I enjoy writing and have had several bits published. One reason I have this website and blog is probably to write. I don't care who sees it - I've had the pleasure of writing. I am in the middle of a kid's story so watch out J.K. Rowling. Do you think Barry Cotter would be a good name for my hero???
I really enjoy my Creative Writing group on a Friday morning. The people are lovely. So talented.
I wrote 'I Belong' because I was getting bored with the book we had been using in the parish for ten years or so. Tony Ford (parish priest) had inspired me with a new vision of 'church' and the parish paid for me to do a Diploma in Pastoral Theology which taught me a lot. I also learnt a lot from the catechists at our monthly preparation meetings, the parents at their meetings, and of course the children themselves. Each month that first year was a mad rush, typing away on the old Amstrad, often past midnight, with a good single malt to keep me going. Then there was a mad rush the next day, getting the sheets round to Catherine Fletcher for her to illustrate them. Finally, photocopying seventy or eighty sets of four sheets. After two or three years Tony suggested getting them published .... and 'I Belong' was the result! I'm proud to say that it was the best selling religious book for kids for a while. Maybe it still is.
I had this idea for a children's Mass Book that had spaces for the kids to draw pictures and write their own prayers. Redemptorist Publications said 'Go ahead.'
Let's Go to Mass was the result. They now have a series of books with a similar format. Redemptorist Publications asked if I could do another book called Let's Go to a Baptism.So I did!
For a long time I have thought I would like to write a religious book for adults, but was a bit stuck for ideas. I wanted to write about the Mass for ordinary catholics, but Redemptorist Publications said ordinary Catholics wouldn't read a book, and I wasn't famous so I wouldn't have any other audience.
However, I have an idea for a new slant on the Mass, and have made a start on my first adult book.
I've written many poems in my life. Some are too personal for me to publish. The first poem I ever wrote was when I was in Junior school. It was about a little bird I found which had fallen out of a tree. When I was 12 I had a poem published in the children's section of the Catholic paper The Universe. As an adult I have had three other poems published in The Universe - two serious ones and a jokey one.
Here's my favourite poem.
There was a young baby called Fred
Who persistently pee'd in his bed.
He felt so unhappy
Wearing a nappy
He wore an umbrella instead.
The only other thing I have had published is a CTS pamphlet called 'Coping with Disabilty'. It's been discontinued now.
