Beginning again

Since I last blogged, great things have been happening in Mytholmroyd. It's still heart-breaking. Families are still unable to go back to their homes or are living upstairs in water-damaged houses with no gas. Cherished possessions are piled up by the roadside to be hauled away to the tip. All the toys from the playgroup I used to run have been destroyed because of contamination. Ouch.

But the church and the playgroup have been offered the use of the Cricket Club for as long as they need it. A coach load of Syrian refugees came from Manchester to help the clean up. Muslim and Sikh groups have helped to clear up, and also provided industrial quantities of hot food for everyone. On Sunday morning, they joined in the service at one of the few churches still open. Is this what it takes to bring us together?

If you look at these pictures, you can see how high the water came, and the results. There's a grey line over the two orange chairs. Yes, it did get as far as that in the church hall.

For some of us, this is when we decide that This Is The Year I Will -

Learn to ski

Climb Mount Snowdon

Go to Australia

Sort out the attic

Write my novel


If your plan is to write your novel, my advice is - get going and write it. Get yourself some great characters and give them a huge challenge. Write what you love. Get a plot together, but if you find it isn't working, change it. If you stop loving it, ask yourself why. It's your story. Keep asking 'what if?'. Make it bright, tight, and vivid. Good luck!