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| Me with The People's Friend photobooth |
As well as short story writing for the magazine, I am in the unique and wonderful position of being the author of the first ever soap opera in the history of the magazine. The soap opera, Riverside, publishes weekly in the magazine and is a lot of fun to write.
It was an incredible weekend. It helped build my confidence, sitting on stage with a microphone in my hand - that's a first for me! There were talks from The People's Friend editor Angela Gilchrist and from the sub-editor Margaret about the history of the magazine. Both talks were fascinating and from vibrant women too.
As well as talks to listen to there were craft sessions, meditation sessions, aqua aerobics, and a short story writing workshop too. The weekend was jam-packed with activities and you could choose to join in as much or as little as you liked.
Earlier this year I attended The People's Friend's 150th birthday party in the wonderful city of Dundee. You can read more on that here.
And this month I was invited as a guest author to Alvaston Hall in Cheshire to celebrate The People's Friend's 150th anniversary weekend.
This was a huge honour. I was there with best-selling writer Annie Murray and what a joy it was to meet and learn from her. Annie and I gave our talk on Saturday afternoon of the four day weekend. Here we are...
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| Me in my frock with Annie Murray |
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| Me meeting some of The People's Friend readers at my book signing after my talk |
As well as talks to listen to there were craft sessions, meditation sessions, aqua aerobics, and a short story writing workshop too. The weekend was jam-packed with activities and you could choose to join in as much or as little as you liked.
The women I met on the weekend were amazing. I know, sorry, I keep saying "incredible, amazing, wonderful" but that's really what it was like. At dinner and breakfast we were given set tables to eat and meet at. This meant I was chatting to the same women every day, learning about them and from them. I met a paleontologist, a Jamaican lawyer, ex-teachers, and a woman recently retired from running her own Blackpool B&B. Think readers of The People's Friend are little old ladies? Think again!
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| Alvaston Hall. My room was on the second floor above the front door. |
Alvaston Hall was beautiful and my room was one of the most luxurious I've ever stayed in, being in the main hall and above the front door. I had a gorgeous view of the grounds and enough privacy to sit in my bath tub with the window wide open looking out over green fields. Too much information? I don't care - it was bliss! There was an indoors pool too and I went swimming each day.
It's the first time I've ever been away on holiday like this on my own. I don't think I'd have done it if it hadn't been with The People's Friend magazine. When I was first invited to join the weekend as a guest author, I admitted to the editor that I was excited, but terrified.
"Don't worry," she said. "You'll be with friends."
And indeed I was.
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