Dedicated publisher of fiction, poetry and memoir
The secret of 'Poopy Thomas' is a parenting secret. A guilty parenting secret. I'm sure as 'lockdown parents' we all have some parenting hacks. Maybe some of them we're not entirely proud of. And my parenting hack is 'Poopy Thomas.' Who is 'Poopy Thomas?' He is, in fact, Thomas the Tank Engine, but not as... Continue Reading →
'Shift your attitude towards gratitude.' That's what my online yoga teacher, SaraBethYoga teaches in her fantastic online yoga videos. I highly recommend these to anyone who loves yoga or is interested in trying it out. She has videos for all levels and abilities in a variety of different styles. In current circumstances, I think it's... Continue Reading →
In response to today's Discover Prompt, I'm going to outline a music playlist which helps to keep me sane and grounded during lockdown. I know lots of people have been making and sharing playlists with friends and family in an effort to keep cheerful and stay connected. This playlist is for my WordPress family, and... Continue Reading →
'Guiness' the Cat 'I LOVE Guiness, Mammy!' Not normally the words you want to hear from a two-year-old. But in this case, he was talking about a neighbourhood cat who we'd befriended a few days before lockdown started. Now the children have been let out on (reasonably) good behaviour, we went looking for Guiness last... Continue Reading →
In another post dedicated to my kids, Benji and Ollie, today I want to tell the story of their first trip out in six weeks. For six weeks they'd been hidden behind closed doors. I'd been looking forward to this moment since the Spanish Government announced the relaxation of lockdown restrictions last week. I actually... Continue Reading →
If my sobriety were a baby, I should be giving birth today, to a Brand New Me. Or perhaps just to the Old Me, which would be the Young Me, before I started drinking. Unfortunately, I've been through a tough time over the last few days, and all the old behaviours are coming back: shouting... Continue Reading →
In today's entry, I take a look at another poem by Seamus Heaney, 'The Blackbird of Glanmore,' and the extended metaphor of the 'house of life' presented therein. It's something I've been thinking about a lot during this strange period of quarantine, with a little time and stillness to reflect upon my life and re-evaluate... Continue Reading →
The two of us looked out at the blue sky, the bare chestnut tree glistening with dew, the seagulls and other birds glinting with silver as they swooped through the air, and we were so moved and entranced that we couldn't speak.Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, 23 February 1944 As I write... Continue Reading →
In today's post I take a look at what's happening (or not happening) 'out there' in what used to be called 'the real world.' Commercial activities have been stripped down to the bare minimum, and many people have been brought to question their whole value system because of this. Empty aisles Yesterday, I ventured into... Continue Reading →
Though I've already written about finding balance in earlier entries, in today's post I'd like to dig a little deeper by exploring the concept of balance in nature, and in life. I will then look at how we can apply this concept to help us deal with the unique challenges posed by lockdown during the... Continue Reading →
Experiments in Fiction 