Brief Encounter with its dark, wartime stations. The steam train flying through at speed covering silhouetted buildings with smoke, and the roar of wheels on metal and the way the station shakes as it passes. Then there is the station itself with its quirky personnel, and the tearoom where the “sugar is in the spoon”…

…and that was most things. Whether it was a gang of girls who played by a harbour inspired by the places we visited whilst on a family sailing trip on my dad’s yacht, or a school in my grandmother’s flat, or on holiday at Pontins, I always had to make up a story about it,…

Whilst being curious about what the future may hold, I wouldn’t want to be frozen to wake up and find everything and everyone I hold dear has gone and be forced into a completely new way of life among strangers. The concept is extremely scary. What would you have to support you? Cash and banks…

That’s the one I use the most because it says “I agree” or “I will” in the quickest, clearest manner. I do trawl through others to express my message particularly faces that will best show how I feel, or symbols like railway engines or telephone receivers. There are so many now, and new ones keep…

I have had very little experience with social media so far. However, I intend to use it to promote my debut novel once it has been uploaded to Amazon although I have yet to explore which platforms will be the most effective to reach the most appropriate audience. I also need to learn to use…

Despite being in my mid 70s by then, I still hope to be producing short pieces of fiction and non-fiction, and publishing novels whilst enjoying a lifestyle of new opportunities and learning. I would like to think that I’m only working for myself then, but I enjoy the part time job I have now. I…

This isn’t about one book in particular, but several. Over the years, foresighted writers have sought out old railwaymen – those who were employed before the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, and put their testimonies in an extremely readable form. Spoken through the eyes of the men themselves, you find yourself with them in their…

My father was a sailing boat enthusiast, and two of his boats, a dinghy and a small yacht, were named after his mother, my grandmother. Sadly, she died before he came to own these boats, and I never met her, but we had a wonderful time sailing on the south coast, and beyond on the…

We have possibly had too much of the above in the last couple of months, but when it comes to writing fiction I can’t think of anything more dramatic than this wild aspect of weather except thunder and lightning. It represents conflict, the need to fight against the elements as well as other aspects –…

The local Post Office manager is one of the most confident people I know. She is also my boss, and I have found her to be approachable and fair when I have done something wrong (I am comparatively new to my job and only work part-time) and is quick to praise when things go well.…