I came across the thrifter's holy grail recently...I found a vintage quilt in an op-shop! I could hardly believe my eyes...and it was only eight dollars. I have since given it a good wash and an air-out and it is now gracing our previously very dull beige couch (the little orange dragon is also a recent op-shop win - she's made of felt and her name is Doris). The couch looks especially lovely under the window in the Spring sunshine!
In other news, I have been...
Falling in love with A.S. Byatt's books - first up Ragnarok
Well, I have to say we did have quite a big weekend of telly here, and this is saying something, because usually it's pretty dismal and I try to avoid switching it on!
Doctor Who wrapped up the season to spectacular effect last night (for someone entranced by the idea of time travel, my little head nearly exploded!), Call the Midwife concluded beautifully (the scene with the crocheted rug had me in tears) and I managed to watch not one night of Eurovision (Friday - Semi-Finals 1), not two nights of Eurovision (Saturday - Semi-Finals 2) but three nights of Eurovision (last night was the Finals).
I thought a lot of the songs were really quite good, which I haven't felt in the last couple of years. Of course, there was your usual quota of Eurovision dross but the winning song (Emmelie de Forest from Denmark singing "Only Teardrops") was very good and a clear winner, Italy was lovely (Marco Mengoni singing "L'Essenziale") and I enjoyed Iceland's entry (Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugssonsinging "Ég Á Líf") too.
My absolute favourite, though, was Anouk from the Netherlands singing "Birds". Beautiful, but perhaps just a bit too melancholy to win Eurovision!
What was your favourite song? And have you been watching Dr Who or Call the Midwife?
This original cover of A Wrinkle in Time is sourced from Wikipedia
Hello! It's nice to be back in the Yellow Wood. Hope you've been keeping well.
One of the questions that has come to mind while I've been having a crack at writing a novel is how to tell a story. This sounds pretty elementary for a budding writer, I know, but the mechanics of it is - for me at least - a little more complex than you might imagine. How do I make the story engaging? How do I make the reader want to turn to that next page?
So I have been reading all sorts of things to try to see how other people tell stories. Going back to children's stories has proved to be a particularly interesting source - especially those children's stories that involve the fanastic or the magical. How is the reader encouraged that the plot is just possible enough to keep reading? I've just finished Madeleine L'Engle's lovely A Wrinkle in Time and I've just now started Susan Cooper's Greenwitch. I've been watching Children of the Stones and The Tomorrow People on You Tube too. Funnily enough, I didn't read books like this when I was actually a child - they scared me! And I couldn't watch Doctor Who either, for the same reason.
What did you read when you were little? Do you remember these books? What makes a good story for you?
