Family

Posts about both sides of my family

Children’s books I loved

I have already written about books and how they have always been a major part of my life. My parents loved books. My maternal grandparents, the only grandparents I knew, loved books. My grandmother wrote a book on her life, which was published, and many short stories which were not.

Read More

Books and Memories

Objects do not themselves hold memories however, they can certainly be triggers for remembering moments in time. Books are objects which not only hold memories of their stories, but also of where and when they were read. I found this particularly true when clearing out my father’s house after his

Read More

Someone else’s stuff

When you are presented with the residue of death, the material remnants of someone who was close to you either by blood or affection; the sorting through and cleaning up process isn’t as glamorous as it is often made out to be. Sure, it is always possible to find long

Read More

Possessions

After his death, the task of sorting through my father’s possessions was both daunting and confronting. He was quite the hoarder and filled every cupboard, every shelf and every drawer with “things”. Whether it was from need, necessity or compulsion he kept almost everything which made its way into the

Read More

Tears

It was 2012 and my father lay dying. By the time I got home he was dead. My eldest son almost made it to the hospital in time. He called me as soon as he got there. I broke the news to my other two sons and we cried. I

Read More

The beginning

My best writing comes directly after a catalyst, some sort of trigger which, when pulled, catapults my words onto the page like shots from an automatic machine gun. In the case of my first book, the one I am currently working on, the trigger was the death of my father.

Read More