My mixed teenage and children’s summer camp went very well last week. We had fun making up stories about a wizard called Gummy, his wise Aunt Lily (a pig) and the terrifying Jack Sparrow (who turned out to be not so terrifying after all). Tomorrow I begin my first week-long Adult writing course this summer. Thanks to The Café Times most of the spaces are filled. If you don’t already know it, The Café Times is a free magazine that you can pick up in Doctors’ surgeries, Cafés and some shops in Skerries, Balbriggan, Swords and Malahide. I am hugely grateful to Bernie who produces it, as I enjoy reading The Café Times every week – it is full of positive articles about how to beat stress and be happy – and she advertises my courses, for a very reasonable rate, which means I no longer have to ask kind shop keepers if I may put up a poster in their window. (It was always my least favourite part of the job). So thank you Bernie!
On the reading front, I have recently read ‘The Time Spell’ by Judi Curtain. It is aimed at 8 – 11 year old girls and tells the tale of a twelve year old girl who owns a magic cat called Saturn. The cat causes her to spin back in time to the Titanic a few days before it sank. Lauren, the main character, desperately tries to warn the captain that the ship is going to sink but of course he ignores her along with everyone else – well, almost everyone. It is a great read. I love children’s fiction and Judi Curtain is fast becoming one of my favourite children’s writers. I also love her Alice & Megan series of books for the same age group. I haven’t read a good adult novel in a while, but have my nose stuck in The Good Back Guide by Barry Savory. I have been away from the tennis courts for two months now with an injured lower back (the sacro-illiac joint to be precise) and am seriously pining to return to the courts. Barry’s book is helping me prepare for my relaunch into the world of the Skerries Tennis Club – a very competitive business! Bring it on!
