Nov/Dec Writer in Residence Diary

Me and My Niece, Rosie in the dlr Lexicon Library

November and December have been busy months in Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown Writer in Residence land!

 Reader and Writers’ Day 5th November (Adult Event)

We kicked off the month with a Readers and Writers’ Day in the Lexicon Studio. Bestselling UK author, Lucy Diamond joined a host of Irish writers and readers for a fantastic day of book chat and fun. I also attended Deadly Openings with Sam Blake, Liz Nugent and Catherine Ryan Howard

Children’s Book Club

We discussed Beyond the Stars and Imaginary Fred in Book Club. Both scored high scores from our discerning young readers. However the biggest hit of the season was The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. They loved the way the story was told with both words and pictures and we watched some of the old French silent movies that inspired the story.

hugo cabret cover

hugo interior

Children’s Writing Club

We had a lovely time at writing club. We celebrated Emma’s birthday with cup cakes and had hot chocolate in the café to celebrate the end of the year. The young writers will be working on a new project called I Am Dun Laoghaire next year. Watch out for the group exhibition of their work in June.

 Writers in Schools Conference

I went to the Poetry Ireland Writers in Schools conference in the lovely new Poetry Ireland building. It was great to chat to other writers who visit schools and to exchange ideas.

 Teen Creatives

We had two teen creatives workshops in November – one with a film maker and the other with writer, Deirdre Sullivan. In December award winning author, Sheena Wilkinson visited from Northern Ireland. We look forward to workshops with Alan Nolan and Dave Lordan in the New Year.

 Writing.ie Independent Publishing Day (Adult Event)

I attended this day organised by my friend, Vanessa O’Loughlin from writing.ie. It was interesting and I found out a lot about self-publishing. I have self-published several guides to children’s books, along with Dubray books and Eason and it’s an interesting process. It also reminded how much I enjoy working with traditional publishers – self-publishing is a lot of hard work and I cherish the input my editors and marketing and publicity teams put in to getting my books into the hands of readers.

 Irish Writers Centre

I continued teaching my Writing for Children and Teenagers course for adults at the Irish Writers Centre. We celebrated our final class with a reading from the students and a Christmas party.

Danger is Everywhere Show

My Dangerology Uniform

I love the Danger books so I was thrilled to bring David O’Doherty and Chris Judge to the Pavilion. Here I am in my Dangerologist's uniform. David and Chris approved.

 Baby Book Club in Dalkey (and soon to be Deansgrange in 2017)

15043727_1161812370520559_8065401269910503424_n

Breaking News - I’ll be hosting a new Baby Book Club Deansgrange in the New Year – I can’t wait! I love hosting Dalkey Baby Book Club and this month we made hedgehogs and talked about hibernation.

 Launch of the 1916 Exhibition by Jon Berkeley

15034823_246796932405935_8015155237788581888_n

I attended the launch of a wonderful exhibition in the Lexicon – well worth checking out. It was launched by Children’s Laureate, PJ Lynch.

 Swing of the 60s Exhibition Launch

The Swing of the Sixties Project Room

Do catch it if you can – it’s on until 6th January and is a riot of colour. Fantastic for children and grown ups alike. My writing club and book club wrote some fantastic stories and poems inspired by the work.

 The Harold School Christmas Fair

My Son the Christmas Tree!

I spoke to the children and their parents about books and reading at this lovely school fair.

 Drop in Writing Clinics for Children and Adults

I had a record 14 children at the drop in writing clinic on Wed 30th November. We all squeezed in to my writer in residence room and had great fun talking about writing. The young writers read from their work and got feedback from their peers.

It was followed by a clinic with adults who are writing for young people, all very talented individuals.

Writing

I also worked on a new age 9+ idea, some picture books and continued researching the 1940s for a new adult book.

Plus I programmed lots of AMAZING events for Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival in March, including a very special event with one of my heroes. More on that very, very soon.

That’s it for November and December! Look out for the new What’s On before Christmas which will list all the Writer in Residence workshops and events in Jan/Feb/March. HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Check out my December Books of the Month Video here:

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

The Story of You – Keeping a Diary

My Diary Collection 1986 to 2015

Today is Christmas Eve. In many parts of the world children will wake up tomorrow morning and find presents at the end of their bed, or in stockings at the fireplace. Maybe they will get a much wanted bike, books, or even a puppy.

A Photo of Me and My Sisters and My Grandparents - I'm the taller girl in the red!

Christmas is full of magical memories. One way of saving those memories is by taking a photo. This is a photo of me and my sisters with my grandparents when I was about 8 or 9 – I’m the taller girl in the red!

Another way of saving memories is by writing them down in a diary or a journal. I’ve been keeping a diary since I was a teenager and I’ve amassed quite a stack of them at this stage. They are are carefully locked away as they are full of secrets!

I’ve always found that writing things down helps me work through my feelings and helps me make sense of particularly difficult or upsetting days. They say a worry shared is a worry halved, and for me keeping a diary is like telling a trusted friend my problems.

As a young teenager I had many worries:

Do my friends actually like me? The answer to this one was yes, but teenagers don’t always act kindly towards each other – hang in there, it will get easier.

Does everyone feel as alone as I do sometimes? Yes – even as an adult, I think everyone feels alone now and again.

Does everyone notice my spots as much as I do? No, they are far too busy worrying about their own spots!

Who am I supposed to be? How am I supposed to act? I’m in my 40s now and I know who I am – a mum, a writer, a friend, a partner, a sister, a daughter, and a reader. I’m still not sure how to act sometimes, but as you get older you care less and less. You realise that people like you for who you are, not what you are. And if you don’t click with someone, you spend less time worrying about it.

Me at 17

I also kept a ‘boy list’ as the back of my diary of boys I liked. I didn’t actually know many of them, they were boys I’d spotted at a bus stop or working in a shop. I also kept a book list and a movie list and these are fascinating to read back over (far more interesting than the boy lists!). See my 1987 movie list below with the scores out of 10 I gave each film that year.

In some ways I haven’t changed much from my teen years: I’m still mad about books, worry about things, and can be full of energy some days and exhausted and grumpy the next, but one thing that hasn’t changed is my diary keeping. I still do that, 30 years on.

From a young age I’ve always had the urge to write things down, it’s how I make sense of the world. I guess that’s what drove me to write books. This is a photo of me at 17.

In 2016 why don’t YOU try keeping a diary? In 30 year’s time they may give you something truly fascinating to read – the story of YOU.

Happy Christmas to all the Girls Heart Books readers and writers, and most especially to Jo who keeps the whole show on the road. Talk to you again in 2016!

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

My Movie List - 1987

She's Making a List, She's Checking It Twice

As it’s Christmas Eve I thought I’d talk about lists. I hope you’ve all sent your wish list to Santa, or Father Christmas as you call him in the UK. I’m from Ireland and he’s Santa around these parts. Top of my Santa list is always books and book tokens. Are you a list maker? I am! I love making lists. Here is my list of the lists I keep:

1/ Favourite movies

I love going to the cinema and I don’t get to go as often as I’d like. My great treat to myself is an afternoon at the cinema – with a friend or by myself – I just love it.

This year I watched 14 different films, mainly at my local cinema in Dun Loaghaire. And I also went to some plays and lots of book events. Hurrah, another list to make for next year – book events.

Here’s the list of movies I watched (at the cinema) in 2014. My lists are scribbled and have rambling notes but I love looking back at them years later.

2015 Movies List

2014 Movies List

2/ Favourite books

This year I read 44 novels (adult and YA) and lots more children’s books for all ages.

Here’s part of the list. As you can see I score my books and movies out of 10. Geeky I know!

Books 2014

Books 2014

3/ Books I’d like to write in the future

That list is secret! It’s full of plans and ideas for future characters and plots. Sometimes the first thing that comes to me is a title or a character’s name and I jot that down on my list.

When I was a teenager to my shame I had a boy list. I listed all the boys I liked and where I’d spotted them. It was very much an aspirational list. I’d never met most of them. Some of them were pop stars or actors. The boys from Duran Duran regularly featured on my boy list – the One Direction of their day.

Duran Duran

Duran Duran

IMG_4917[1]

I have an ongoing to do list on my desk. Here’s one from November. As you can see my Girls Heart Books blog is number one on that list.

Why do I make lists? It helps me make sense of the world and it helps me stay on top of things.

Sometimes life can be overwhelming, especially at busy times like Christmas. Everyone’s rushing around, buying presents, preparing food, getting into a tizzy about Christmas Day - who’s collecting Auntie Mabel , who’s peeling the potatoes? When I’m feeling a little stressed out I sit down and make a list. A shopping list, a to-do list, a list of the people I need to ring. It helps me feel more in control.

It’s OK to feel a bit overwhelmed at Christmas. It can be a noisy, manic, emotional time of the year. I’m not a ‘noisy’ person. I’m a reader and a book lover and a story-girl. I like peace and quiet, I like to be able to think.

If you’re a quiet person like me it’s perfectly normal to need a little time out from the mayhem, a little peace. You might like to:

Read a book

wizard of oz

Watch your favourite old movie – mine is The Wizard of Oz

Write in your diary

Go for a walk

Listen to music

Hug the dog

Hug your mum (I’m a mum and I love random ‘just because’ hugs)

Or maybe, just maybe, make a list like me!

Have a happy, peaceful and book filled Christmas everyone!

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

This post first appeared on the Girls Heart Books website: www.girlsheartbooks.com