NOT ONE BUT TWO WRITING AWARDS!

Still recovering from winning the Faversham Eye Competition in 2020, for my short story Life After Covid, imagine my surprise when I receive an email to say the writing group I run, Inspirations, has just received a national award from the National Association of Writers Groups no less. Not only am I an award-winning author, so are all my friends and members who submitted work for our Green Anthology. Amazing. Already, the group had managed to secure a Finalist place in the Kent Creative Awards, with our first ever anthology Red, in 2017, but to win the Denise Robertson National Award for a group Anthology is astounding. 

We met today to celebrate our success at Pierremont hall Broadstairs. The place has had a complete refit and looks perfect for anyone wishing to celebrate a special occasion and ours was no exception. I brought luxury Belgian chocolate cake and prosecco. We had photos, lots of them, and lots of ohhhs and ahhhs admiring the silver platter which is ours permanently - engraved and everything. Did Covid put us off, stop us writing? Did it hell. Take a lot more than a measly old virus to stop IWG members writing and that's a fact. We are currently considering our next anthology Indigo and there's still time to become a member and submit work for this publication due out in 2022.

Also this month, I had the good fortune to be a speaker at the Indie Author Café during the Canterbury Arts Conference (CArtsCon). I'd like to thank Julian and Brenden and their colleagues for making my time there such an enjoyable one. Warnborough College has a fantastic group of people running its activities and courses and I'm hoping to get invited back next year.

I between this I've travelled to Reeth in North Yorkshire to support a Charity Route march. I've never been to Yorkshire before, except passing through, and to visit the Swaledale moors was a revelation. I used to draw in the past, and the scenery had me re-visiting a long over-due skill that I had forgotten I had. Its something I shall start doing again because it feels more personal than a photo somehow.

And so to bed,  especially now I have manged to purchase some diesel this evening after three days of looking. What is wrong with people?