* The right soundtrack is indispensable. Summer Breeze by the Isley Brothers is perfect and you can even get great tips from the lyrics. For example the line: ‘summer breeze/makes me feel fine/blowing through the jasmine in my mind’ can be re-enacted by putting jasmine oil in the aromatherapy burner and sitting five feet away from a fan heater.

* Visit clothes stores which, bless their cotton socks, are awash with sarongs and teensy weensy tops in summery colours which is proof that summer exists even if it’s currently elsewhere.

* Walk faster it induces a feeling of warmth.

* Taste summer by buying feta cheese and olives and always ask for a bit of flake in your ice-cream cone.

* Remember that the glass is either half empty or half full and after a bottle of red wine grown somewhere that may be too hot the climate improves almost instantly.

WARM wishes,

Grace

If you are in the mood for being read to click here to hear me reading from The Truth Club

Grace and friend's dog Izzy.

Wow it’s taken me quite a while to upload this photo. For some reason a copy I made of it in ‘my documents’ didn’t upload and the Internet connection was dodgy…along with strange sea-like noises on my phone. When I clicked on ‘publish’ it simply gave the caption…where had the photo gone to? Phoned dear pal Philip using my ‘I sat down to upload photo and feel like I am flying an airplane voice’. He was more than happy to help but had a visitor and so he offered to upload it for me later. Was very grateful to him but I’ve uploaded photos before (admittedly with his guidance). Decided I would try to upload it myself. Again. I’d already tried this a number of times.

At this point I remembered that I am interested in Buddhism. In living in the moment etc. Also noticed a scribbled quote above my desk which says ‘My silent observer transcends my individual identity. Deepak Chopra’. Realised my identity, in that moment, was far too attached to idea of myself as woman who uploads photo quickly and then watches people buying antiques on telly (I like ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’…it starts at 5.15 p.m.). Thankfully ‘silent observer’ gave me some perspective on mild computer funk. Became more aware of breathing and other Buddhist type tips.

Here I should probably mention that I wanted to upload the photo of myself with canine pal because I want to gradually let go of my attachment to the current photo on my website. It was taken some years ago by a talented and hip photographer in Brighton and I suspect he may have done flattering things to it…along with careful use of lighting and deft choice of lens. Anyway…I decided to try to upload woman with dog image from the usb stick thingy instead of ‘my documents’ and…hey presto!…there it was.

The photo was taken in a friend’s house…her name is Jo and her very charismatic dog is called Izzy. Izzy loves being petted and cuddled. She lies rapturously on her back to have her tummy massaged.
I would like to get my own dog some day but in the meantime it’s great to occasionally borrow one! My novels include an assortment of colourful pets. There’s an adorable pig in ‘Ordinary Miracles’, a cat, a rather rude budgie, fish and terrapins in ‘Wise Follies’ and very nice dogs in ‘Ready Or Not?’ and ‘The Truth Club’ . Some of the novels also include horses. I love horses and ponies. And chocolate!

Warm wishes,

Grace

I don’t know why the awfulness of the crucifixion suddenly dawned on me that evening when I was singing that hymn alone in my room. The lines included: ‘We may not know, we cannot tell, What pains He had to bear; But we believe it was for us, He hung and suffered there.’

I usually only sang hymns when I was required to. The smallness of our congregation meant that I usually sang fairly loudly in church to show support for Dad. (There aren’t that many Protestants in southern Ireland.) But that evening I did feel very sorry for poor Jesus even though I usually associated Easter with lots of chocolate. When Mum came into my room and smiled in a comforting manner I could see she was surprised by my sadness. I probably felt a bit pleased about this. It probably hadn’t occurred to me that the tears might seem impressively ‘devout’. My thoughts would have quickly turned to chocolate etc of course. My interest in Jesus at that time was usually pretty distant.

These days his message of love moves me far more than it used to. And to sense that kind of immense love we need to be in contact with our hearts. The mind may have lots of opinions, but our hearts can take us to far bigger, spacious and tender places.

Just got a text message from a friend that says there is an Easter bunny I can add to my stash of chocolate. Better go and collect him!

Lots of love,

Grace

For information about workshops please click on ‘Workshops’ at top of homepage.

The first chapters of my novels are available on right hand side of homepage if you scroll down a bit.

Given the way of such things it was probably both. If I were writing a book about it, I think would have liked to give the tale a happier ending. I feel a sympathy for the grandmother I never met, just like I often feel compassion for people in my books. For some reason she couldn’t keep her baby but in one of my novels a single mother keeps her child, though he was also born in an age when illegitimacy was shameful. I’m sure the mysteries surrounding my grandmother informed the story-line.

My mother was adopted by a rather grand Anglo Irish family with a beautiful estate in Ireland and became a ‘de Vere’. She eventually wrote a lovely book that describes her childhood and experiences as a young woman. Writing seems to be in the family genes, and I occasionally wonder if the Granny I never knew sometimes found herself voyaging with words, feeling the solace of it – the surprises and discoveries.

Writing, then, was very much part of my early life. Dad had written some educational books for children when he was younger. He worked overseas in education for many years and then became a teacher and headmaster. He was 54 when I was born and shortly afterwards became a clergyman. We lived in County Limerick in the depths of the Irish countryside and he spent hours tapping away on his typewriter in the large, rambling rectory. His face intent, his fingers hardly able to keep up with his thoughts. I sometimes borrowed his typewriter. In fact I wrote my first book on it called ‘Stories For Everyone’. I was about 11 at the time.

A self-published work with a print run of one copy, it featured a woman, a horse and a puppy on the cardboard cover, and the singer John Paul Jones on the back. It contained two stories. One was about my pony Merrylegs and another was about the joys of nature, so it didn’t quite live up to its title. But mum and dad liked it. And as we all know, encouragement is invaluable to a budding author.

I now live in Ireland and have also lived in England, Africa and the United States. Though I still adore ponies and nature these days I have extended my subject matter. Other women’s lives fascinate me and writing about them helps me to make sense of my own experiences. What’s more, I make all sorts of new friends as I type the chapters. Characters sometimes just seem to turn up, and I greet them hoping that they will share their hopes and disappointments, their fears and dreams and perplexities.

I love intimacy in ordinary life, people who seem to understand, people I don’t have to pretend with. And that’s what the characters in my novels ask of my friendship with them. They want to take off their masks and tell it how it truly is. Sometimes male characters do this too and I almost fall in love with them. For example I find Charlie in my book Ordinary Miracles deeply fanciable. And Nathaniel in The Truth Club would make a most wonderful confidant.

When people ask me for advice about writing I tell them to write. It is the process of writing that will reveal the kind of writer they are. The creative side of you needs to be sensitive, but the part of you that sends off manuscripts and receives feedback and may have to deal with rejection, has to develop a thick skin.

As to finding an agent, one tip is to read the Acknowledgments in books that you love. The author’s agent is usually mentioned and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t contact them yourself. But do your homework. Find out, for example, if they initially just want a synopsis and some sample chapters.

But whatever you do, and whatever your inspiration, write. Get on with it and see where the journey takes you. As Joseph O’Connor said, “There is only one trait that writers have in common. They watch for the extraordinary magic that lies in the everyday. Not willing inspiration but just being open to the world. This quiet looking and thinking is the imagination. It’s letting in ideas. It’s trying, I suppose, to make some sense of things.” Yes, that’s what us writers really need, and hope for.

Love,

Grace

For information about workshops please click on ‘Workshops’ at top of homepage.

Knockainey Rectory

The photo that accompanies this blog is of my childhood home. Glad that I took the photo because dear Knockainey Rectory burned down some years after we left it…the big trees were felled and even the driveway has gone. I have written a number of blogs about it. One called The Rectory (August 27 2009) is very descriptive. (Knockainey is a lovely rural village in County Limerick.)

As to the ‘Soft Chairs’ bit of heading…five rather spartan years at boarding school have given me a huge appreciation for soft furnishings. If there are sofas in a cafe I am very grateful. And if I eat lunch in a place that has softly upholstered chairs my enjoyment of the food goes up some notches. Though I am on a budget I sometimes go into very expensive hotels, sit on one of their pillowy seats and order a cappuccino. For some reason very expensive hotels often have smallish cups but, with an extra pot of boiling water, that cappuccino can last a longish time (they are usually not cheap but often come with small Italian looking biscuits).

I sometimes like taking out my notebook in such places to, theoretically, do some writing. Of course there is a temptation to listen in on nearby conversations since the people often look like they have flown in from somewhere interesting…have just been on a spending spree…are discussing the intricacies of big deal business or a marriage. The seats are, naturally enough, not that close so one just hears the occasional snatches. Most of the women look like they use expensive skin lotions (the stuff that comes with tiny instructions in numerous languages and accompanying before and after products including serums). The men tend to do a good line in sheenily lined jackets.

Places like that could, of course, do with a good dog. The Morrison in Dublin, for example, has a fabulous collection of paintings and is very plush but a chocolaty coloured Labrador would really add some canine style. That’s the hotel the scary IMF stayed in when they came to Ireland to check on the country’s financial situation…somehow reminds me of maths homework and red ink pens. A Labrador might have softened them up a bit.

Did some gardening yesterday. My patio is smallish but it has lots of plants. My dear honeysuckle bush got a radical pruning the other day from an expert…it had got very large and woody and ‘pot bound’ in the raised bed. When the guy fetched a noisy sort of chain saw I was a bit alarmed but the thing had to be done. I had put if off for far too long already. Now it looks very shorn, but it has a pretty additional raised bed to stretch its roots into. (Railway sleepers are great.) Also repotted a number of other plants that needed more room…getting some of them out of their too small pots felt a bit like wrestling. They look really nice in their new ‘homes’.

Lots of love,

Grace

‘She has an assured style and a wonderful insight into the separated lady’s lot…I couldn’t put it down. I literally read it from cover to cover.’
Muriel Bolger, ‘No Jacket Required’ RTE RADIO ONE

‘Wynne-Jones’s sense of humour and the self-mockery of her heroine makes it both funny and touching.’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

My name is Honey Morenzo and I’m an occasional contributor to these pages. It gives me more practice re. writing stuff. I’d like to write more stuff but I’m not sure what about exactly. I have still not finished reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, but one of the things she bangs on about is that if you want to be a writer you need to write.

Wonder if I should go get a digestive biscuit covered with chunky peanut butter.

At least I’ve read some impressive big books lately, including Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. It has a marvelously complex and satisfying plot, a deep understanding of some aspects of the human condition and includes many mentions of birds…particularly a type of warbler. I feel quite virtuous about reading it because it is grown up and important. Jonathan’s great at the old typing.

The thing about writing a book is you’d have to decide what to wear to the launch…if there was one…and if it was a bestseller your hand might get really tired after signing loads of copies.

Am tempted to eat a banana but have already had an egg and some oatcakes and some rice cakes covered in thickly cut sugarless marmalade. Writing sometimes makes me ravenous.

I work in publishing so I should know more about writing stuff, only the job seems to involve a lot of PR work these days. Roderick Organza Treadmull, my boss, is desperate to shift ‘titles’…that’s what we call books…’titles’.

At the last PR thing we ‘threw’…somehow that reminds me of hefty women throwing metal balls at the Olympics…a gerbil escaped from the author’s suspiciously capacious briefcase (her book is about small pets for big city living). The name of the gerbil was Gertrude and she could, apparently, do some pretty endearing little tricks which is why she’d been brought along for ‘photo opportunities’. When she scarpered the main photos were of women screaming ‘rat!”. She reappeared from under a very large sofa when tempted by a Pringles crisp. Apparently she goes for the plain type and isn’t into cheese and onion.

Love Pringles crisps myself and the tube they come in can be very useful for pencil etc storage if covered with floral patterned paper. Not that I’ve done this myself of course. That would involve actually getting the paper and cutting it into shape and then locating a tube of Pritt, if you have one. It can get really leathery if you don’t put the top on properly. (When I went to a writing workshop the multi-jumpered facilitator said that small details can help bring a story to life…must make note of my insightful observations re. Tipp-Ex, photocopiers and that moody metal bit on hanging files.)

Really do need a cuppa now!

Love,

Honey

Podcasts.ie kindly recorded a podcast of me reading from The Truth Club…there is an interview too. If you are in the mood for being read to click here.

Love,

Grace

Lots of love Sweeties!

Grace

‘If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.’ The Dalai Lama

Not sure how long some of the programme clips are available.
You may be able to see a very clever fellow if you click here.

Lots of love,

Grace

I enjoyed watching ‘Stargazing Live’ on the BBC recently. Lots of fabulously mysterious and glistening information about stars and planets and the solar system etc. Especially liked it when Dr Brian Cox used items on a table in a tea shop to explain some of the details! One of Brian’s great heroes is Carl Sagan. If you haven’t seen Sagan’s wonderful video ‘Pale Blue Dot’ click here.

Podcasts.ie kindly recorded me reading from ‘The Truth Club’ a while ago. It was recorded in my sitting room by a snug turf fire. If you are in the mood for being read to click here The Truth Club.

Heard a woman on ‘The Mooney Show’ on RTE talking about how she goes to bed with her pet pig…that pig sounds so cute and apparently “smells like a baby” after she’s been washed. Didn’t catch the woman’s name. Am very fond of pigs myself. A pig called Rosie is an important character in ‘Ordinary Miracles’ and is something of a role model for some of the humans.

If I lived in London would definitely want to visit fabulous exhibition by David Hockney. Hockney seems like a very life affirming fellow. Love his use of colour and the wonderfully characterful paintings he did of his pet dachshunds. I once worked for a publishing house in London that published fabulous art books…along with other books of course. When I climbed the many stairs to my office…the building was old and pleasant and in Bloomsbury…I sometimes used to hear David Hockney’s voice drifting intriguingly from a room. Someone was transcribing a long tape-recorded interview for a book. The company was very near the British Museum and a nice little bookshop. It was there that I found and bought some of the Winnie-The-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. When I was a wee girl the only Winnie-The-Pooh book in the house had a number of its pages missing so I wasn’t that impressed by it. I understood why he was such a popular bear when I read the rest of the pages! Haven’t re-read ‘The Wind In The Willows’ by Kenneth Grahame for a while. It is still one of my favourite books.

Bright blessings,

Grace x

The Truth Club
‘…a novel which by turns had me laughing (aloud) entranced and, by the end a little bit wiser than I was at the beginning. In ‘The Truth Club’ Grace Wynne-Jones has produced a book in which the eclectic characters almost leap from the pages…the book also contains a perfect man, Nathaniel, who ‘almost always’ says the right thing….’

One of the lovely presents my niece Ruth Wynne-Jones gave me this Christmas was a very special biscuit decorated to look like the jacket of one of my novels! (The second paperback printing of ‘Ordinary Miracles’ had this sweet cover with the pink pig.) What a delight it was to receive this fabulous gift! Her very talented friend in the Kaleidoscope Bakery made it and she also created fantastic culinary art biscuits for some other family members. It is so very special I don’t want to eat it. Might even get it framed! You can learn more about the Kaleidoscope Bakery here

Happy New Year and ‘In beauty may you walk’ (Navajo prayer).

Love and sparkles,

Grace x

She’s been interviewed on Oprah and is a wise woman! I received her beautiful words in an Omega Institute newsletter and I have been given permission to include them in this blog. I have posted them on the website before…they are not ‘new’ and were written the year President Obama was elected. However they are so wise they seemed worth sharing again.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Love and sparkles,

Grace

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY by ELIZABETH LESSER

Before you continue reading this, do me a favor. Put down what you’re holding (in your hand or your head),”your shopping lists, your third cup of coffee, your date book, the phone call you should be making”and sit quietly for just 60 seconds. Take in a full breath, let it pool gently in the bottom of your lungs, and then release it slowly. Inhale deeply again, and exhale with an audible sigh. If you’re at work, don’t worry what your colleagues might think ”this time of year everyone would love to sigh deeply, and often. Inhale again; exhale with a long “aaahh”. With each exhalation, let your shoulders drop and your jaw relax. Do this a couple of times, with your eyes closed. Let the “aaahh” sound emerge from your belly, move up into your heart, and drift out into space as you exhale, slowly, smoothly, steadily. Now, open your eyes, and continue reading.

Helloooo?? Anyone there? It felt good to escape for a minute, didn’t it? But come on back ”it’s that time of year again: the modern miracle known as The Holidays, when into the dark little month of December, we squeeze Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and a myriad of other celebrations, from ancient solstice rituals to the more contemporary rites of school plays, office parties, and community gatherings. Throw into that mix a generous dose of unrealistic expectations, budget-busting shopping, dysfunctional family feasts, airplane flights, darker days, colder weather, excessive eating and drinking, and no wonder that along with “peace on earth, goodwill toward men,” we get really stressed out.

But this year you can do something to spin your stress into the gold that is the promise of the season. Here are three ways to light up your holidays:

1. Believe that things can change. Look what happened this year in America! What would have been impossible just 40 years ago ”an African-American president elected by a wide majority ”is now reality. If a whole society can change its heart and habits, then so too can each of us. This holiday season, make Gandhi’s motto your spiritual practice: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Slow down for a few minutes every day and sit in silence. Perhaps down at the bottom of the quiet well of your heart, you will discover some questions brewing in the fertile darkness: Is there someone I need to forgive? Is there something I must say to a family member or a friend? Is my full aliveness being dulled by the fear of change, an old wound, addictive behavior? In the true spirit of the holidays, let the darkness show you what wants to change. The truth will lead you back up to the light, and when the New Year rolls around, your resolution will be tinged with authenticity and power.

2. Recognize that there is no such thing as a normal holiday. Let’s start with the word “normal.” I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “Normal is someone you don’t know very well.” This is a good thing to keep in mind always, but especially now, when we assume that the normal people are all having happier, healthier, and more harmonious holidays than we are. We imagine their mailboxes stuffed with Christmas cards and party invitations, their homes decorated in Martha Stewart splendor, and their intact and idyllic families primed for five full weeks of good cheer. I don’t know these people, do you? The most effective thing you can do to reduce holiday angst is to wipe the word “normal” from your vocabulary. In my work at Omega, I have met tens of thousands of people from all walks of life. I have yet to meet a normal one, if normal means consistently sane, contented, and capable. And yet most of us hold ourselves up to an unattainable standard of human perfection. The 13th-century poet Rumi called this phenomenon, the “Open Secret.” He said each one of us is trying to hide the same secret from each other”not some racy or evil secret, but rather the mere fact of our flawed humanness. We expend so much energy trying to conceal our ordinary bewilderment at being human, or our loneliness in the crowd, or that nagging sense that everyone else has it more together than we do, that we miss out on the chance to really connect, which is what we ultimately long for. Especially during the holidays.

So, here’s something you can do this holiday season: Open up your Open Secret. Overcome your embarrassment at being human. Tell a friend that you didn’t get one party invitation. Who knows? Maybe she didn’t either! Or maybe she did, and she’ll bring you along and you’ll meet new people ”the ultimate Christmas gift. Or maybe together you can go to your local homeless shelter and help the kids decorate the tree”the real spirit of the holidays….Or how about this? Don’t just say “Fine!” when a colleague asks how you are at the office party. Say, “Sometimes all this ho-ho-ho makes me feel lonely.” You’ll be surprised by the response. Suddenly a mere acquaintance will open up his secrets to you, and soon you’ll feel more connected, not only to him, but to the real meaning of the holidays.

3. Be aware that the holidays are about awakening joy in times of darkness. All of the religious parables at the heart of the holidays are about this mystery: how hope can be born out of hopelessness; how home can be found in exile; how celebration can come after grief. Joy is the gold we mine on the spiritual path, but that path traverses all sorts of uncertain and difficult terrains. For guidance along this path, turn to the spiritual teachings of Hanukkah, Christmas, winter solstice, and the lesser-known December holidays. You probably didn’t know that December 8 is Rohatsu, which commemorates the day in 566 BCE when the Buddha attained enlightenment. Like Mary and Joseph who found no welcome at the inn, and birthed the baby Jesus in a manger, and like the Maccabees who reclaimed the desecrated temple and lit the miraculous light of Hanukkah, the Buddha awakened his joy after a long struggle, under the Bodhi tree, alone and hungry. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan Father writes, “Truth and goodness are not always found at the top, but often on the edge and at the bottom. Not in the center of empire, but in the backwaters of Bethlehem.” Let the stories of the season help you find friendship, sanctuary, and light in the darkest month of the year.

We had yet another budget in Ireland this week. If you turn on the radio the odds of hearing the words “bankers”, “billions”, “debt”, “Eurozone” and “markets” are even more likely than before. Added to this, of course, is now the word “Christmas”. “It’s Christmas so…” many ads say. My favourite slogan of the year is ‘What would Jesus do?’

It has been pretty cold here lately. Lit a big turf fire the other day. Very toasty and cosy. Have become extremely fond of watching people buy antiques on television. Big bunch of reduced price flowers on mantelpiece and large lit candle in fireplace. A smallish statue of Buddha sits nearby with a little smile.

Love, sparkles and light,

Grace

Have only made some brief visits to Paris myself. In my teens, when visiting a boyfriend in France, spent a night in the waiting room of the Gare du Nord. Was awoken by a young man saying “Give me fire”. Realised he wanted me to light his cigarette. Was catching a train very early the next day. A station official asked me and another young woman to come into his office…we were somewhat doubtful about this until he gave us both a glass of Pastis. The last time I visited France I traveled home to Ireland via England. My trip on Eurostar was vastly enlivened by getting into conversation with a very pleasant young French man who told me about his large collection of spiders…I think he even had some in his luggage!

Happy Halloween and warm wishes,

Grace

Oh yes, I could write a minor thesis on this stuff and yet there I was on Saturday night watching the thing again and knowing that I would have conversations about it. When I sat down to write this blog I felt there were so many other more worthwhile topics to explore…the important ‘We are the 99%’ demonstrations in America comes to me as a worthy example. ‘The Club Of Rome’ and their explorations into sustainability and economic growth. Since I’m a writer some ‘writing tips’ might be appropriate. I wanted the X Factor juggernaut to zoom by me. (When it comes to vehicles one of my favourites is the Morris Minor.)

But now I have some sort of opinion about the contestants and the judges seem sort of okay though Gary Barlow can be a bit snitty. Even complaining about the thing is sort of entertaining. Maybe one of the attractions of X is that it insists that it is so important but in the grand scheme of things it’s just another tv show with a very clever format. Maybe we sometimes need ‘serious’ frivolities. Compared to trying to understand what the bankers are up to it is pretty straightforward.

Thank God for less guilty pleasures! Got Jonathan Franzen’s ‘Freedom’ out of the library. Great stuff. Sometimes silence is indeed very golden.

Warm wishes,

Grace

IRISH WRITERS’ CENTRE WORKSHOPS

THE WRITING PROCESS with Grace Wynne-Jones

14th October – 18th November 2011: Fridays 11am-1pm. €165/€150 members
If you want to book a place contact the Irish Writers’ Centre,
19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 T: 01 872 1302 E: info@writerscentre.ie W: www.writerscentre.ie

‘I am a forty eight year old woman who loves books and I have read zillions in my life. My husband has never heard me laugh out loud as much or cried as I read “Ready or not”. It was a fabulous read and I am now an avid fan of yours. So sad when the book ended but ready for the next one. Wonderful and beautifully written.’ Website Comment from ‘Therese’

When I give writing workshops I advise the participants to ‘cherish the details’. Small or large details (such as the corrugated boiler flue) can make a story seem more real.  The very things that seem too unimportant to mention may be the details that help bring a story to life. Another message in the workshops is that creative writing is an important and valid activity in itself. It can be therapeutic…a healing  ’place to go to’.  A wonderful place to explore thoughts and feelings and dreams and questions. It can also be very entertaining. An adventure. Getting published is a wonderful bonus.

Went blackberrying today. A nice little autumn ritual.

Warm wishes,

Grace

IRISH WRITERS’ CENTRE WORKSHOPS

THE WRITING PROCESS with Grace Wynne-Jones

7th October – 11th November 2011: Fridays 11am-1pm. €165/€150 members
If you want to book a place contact the Irish Writers’ Centre,
19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 T: 01 872 1302 E: info@writerscentre.ie W: www.writerscentre.ie

These are playful, fun workshops that will empower your inner author and help you identify what furthers your own writing process. The workshops run over six weeks and include practical tips on handling your inner critic, experimenting with story ‘nudges’, plot, and character development and how not to be intimidated by technique.

Stories are also written during the sessions and shared in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere. You will also receive input on marketing your work. Writing is an adventure! If you enjoy a good story, you can write one! Whether you’ve been writing a while, or are just starting out, this course is suitable for anyone with an interest in writing fiction. Facilitator Grace Wynne-Jones.