A bookshop, stumbling stones, and a visitor

Approximately-weekly news, #51

Yesterday, we went out for ice cream. Harris always enjoys his. Of course. Dog ice cream is made from oat milk and something called ‘chicken biscuit’. Each to their own.

Also yesterday, I went to a woodland burial. It was beautiful, and perfect for the person we were sending onward. The dress code was ‘colour and animal print’.

Please, my friends, love your people. You might not have as much time with them as you imagine. The things that are stopping you from reaching out might not be real barriers, if you get up close to them and have a proper look.

As someone wise said to me once: it’s always later than you think.

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I had an Excellent Time at Kemps in Malton. Lots of people came, among them a lovely work colleague from my training life, and a friend I haven’t seen since university. Also Liam, with whom I had a great chat about the wonder that is Mick Herron; and readers with excellent questions and observations about kindness and coming to terms with a complicated past. The event was hosted by Jo, who is a wonderful human. I thought that before the event - she interviewed me two years ago - but she has gone even higher in my estimation because (a) she agrees with me about Dickens* and (b) she gave me some courgette plants**.

If you would like to meet Jo, and you absolutely should, come to the Kemps Wetherby event on 14 June!

I’ll also be at Waterstones Yarm, on 27 June, though I can’t speak for Jo. I’m looking forward to meeting more booksellers. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve come across a bad one yet.)

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The edelweiss that I planted in the rockery is flowering! Which, given that I have, unwisely and irrevocably***, linked the health of the rockery with the progress of the new book, is Significant News Indeed.

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Last year, I was privileged to work with Miriam Landor on her fascinating memoir.

‘Stumbling Stones: The Holocaust, my family and me’ is a rich, moving and intelligent account of Miriam’s life and family history as she searches for the stories of family members who perished in, and escaped, Nazi Germany. Miriam writes with compassion and honesty about the impact of the holocaust on her family through the generations. The title is a translation of ‘stolpersteine’, which are memorials set into pavements, marking the last places where those who were murdered by the Nazis left voluntarily. You can read more about them here. And you can buy Miriam’s book in any of the places where you buy your books, or online. Miriam’s website is here.

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This is a good place to mention that I provide editing, assessment and mentoring services for writers at any stage of their careers. I work on most fiction from middle-grade up, as well as non-fiction and memoir. You might working on your umpteenth draft and be losing the will to live. You may not have a manuscript yet; you might have an idea, and a desire, and want support as you put a first draft together. Maybe you are getting lots of ‘almost but not quite’ responses from agents and you want help with getting over the line.

I can help.

I’m experienced and kind and I will work with you to help your writing dreams become real. You can find out more here, and then message me and we’ll arrange a no-obligation chat. I have one mentoring slot available now, one edit/assessment slot for July, and some availability for the autumn.

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A robin came in to the studio this week.

He is not the first bird to have popped in, but he is the first one who has been calm and curious, and felt like a real visitor. (Usual bird behaviour: fly in by accident, panic, do a couple of circuits, panic-poop, and leave.)

He went to my desk (behind the door, so tricky), hopped about, looked at me for a bit, and then cast his eyes over my manuscript.

And, having approved the pages, he went on his way. It felt very special.

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Often, when I slice into a sourdough loaf, I think of how much it looks like a rabbit. (I mean, probably not to another rabbit.) Just me?

Until next time, my friends, be well.

Stephanie x

* I cannot bear Dickens. I no longer feel bad about this, and I have stopped trying to make myself get along with him. He has enough fans without me.

**At time of writing (5 days later), still alive. Probably partly because Harris has not yet noticed them, and Harris loves a courgette.

***Obviously, I could disconnect the rockery and the book. But only when I regain some mental bandwidth. Which I will definitely have… when I finish the book.