are Red Fox who is the main character overall and the book begins and ends with him;  Grey Seal with it's enchanting selkie connotations; and Silver Birch which is wintry and beautiful. I can see why The Lost Spells has been such a hit with teachers, parents and children alike. It is a gentle, fun way to introduce youngsters to the magic of poetry and the vanishing landscapes around us.  This would be a great book to read to young children at bedtime, or when out on a field trip as they learn how to recognize the wildlife they come into contact with.  

I read the book and then put it on the shelf with my poetry collection, and didn't think too much more about it.  So imagine my surprise when one of my tutors told me that the author of The Lost Spells, Robert Macfarlane, was one of our Visiting Professors from Cambridge and that he was giving our next class!   I just love it when that kind of thing happens - the magic in the everyday coincidence - because there are no coincidences really.

That class was held tonight and it was great.  I learnt so much about Macfarlane and his work, not only as a poet, but also as an environmental activist too,  as well as being a Fellow at Cambridge University.  He even played a significant part in saving the trees of Sheffield with his poem Heartwood, which is featured in the book and was written especially for the Sheffield campaign to stop the felling of old, but healthy, trees across the city.   Heartwood gave our trees a much needed, and well respected voice, because when the Fellows from the top Universities in the country speak - people tend to listen.  This I feel, is a remnant of the deference given to the old cultured class, and a natural result of how Fellows have been taught to hold an audience and respectfully command a room.   

His class tonight raised many questions about the legacy we are leaving environmentally and he said that we are unfortunately becoming 'bad ancestors' for future historians, who will uncover our blatant misuse of the landscape in their excavations.  I can image the remnants of plastic that some future Neil Oliver type will be digging up in disgust a few hundred years from now!  It's embarrassing to think about. 

Macfarlane's work gets this message across in a powerful, almost subliminal way, for how can we save that which we cannot name?  His poetry therefore, reaches out to children, teaching them to look around them at the birds and bees, to identify and name them - and so to love them and help save them.  Sadly, it is the younger generations who will be left to right our wrongs in nature.

The Lost Spells appealed to me because it explores the magic of words. Whether it's a poem or an incantation, they have much in common and all words have power.   I liked the sense of creating magic by speaking the poems aloud - for what is that if not an incantation, a spell?  As I spent over twenty years writing spells poems in one way or another, be it for books, music or magazines, I was drawn to the spell-speaker power of this book and found it to be quite enchanting.   

As you read, you will find the melody in the words, the musicality of the stanzas.  Again, it is a good example of the fine line between poetry, music and lyrics.  But then the author told us tonight that his main inspirations are Beowulf and Gawain and the Green Knight, so it's not surprising his work has a touch of bardic music about it.  

He also gave us several readings of his work, which was very enjoyable and entertaining.  I especially liked his rendition of Jackdaw, in his softly spoken Received Pronunciation.  He has the kind of voice that is perfect for readings and bedtime stories.  Even in normal conversation , he speaks poetically and builds landscapes with his words, comparing a forest of birch trees to a barcode as he was 'driving through grey half-light'.  Just beautiful!

I always enjoy being taught by our Visiting Professors from Oxford and Cambridge as they do bring the magic of those Universities with them and their classes are always full.  This is what people mean when the say that University will open doors for you.  I have met so many people - authors, agents, Fellows and Professors -  that I would never have had the opportunity to meet had I not been a Masters student and it is one of the most valuable things I've experienced so far in over seven years of studying.  When such authors and prestigious Professors and Fellows venture north, they are sprinkling their magic on all of us in class - you just can't get that anywhere else.  I hope Robert Macfarlane comes to teach us again at some point as his class tonight was brilliant.   And if you love magic and poetry and art, then you will love The Lost Spells too.  

Enjoy!

BB Marie x

ONCE UPON A DREAM; A Year Ago Today...

 On this date,  a year ago today - this happened...😃🎓

MUSICAL DOLL; Between Twilight

 Beautiful, enchanting and romantic...

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Lock-down Princess

As the country prepares to go back into lock-down for the month of November,  I have been considering how this half-hearted attempt at stemming the corona virus will impact on my birthday month.  I say half-hearted because the Prime Minister has decreed that people must still go to work and school - so it's no lock-down at all really, as most people mix with far more 'households' through work than they do socially - so it's all a bit of a farce.  Still, it will upset some plans - bonfire night for instance, will effectively be cancelled, as no-one is allowed to hold organised fireworks displays and the fire brigade, understandably, are discouraging private bonfire parties. 

So my birthday later this month is going to be quite different.  Usually I go to see a show or something, but this year the theaters and ballets are closed, as are cinemas.  Last year I went to see the Little Mix concert and a few days later I went to see Last Christmas at the cinema.  This year I did have plans to go and see Ant Middleton's seminar and then for a pre-Christmas festive cream tea on my birthday at a local stately home, but now those plans are scuppered too!  At least our tickets for both events are still valid for when things return to normal.  And as for a spot of festive Christmas shopping while the brass band plays Christmas carols in the local shopping center - that's out the window as well because it's non-essential. And all this after my holiday to Orkney was cancelled in the summer!

What-a-to-do!  Of course I'm grateful for many things this year - we do at least have our government endorsed 'bubbles' to keep us company this time round.  I didn't mind the last lock-down and I was perfectly content with my own company, but my mother did struggle not seeing anyone for several months as she is a very social person.  All I need is a book!  But we just have to make the make the best of things, so we'll probably repeat what we did on Halloween and have a movie night with roasted chestnuts, festive food and drinks.  That was a fun night - we watched The Awakening, which we both enjoyed and my mum had decorated her house with pumpkins, ghost fairy-lights and lots of candles , so it was an enjoyable spooky evening and it made up for us not being able to go to the Halloween events at Sherwood Forest as we'd originally planned.   We'll probably do something similar for my birthday.

Another thing I'm grateful for is my habit of shopping ahead.  All my Christmas shopping is already done and dusted!  I even have all the cards, wrapping paper and gift tags ready in a drawer.  I've got my 2021 calendar - it's Anne Stokes Unicorns - and my mother bought me a pink 2021 diary/planner.  So apart from the food shop - I'm all done. It pays to be organised and to read and respond to a situation before it fully evolves, rather than reacting to it and panic buying after the crisis has hit home.  I do feel sorry for those people with children though, who are now faced with doing their present shopping online, in competition with every other family in lock-down.

Shopping ahead is the opposite of panic buying and it's something I addressed in my psychotherapy column recently.  The housewives of old used to keep a store cupboard, fully stocked with dried foods, canned goods, preserves, pickles, herbs, spices and baking ingredients.  This meant that they always had the means of a meal in the house - no matter what.  It meant that when they went shopping, they would purchase their fresh produce for the week, but everything else would be bought for the store cupboard, buying ahead on those items, so that they never ran out or ran too short.  I expect it was a natural response to years of rationing after the war.  When you have a well stocked store cupboard, there is simply no need to panic buy anything, because you already have everything you need in the cupboard.

We can all learn from this and I'm not just talking about groceries.  The habit of shopping ahead means that my mother and I have both completed all our Christmas shopping by the end of October.  She has even pre-ordered all her Christmas meats from the local butcher, so all she has to do is pick it up on Christmas week.  I'm not keen on meat, but I do like to shop ahead for all those little extras that make day to day life more luxurious.  I keep a 'little luxuries' store cupboard in my bedroom and I like to keep it stocked with skin care products, scented candles, new perfumes and so on.  I call it my beauty cabinet. I also buy stacks of books, films and music, plus I get sent them for review from time to time.  This effectively means that I can 'shop my shelves' and pick out something brand new whenever I want to treat myself.  When I shop for these items, I am generally shopping for my store cupboard, rather than for items I need to use immediately. 

Not only does this mean that the recent lock-down announcement didn't send me into a spiral of panic buying, it also creates a sense of calm, peace and security.  Life can be unpredictable.  The global pandemic has highlighted that jobs and incomes can be lost in an instant.  If you are living hand to mouth when that occurs, you could find yourselves in dire straits within a matter of days.  But if you've created the habit of shopping ahead during the prosperous times, when the lean times hit, you will feel them less keenly.  You will have a cosy nest, well feathered with all the items that make your life as comfortable as possible, as well as a store cupboard full of basics to tide you over for a bit.

I cannot overstate the sense of security this gives you.  I could lose my income tomorrow and still live like a princess.  This is because I know how it feels to struggle, how it feels to have the financial rug pulled out from under your feet, whether by circumstance or sabotage,  and so I've spent the more prosperous days lining my nest with everyday luxury.  It's not about being rich.  It's about being organised and budgeting the money you do have.  It's about the concept of buying pretty, which is something I've explored before here on my blog - why buy something plain, when you can buy something pretty?   Why have chrome desk lamps when you can buy rose gold ones?  Why have ordinary sewing scissors when you can buy an iridescent pair that look like a unicorn or a bird? And never underestimate the power of beautiful music to lift your mood and create a cosy atmosphere.  It's these little details that help to make up a princessy lifestyle. It's these small things that make you smile and realize how fortunate you are to enjoy such a pretty life, especially when the world has gone to pot. 

All it takes is a little organisation and planning.  Decide what makes your life feel luxurious. For me it's books, lovely music, candles, perfumes and pampering products.  If I can shop my own shelves and come back with a brand new book I've never read before, put on a face mask, pick out a scented candle from my stash and play a CD of beautiful music, I feel rich, regardless of how much money is in the bank.  For you, it might be teddy bear bedding and a box of chocolates; for your gran it might be a stash of new yarn and a fresh knitting pattern; for your husband it might a stack of vintage comics.  Whatever says everyday luxury to you, embrace it and stock up on it. Oh and here's one more tip  - if you can, pay ahead on your bills too, as this also creates a sense of security and mental well-being, plus it buys you time if your finances change for the worse.  It goes without saying that you should have some savings as well. And no, your husband's money doesn't count! Every woman should have a personal income and savings of her own. It's 2020 FFS. 

Living through uncertain times can foster anxiety and negativity.  Having your carefully laid plans cancelled or changed at the last minute is frustrating.  Yet there are always things you can do to live like a princess and to weather the storms that life throws at you.  Think ahead, plan ahead but be prepared to adapt, save up, buy pretty and shop ahead as much as you can, creating store cupboards of both basics and little luxuries that will provide comfort through lock-downs, down-turns and disasters, and that will help to cushion any negative blow that might be heading your way, because this is how you can live like a princess everyday, no matter what!

Stay safe in your castle, pretty one, until next time,

BB Marie x  

BOOK NOOK; The Familiars by Stacey Halls

The Familiars by Stacey Hall is a novel based upon the Pendle Witch Trials held in Lancashire in 1612.   All the main characters in the novel are based on historical figures from those trials and the author has woven a work of fiction around that framework. The author has a very atmospheric writing style and the tension builds as the day of the witch trials draws ever closer.

Of course, we already know what happened in Pendle in 1612 and the hanging of 10 people denounced as witches, based on the testimony of a young child and daughter of one of the accused,  is infamous here in the North of England.  But knowing the main outcome of the events of that time does not diminish one's enjoyment of the novel.  

In The Familiars the lady of Gawthorpe Hall, Fleetwood,  is desperate to have a child.  Her previous pregnancies have ended in miscarriage and she is determined to do all she can to carry this child full term, thus presenting her husband with the heir he requires of her.

Out in the woods one day she meets a young woman, Alice, who claims to be a midwife and Fleetwood decides to hire her.  Alice is skilled in herbs and healing and a friendship soon develops between these two young women.  That is, until events overtake them and Alice is taken up on a charge of witchcraft and thrown into the dungeons of Lancaster Castle.   

Convinced of Alice's innocence and that she will not be able to bear a living child without her midwife, Fleetwood embarks on a collision course with the male authorities and protocols of the time, as she sets about trying to help her friend and prevent her from swinging as a witch. 

The Familiars isn't spooky or scary, but it is an authentic retelling of historical events and one that sympathizes with the plight of the witches, and indeed, of the powerlessness of women during that precarious period of history, because as Fleetwood herself says in the book "I wouldn't wish a girls life on anyone".   It's a great book to curl up with on a chilly autumn day and the perfect witchy read for October. 

Blessed Be

Marie x

MUSICAL DOLL; Come Little Children...

 I'll take thee away, into a land of enchantment...

BOOK NOOK; Zero Negativity by Ant Middleton

"Adults, increasingly, are acting like teenagers. Teenagers, more and more, are acting like children.  Children are regressing into babies.  There are adults who can barely look after themselves.  They play the victim all the time and think only of me, me, me."p304

I have to deal with infantile adults all the time, whenever I'm working at the practice.  It is annoying and infuriating, but it's not my job to bring them up.  They have to decide to step up and take personal responsibility for their own lives.  Sadly, I know that most of them never will - not because they're not capable of doing so, but because they can't be bothered. It's too much effort.  Too much like hard work.  I wish I could give them this book, but even if I did, they probably wouldn't read it anyway!

Zero Negativity is the final book in Ant Middleton's self-help trilogy.  I had planned to buy a signed copy at his seminar that was due to take place this November, but due to corona virus, it has been pushed back to next year now.  I still have tickets though, so it is something to look forward to.  However, I didn't want to have to wait that long to read his latest book, so I ordered it on Amazon and it arrived yesterday.  I've spent a few happy hours getting into this man's positive head-space and I finished the book today.

Just like his first two volumes, this book is about encouraging people to be their best selves and achieve their goals.  It's a great pep talk and it does act as a bit of a brain-wash, in a good way, because it cleanses away the negative programming that society inflicts on us on a daily basis.  It differs from his other books, because here he admits that his TV hard man image is merely a persona - the leftovers of his time in the special forces, and that he's really a gentle spirited man.  I did feel that this softer side of his personality comes across more in this book than in the first two, which are very much written by the Chief Instructor.  Here the author has a more self-reflective voice and an almost wistful dream of the future.

Another way in which the book differs from the first two is that Ant's wife finally gets to have her say!  I must admit that I have been curious about her from the beginning and I have often wondered what her take is on all this 'life on the edge' stuff he does, not to mention the number of random strangers tweeting their knickers at the man she loves!  Her sections are some of the most heart-warming and we get to see the man behind the persona through her eyes and how his fame has had an effect on their family life.

It's an easy read at just over 300 pages and it is very absorbing and engaging.  I do feel that it fits in well with Ant's earlier books, but I also hoping that this is not his last self-help book, as I haven't quite had my fill of him yet.  I think I'm going to re-read the trilogy from scratch, beginning with book one First Man In.  And Foxy has another new book coming out this month too, so that should keep me going for a bit.  If you like military style self-help, you have enjoyed Ant's earlier books or you simply admire the man or the SAS TV show then I expect you will enjoy reading Zero Negativity.  I've consumed it like a vulture! And I still plan to buy a signed copy when I go to see him on tour next year. I'm so much looking forward to that as I had such a great time at his last seminar in 2018, so I can't wait. In the meantime, I'm going to re-read his trilogy and pre-order new Foxy's book too.

Happy reading!

Marie x

MUSICAL DOLL; Breathe

 And you know its never simple, never easy,

Never a clean break, no-one here to save me,

And I can't breathe without you - but I have to...

xxx

WRITER'S DREAM; Autumn Writing Moods

 

As August slips away into September, the autumnal weather has settled damply over Yorkshire for the past few days, and we have had nothing but wind and rain both night and day.  I really enjoy this kind of weather.  I am ready to see the end of summer and move forwards into the darker, colder months.  I have my first chai tea latte of the season beside me, and the study is aglow with scented candles.  I'm burning Yankee's new Autumn Glow and it smells like a rain drenched blackberry hedge. 

Autumn is a great time for writers because the weather colludes with us, encouraging long stints at the desk as the rain batters the windowpanes.  It is safe to say though, that even professional writers don't always wake up in the mood to write.  Sometimes we have to gently persuade ourselves to get started and that is where creating the right kind of atmospheric mood comes in.  Of course, different atmospheres and environments work for different writers, but when you have a deadline to meet, you don't have the luxury of not meeting the daily word count for your project.  So here are some of my most common writing moods and atmospheres, to give you a touch of motivation and inspiration.

Woodland Writing; there is nothing more grounding than taking a blanket outdoors and sitting under a tree to write. Nature and fresh air will clear your mind and help to free latent ideas.  You don't have to go far - a tree in your back garden is just as good as one in Sherwood Forest.  I have a little bench placed beneath the elder tree in my garden and I can spend happy hours reading and writing here whenever the woodland writing mood takes me.   Take a flask of hot latte or mocha with you and settle in for an hour or two, until the chill sends you back indoors.

Wanderlust Writing; sometimes you just need to get away and explore new surroundings and environments, or people watch, or simply while away an afternoon on your project somewhere new.   Some people like to go and sit in cafes to write, and while this isn't really my thing, I do enjoy sitting in libraries.  However, my wanderlust writing really comes into play when I am in Scotland, or at the coast. I find both of these environments extremely inspiring and I never come away empty handed - I always have a draft of work to bring back with me so that I can edit and polish it at home.  It might be a poem, a song or an idea for a new column, feature or book - but for me, the wanderlust writing mood always yields a decent creative harvest.

Four-Poster Bed Writing; let's be honest, some days it's hard to get out of bed, especially as the weather turns colder and the days grow darker.  On those days when my chronic fatigue kicks in and getting up is just too big a chore, I take a shower, put on clean snuggly pajamas and climb right back into bed with my laptop.  There I can spend a 'lazy' day, still resting, but being productive at the same time.  This is a great trick to use for those more laborious tasks, such as correcting page proofs or sending emails to editors, because it tricks the mind into thinking that you haven't even got up yet!  It also makes tasks feel less irksome to me, because I am still snuggled under the duvet in my beautiful four-poster bed, so I feel pampered. It works like a charm - and I must confess that every single one of my essays over the past seven years of studying, have all been written this way. I hate writing essays, so I do it a way that is easiest for me, from the nurturing comfort of my bed, and it is clearly effective because I've passed every essay up to now.  This mood is great for writers who are night-owls too. In my experience, late night bedtime writing is best served with a glass of wine and chocolate.  

Rocking Chair Musings; a big part of writing is in the planning.  You have to sit and think things through, question where a project is going and ponder on what needs to happen next.  For me, all such musings take place in my rocking chair.  Here I can sit and think, as the rocking motion gently takes me into a more dreamy, meditative state.  The motion of a rocking chair reminds the subconscious mind of being rocked as a baby, so it lulls us into a sense of safety and dreamlike relaxation.  As such it is the perfect tool for a writer, because inspiration strikes when we are meditative and open to it.  Second only to the basic tools of notebooks, pens and a laptop, a rocking chair is an essential piece of writerly kit.  It's where we meet inspiration, where the initial dream takes hold, to eventually become ideas, projects and published works.  I'd be lost without my rocking chair.  Just be careful if you have a long-tailed pet!

Old Fashioned Writing; as wonderful as modern technology is for writers, occasionally, I feel the need to step back in time.  This is when one of my Victorian writing slopes comes out to play, when I write everything in longhand and by candlelight.  On these occasions I feel like a Bronte sister, which is inspiring in and of itself, but the slower pace of writing also means that I think more deeply as I create my copy.  This mood is probably best for shorter pieces of work such as poems or song lyrics, although I wrote all ten of my books in longhand, before typing them up and editing as I went along.   These days I am more comfortable creating new copy directly onto a screen, but I still have days where I need to feel the pen in my fingers and the paper beneath my hand.  Personally, I choose this method whenever I am writing my journal, or something that falls into the Gothic genre, as the mood and the genre complement one another so well.  It is also a very witchy way to write, so it's perfect for updating a Book of Shadows or creating new spells and incantations!  This writerly atmosphere is all about candlelight and incense, the sound of the scratching nib of a fountain pen and the scent of sealing wax and paper. 

So there you have it - five of my most tried and tested writerly moods for you to try out and experiment with this autumn.  I hope they work as well for you as they have done for me over the years.

Blessed be

Marie x

BOOK NOOK; Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

         

    "One by one, she pulled the jagged edges of her memories together.  The spell Ashcroft had used on her should have destroyed her mind, leaving her an empty shell - but it had not succeeded.  She was still herself.  Even the pain only served to remind her that she was alive, and had a purpose."

It has been a blustery day of wind and rain, with the first breath of autumn whispering through the air, so as it was the perfect kind of reading weather, I have been tucked away reading Sorcery of Thorns.  This is a fantasy novel, set in it's own world of Austermeer.

It is about a librarian called Elizabeth, who works in one of the six Great Libraries of the Realm.  But these are not the ordinary libraries that you or I might visit - these libraries house collections of spell-books - powerful grimoires that are alive with magic.  As such they must be protected from falling into the wrong hands. At the same time, the most powerful of these grimoires have the ability to morph into monsters, so they must be kept under lock and key in order to protect the non-magical public.  

The Great Libraries are sacred places and in this world, librarians are powerful guardians of the books they keep.  Their stacks reach up to the ceilings, with shelf after shelf of grimoires, all whispering to each other and trying to influence the librarians, who are specially trained to resist the magic of the books.  It's the perfect novel for a magical bookworm like me!

Set in the 1820's, the world building is strong and authentic, with a touch of Dickensian atmosphere about it.  It is a world of  ball gowns, jewels and romance; of carriages and corsets; of magic, enchantment and sorcery, where gargoyles spring to life to defend the lord of the manor and demons are a part of everyday life.  There is a handsome love interest, battling with his own demons of ancestral obligation, and a loyal demonic servant who is by turns lovable and terrible.  

The characterization is strong, but I have to say that for me, the books are the main characters, because the author has completely summarized how I relate to them.  Books are more than just a collection of stories or information. They are more than ink and paper. They harbor within their pages, some part of the soul of the creator and that's why they speak to us, that's why they call out to us and leave an indelible imprint on our minds.  Books have the power to change us and to change how we see the world around us, so of course they are powerful artifacts.  It takes a lot of hard work and effort to write a book, even more to get it published and released out into the world for people to enjoy - this novel honors that achievement in an enchanting and fantastical way.  

At over 400 pages Sorcery of Thorns will keep you engrossed for a little while and how could any bookworm possibly resist a novel wherein "The library wants to fight back." ? I will never look at my personal library in quite the same way again! Enjoy. 

MUSICAL DOLL; Say Something

 And just when you think she can't get any more sparkly, this petite powerhouse women turns herself into a galactic kaleidoscope, rides a golden horse and brings the world together again...

 Last time I wore tinfoil like that, I was hypothermic in Oban in winter and it wasn't nearly so glamorous! 

Let's hope she can start touring again soon - I am so ready to go another Kylie concert. 

Enjoy!

xxx

BOOK NOOK; House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin Craig

 

House of Salt and Sorrows is a dark Gothic fairytale, based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  The story takes place in a beautiful manor house, built high up on top of sea cliffs, where the beaches below are made of black sands.   There the wind howls around a house in perpetual mourning, as first the mother, then the sisters, die one by one, in mysterious circumstances.

The locals say that the family is cursed and as more people die and one funeral leads to another, it is a natural conclusion to make in a community that thrives on folklore and tales of gods and goddesses.

Annaleigh is determined to find out what has happened to her sisters and she is convinced that their deaths were no accident. But all is not what it seems at Highmoor Manor.  When the remaining sisters find a portal that can take them to anywhere they dream of, they find respite from their mourning by attending one masquerade ball after another, wearing out their pretty new fairy shoes as they dance through the night.

It is a very atmospheric novel, one that is part fantasy, part ghost story.  The world-building is strong and authentic and you can almost hear the sea and smell the brine as you read.  This is a world of romance and ball gowns, magic and danger, that sweeps you away like a strong tide.  It's difficult to say more without spoilers, but I have enjoyed reading it and I will let the book trailer speak for itself...enjoy!

 xxx

BOOK NOOK; The STAGS series by M A Bennet

     

It is a dull, overcast morning and I've been tucked away in my study for most of it.  I've got Taylor's new album Folklore playing in the background and I'm burning my new favourite Yankee Candle, Misty Mountains, which smells like the Highlands and reminds me of the fresh mountain air up in Scotland.  I think I'm going to buy a few more of these candles and stock up for the autumn and winter.

I have been gripped by a book called Foxes, which is the latest release in the STAGS series by M A Bennet.  I adore this YA series.  It's unlike anything I have ever read before.  It's so unique and interesting. Plus it has the best boarding school since Hogwarts - which is a bonus.

STAGS stands for Saint Aiden The Great School, which is an exclusive school for the elite.  When the main protagonist, Greer, gets a scholarship there, she is thrilled and excited, but as a working class lass from Manchester, she doesn't really fit in.  She makes friends with two other social misfits, Nel who comes from New Money, and Shafeen, an Indian boy.

STAGS is such an old school that the most recent buildings are from the Tudor age.  Everything there is very traditional, from the Tudor robes that make up the school uniform, to the beautiful library and the original Elizabethan school theater.   Everything modern and technological is frowned upon and named Savage - mobile phones are banned and the Internet isn't available.  There are no computers, no i-pads and no Kindles to be seen.  

Instead essays are written with ink on vellum, information is found in books and scrolls from the Scriptorium/library, classes are taught by Abbots and letters are sealed in wax and sent in place of texts and emails.  It's all so wonderful and old fashioned!  The school prefects are called The Medievals and they uphold the school's traditional rules and regulations, but there is more to them than meets the eye.

The STAGS world is a world for the over-privileged and they are none too happy about the new inclusivity of marginalized students like Greer and her pals.   The school must be seen to be moving with the times to some extent if it is to survive another few hundred years, but the Medievals have their own way of keeping the newcomers in their place.  In this world, we are all Savages. 

There are three books in the series so far, STAGS, DOGS and FOXES.  They are all page turners and have kept my attention gripped on the story.  It's the first series in a long time where I can't wait for the next book to be released and where I am pre-ordering them as soon as possible.   

It is a surprising mix of past and present, where the author has managed to weave together seemingly unrelated events and turn them into one cohesive whole.  Events such as the recent pandemic and toppling of statues sit side by side with Windrush, an Elizabethan play, country pursuits, the ban on fox hunting and the Gunpowder Plot.  

These are quite subversive books, part thriller, part social commentary, taking a stab at the heart of traditionalism, but at the same time, seducing you with that same cultured social class.  All I can say is, STAGS draws you into it's world of wax seals, coded messages and intriguing plots.  

I have just finished reading FOXES and I am already looking forward to the next book in the series.  I hope I don't have to wait too long!  It's that good.

Happy Reading Savages

Marie x

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Library Studies

When I was a girl I used to pretend that I was a librarian.  I would gather all my books, organize them into categories and re-shelve them.  If you were to look back through my old childhood books now, you would find evidence of this game, in the form of dates stamped in the front of each book, in red ink. 

I used to love visiting our local library too.  It was a lovely old fashioned library, full of dark wooden stacks that stretched from floor to ceiling.  There was a set of mahogany spiral library steps that the librarians used to reach the highest shelves, but which children were forbidden from using because 'They're not for climbing on!'  Actually that's exactly what they were for, but I knew what she meant.  

I loved that library and it was my favorite place to spend my Saturday afternoons.  Saturday mornings were for riding school, but the afternoons were for books and trips to the library.  I'd walk there with my mother and our tiny Chihuahua dog, Pepe.  He was so small, we could smuggle him in, in a book bag!  He was always good as gold.

We'd walk through the little woods that ran alongside the building, pop Pepe in the bag, then go up the steps, between the pillars and into the echoing halls of books.  I was so upset when the council closed down that library, in favor of 'something more modern' that I have never been to the new library since it opened some years ago. I have completely boycotted it.  

Of all the jobs I've done in my life, I have never worked in a library, although I did used to work in Waterstones bookshop for a time, which is pretty much the same thing.  I spent my early mornings there trundling the book carts around, shelving the new books that had just come in from publishing distributors.  There is nothing quite like the smell of a cart full of newly printed books - I wish I could get a candle with that fragrance, as I would burn it in my study everyday. 

It was, what I can only describe as, a very cosy job.  Yes, it was an early start, but everyone there loved books, so it was extremely convivial.  The smell of coffee and baked goods wafted around from the internal cafe, the town clock chimed out the hours in the Square and there was a gentle hum as people used their quiet, library-voices to request and pay for books.  

Now as a Masters student, I have access to an even bigger library and a range of additional elective courses, so it was with great joy that I found a CPD course in Library Studies!  Of course I signed up for it right away and I can't wait to get started.

The Library Studies course looks at the various services offered in a functioning library and the skills required in librarians.  It explores both public and academic libraries; children's library skills ie. storytelling; information technology services; acquisitions,curating, cataloging, circulation and retrievals;  reference and periodical sections; the importance of organization and appropriate shelving and so on.   I learnt some of this during my time working at Waterstones,  but it will be interesting to delve a little deeper into this topic.  It's certificated, so it will count towards professional development and it will enhance my academic CV too.    

Whatever I learn on this course, it will be an additional qualification and it will be good for my writing career too, even if only to pick up a few tips on how to better manage and maintain my own personal library and publishing archives!  

I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in to my studies again next month.  Library Studies is a classic, blue-stocking topic, but it suits my love of books, writing and libraries and I'm sure I'll enjoy it, alongside all my usual course work for the Masters.  I had an email from one of the Fellows yesterday, saying that we are having a meeting next semester to discuss options for what I want to do next, once I have the Masters Degree under my belt.  That should be a fun meeting and I feel excited to be going back to university in a few weeks time.  After months of stagnation due to Covid, it's great to finally feel that things are moving forward again.  

Roll on autumn - I'm beyond ready for it! 

"When in doubt - go to the library..." 😉

BB Marie x

MUSICAL DOLL; The 1

I had this dream your doing cool shit

Having adventures on your own...

You know the greatest loves of all time

Are over now...

And if my wishes came true...

It would've been you.

xxx