I hope everyone is keeping safe and well. With rainbows fast becoming symbols of hope, it is wonderful to see so much colour around. And now, with the UK weather for once being kind, there is colour in the garden of the natural kind. It feels like summer.
Here in the UK, social isolation continues. I feel fortunate to be able to step out for a walk each day, and to live close to the river Exe. On the way to the river, just beyond the railway tracks as dusk approaches, wild rabbits venture out. It always feels like a treat to see them, and now in our house we’ve taken to collecting vegetable peelings to deposit on the walk. Then the rabbits can enjoy an evening buffet.
With the UK still under measures of social isolation, I’ve been thinking about the theme of my last blog, Staying Connected, and all the imaginative ways people have been finding to stay connected to one another.
As a writer, it got me thinking about stories and what they communicate. A favourite pastime when I was young was whiling away the hours in my bedroom writing weird and wonderful adventure stories. I wondered what stories children might come up with at this time, what places their imagination might take them. And so, I spoke to children I know and asked them, ‘Would you like to write a story that I could share on my website?’ I was thrilled to receive the first entry yesterday.
I’ve always felt like a citizen of the world, now more than ever with the growing threat of coronavirus. In these strange times it’s not quite business as usual.
During lockdown, I am grateful that the weather is being kind, and feel lucky that we live where we do, just a stone’s throw away from the river Exe. Remembering all the things I am grateful for, a walk to the river is a regular feature of each day.
It’s been a busy few days, beginning on Saturday when I went along to Wincanton Book Festival. Reading an extract from Return of the Mantra, I chose the scene when Suni first meets a mysterious young boy who doesn’t speak. It reminded me of the tenderness that develops in this parent/child type relationship; a relationship that continues to grow in the sequel. Needless to say it was a lovely day promoting all things books, and as I chatted to interested people, I thought more about the complexities of my female protagonist, a girl who struggles to find her place in the world, who survives and adapts and learns to fight to save her homeland.
Following my last blog, The Human Condition, I was left thinking more about the ingredients that make life, and stories, interesting. The unexpected plot twist, the random event, stepping outside the familiar to embrace something new, to learn, to experience something fresh. It’s one of the reasons I like cities, or at least ones which ooze the diverse nature of humanity.
