The Arts are Calling

https://books2read.com/The-Baganti-Attack

I find writing takes me in different directions. While novel writing is central, I have moved into other areas over the years. Screenplays and stage plays were next. I find them fun and fairly easy. More-or-less an outline of a story. Seeing them come to live was cool.

A few years ago I decided to try my hand ad music lyrics. Tricky for someone with no musical abilities. Several times I tried to collaborate with established musicians. Each time it never quite fit. Frankly, I needed to polish up my material. As well, I had to try and put myself in the shoes of the music writer. Hmm. It just didn’t seem to work. A musical friend suggested I simply learn an instrument. Been there. Failed at that. Piano? Nope. However, I wish it were possible. I tried guitar in my mid-fifties. Ouch. My fingers were not flexible enough.

My friend had tried to guide me through getting my head around the feel and rhythm of music.

He had patience but I was lost.

One morning my friend popped by for coffee with a suggestion. Give the ukulele a try.

My first thought was how would my fingers find their way around those tiny instruments. He mentioned that they came in different sizes.

I mulled the option and decided to dive in. Not literally. Ukuleles are made of wood. However, within a couple days I learned the basic four chords. I was quite easy. Next I played around with them. Soon enough I created my own little “tunes”. They were basic, but, they were mine. Quite fulfilling. I put writing songs aside and grew my list of chords. Within a week I could play Four Strong Winds, Let It Be, and a little CCR. Yippie. I have a successful start and a couple sore finger tips. I will wait a few months and begin putting music to my words.

Ukulele lesson time. Coffee cup at the ready. Yes, I know, that is not a ukulele I'm holding. it's a guitar-ukulele. I'll stick to four fun strings, thank you very much.

A Breath of Fresh Air by Victoria Chatham

Rough Winds

Primroses

Writers are always looking for ways to enhance the drama in their plots and the nuances of their characters. Just as we sometimes use the weather to create a mood or direct the way a scene goes, so we can make use of the seasons in our settings and in our characters’ moods. Never mind my characters, I know my mood definitely changes with the onset of spring but, after all my years living in Canada, I still miss an English springtime. My memories are of a gentle segue from the rough winds and rain of winter to the soft breezes and light showers of true spring, of standing on a hillside breathing in the fresh air under a clear blue sky and when the hedgerows began to green, of looking for the wildflowers that sheltered beneath them, snowdrops and crocuses, primroses and celandines. 

Do Shake the

Cheese Rolling

There are also all the events and activities the springtime weather shakes up. Much like those who long for the start of baseball in North America, competitors around the UK can take part in wellie wanging (how far can you throw a Wellington boot?), cheese rolling (chasing a 7-9 pound wheel of cheese down a 1-3 gradient hill), bog snorkelling and wife carrying. There are also the Tetbury woolsack races, guys carry a 60-pound sack and girls a 35-pound sack, which start in one of two pubs and are run up a 1-4 gradient hill. 

Darling Buds of May

May is also the time for Hawthorn, the 'haw' in this instance being an old word for hedge.

White Hawthorn

According to Celtic myth, hawthorn flowers are the most likely plant to harbour fairies which is why Hawthorn was never taken into the house. Its branches could be formed into garlands and hung on the door, or set into the ground outside the house to ward off evil spirits, illness, and death. The young leaves (known as bread and cheese) can be added to salads, along with dandelion greens and elderberry. The berries are well known for their anti-oxidant and heart health benefits. Add garlic for a super boost. Hawthorn once bloomed close to the beginning of the month and was known as the May-tree, the only British plant to be named for the month in which it blooms, but now blooms closer to the middle of the month.

Springtime sets the scene for the rest of the year. It is a time of renewal and hope and, who knows, it might bring ideas for a whole new set of characters and books, like my next Regency romance, coming in July.

A shocking betrayal by the man she has come to trust and begin to love, shatters Lady Olivia Darnley's new found happiness. Will Lord Peter Skeffington manage to overcome the rift between them that he has unwittingly caused? Will she accept not only his apology but also his proposal of marriage? Is there a future for this apparently mismatched pair?

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Photographs:

Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill courtesy of dailymail.uk 

Primroses, Hawthorn, from the author's library.

Paragraph Headings:

Quote from William Shakespeare's Sonnet #18

May 23rd