Opening moments

The strangest thing about opening this blog is I know it is mostly likely to be widely read if I am successful. Now, as I fully intend to be successful, I have to bear in mind I'm writing for the future. This poses the problem of being warm, witty and entertaining without offending anyone-  ever. Fortunately, I am very nice.

Well, maybe not _very_ nice, but interesting in a slightly off beat way. 

I am a mildly published author, an aspiring playwright, an ex-psychotherapist (in that I no longer run a private practice) and a creator of writing workshops such as How to Deal with Rejection (for which I am all too well qualified). I'm also the mother of two little boys and partner to he-who-shall-remain-nameless, but whose unqualified support makes my life lighter and my ambition not beyond the realms of possibility.

I can hypnotize people, read runes, shoot a bow, do several tai chi forms (both unarmed and with weapons - or used to be able to before the kids), have MS (mostly benign), can kill almost any plant by touching it, used to be a journalist (and sporadically still am) and will one day get round again to inspirational cooking and kitchen opera. 

This is only a small collection of my defining features, like you, I have an awful lot of variables.

Oh, and I spend a significant amount of time trying to figure out why human beings, who are capable of such wonderful emotions, spend a large amount of time being mean to each other - or worse. The desire to figure out how other people work fuels a lot of my writing. Or perhaps this is about, more sinisterly, where else but in fiction can you make other people do exactly as you wish?

This blog will be dedicated to my writing exploits, past, present and future. And to that end, if you're also a writer I'm running two workshops at the Edinburgh International Book Festival - How to Deal with Solitary Creativity, 12 August, 11am- 12.30pm and Dealing with Rejection on August 13th same time. There are only twenty five places per workshop and they literally always sell out in days - not just mine, but all the Writing Workshop series. The book festival's website is www.edbookfest.co.uk where you can find a whole chocolate box of literary delights.