Sue Flint's Musings: 2024

Monday 1 April 2024

March 2024 Newsletter

This month’s newsletter starts and ends with family celebrations. Such a joy.

On February 29^th, 2024 leap year day, our daughter Sam asked her partner Olly to marry her, and he said yes. They have been together six years and this was a complete surprise. How very lovely!

On 5^th March Oscar the Owl went to Preschool Central, here in Tamworth. I was invited to read to two groups of children during National Book Week. It was a delightful experience. Here I am adding a bit of humour to the page where Oscar is swimming with a friend saying, “It doesn’t matter what you wear or what you have, it’s who you are that matters.” Quite appropriate when all the children were dressed as superman, princesses etc.

On 16^th March I was at The Welcome Hall, Kingsbury Methodist Church Easter Fair with Oscar the Owl. A lovely building and I had good conversations with visitors.

The 17^th of March saw the free giveaway/competition on social media awarded to @Jrh194 on Twitter/X. So, Oscar flew off to Guernsey. Jade is an early-years teacher and will be taking the book into school after Easter, so I look forward to hearing how the children interacted and received his wise words.

Prizes by post.

On 23^rd March I met up with Kim Nash, Author and attended an event put on by Lichfield Literary Festival. Freya North gave an inspiring and interesting talk about her journey with writing, being published, promoting her novels and how her characters came to life as she wrote. She then signed copies of her books on sale supplied by nearby Waterstones.

The event was held in The Hub, St Mary’s Church in the market square of Lichfield – beautiful building and great use of the converted church, now a library with a lift or stairs to café, toilets and entertainment area.

This is my BFF’s family – the boys don’t read in English yet as they live in Anglesey and although they speak English well, they read in Welsh. Not sure which language Mummy was reading in but they all look engrossed in Oscar the Owl on their visit to their Nanny’s house. Jack the Cockerpoo doesn’t look too impressed as they are sitting in his seat!

And to conclude, another lovely celebration as hubby had an Easter weekend birthday.

He loved his owl experience at Rosliston Forestry Centre.

If you would like a signed copy of Oscar the Owl for any 3-7-year-old as a gift, please contact me for details. Or if you want to order from Amazon, this is the link: https://amzn.eu/d/bqy7S7x

Wishing you all a good April.

Best wishes from Sue x

Wednesday 28 February 2024

Update on Book Promotional work

OSCAR THE OWL

Newsletter

Oscar has kept me busy again and I love having this focus in my life. A lot of authors are not keen on promotional work but I find Oscar is taking me to new places and meeting new people, all of whom are very friendly. Stall holders at craft fairs and craft/book/coffee shops are particularly lovely. I met Karen’s Exceptional Cards (see Facebook) and www.Joyem.co.uk recently and had instant rapport. They shared craft fair locations and other connections that I will be following up. Do look them up for that extra special greeting card or present.

Oscar now has his very own bookmark which is a useful addition to give as a promotional aid.

©Rosa Brown www.flontiere.com

A lot of time is spent in research, emails and social media. Actual writing/editing my follow up children’s books and my novel have been squeezed out! I need to get organised and balanced, but I am very happy doing what I do each day. I have managed a few days away and time with friends too and as it’s not yet gardening weather, I remain indoors on cold days.

❄❄

On February 14th I went on a road trip to Worcester to see my friend Christine and to visit Script Haven, independent bookshop which is housed in a building that used to be a hotel where Charles Dickens once stayed. It’s on the High Street and has a coffee shop and treasures inside – books and gifts. I hope to visit again to do an author reading to a group, perhaps in October.

www.scripthaven.co.uk

On February 18^th I was at a Craft Fair in my home town in the lovely No18 Coffee House and Wine Bar, 18 Lichfield Street, Tamworth. Thank you to Cathy, Ben, Penny and all the staff who made me and other crafters so welcome.

This week, Friday 1^st March, is WORLD BOOK DAY. Please consider buying a book for yourself – a novel, autobiography or genre of your choice. And/or encourage the younger generations to read age appropriate books. If cost is an issue, go to your local library or download a free book or two on your tablet/devise.

If you would like a copy of Oscar the Owl as an Easter present for a little one in your family circle, a neighbour’s child or as a gift to your local church, scout cubs/brownie group etc. here’s the link: https://amzn.eu/d/bqy7S7x

Reading to my Great-Niece, Imogen.

“Oscar says….. it doesn’t matter what you have or what you wear. What matters is who you are and what you want to be”

If you would like a signed copy by post, do email me: sueflint13@hotmail.com and if you have seen a copy it would be really helpful if you could do a short review on Amazon.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement.

Sue x

Wednesday 31 January 2024

Newsletter January 2024

Hi everyone,

Belated Happy New Year. What a wet, blustery, cold January it has been. I hope you have all survived without any flooding, fallen trees etc. Hold on in there, signs of spring are popping through the soil. I just love snowdrops.

Update re Oscar the Owl book:

· I was able to send the Willow Foundation a donation of £40 at Christmas time from those who donated for signed copies of Oscar the Owl. Do look up Willow Foundation if you know anyone between 17-40 years of age going through Cancer treatments as they offer a lovely day to remember during difficult treatments etc. https://willowfoundation.org.uk

· Statistics – from the end of August to December 2023 approx. 100 copies of Oscar the Owl have been sold by Amazon and myself, including two e-books.

· Reviews on Amazon: Did you know that you don’t need to have purchased Oscar from Amazon in order to review the book? As long as you are a regular customer of Amazon you can post a review even if you had your copy from me direct, either by post or from a stall. You will see the difference next to the stars on reviews.

If you haven’t already got a copy but would like one as a present here’s the link: https://amzn.eu/d/bqy7S7x or email me and arrange one to be posted to you (sueflint13@hotmail.com).

· I recently took Oscar and my tree of home-made owls to Sutton Coldfield for a National Trust meeting. There were a few stalls in a big hall and over 100 guests listening to a very interesting talk about women in aviation down the years. I sold a few copies of the book and had some lovely chats with people. I hope to visit again in October.

· Promotional work – Writing a book is not just about writing and getting published. There is a lot of ‘admins’ to do as well as venues to arrange. Those of you who are on social media will see me often on Facebook – Sue Flint, Author page; Twitter/X @tweetsue13 and occasionally on other platforms that I haven’t quite got to grips with: Threads, Instagram, Linked-in etc. I have written to 4 schools, two W.I groups, sent out submissions to a few publishers with 2 more children’s books and still working on acquiring an agent/publisher for my novel. Phew, I feel tired just typing all that. How do I fit it all in you may ask? Well, this week I have blocked out a whole page in my diary to tell myself to knuckle down to it and am doing well thus far. Other times I try to have two days a week or 3 mornings in which to do all these things related to and actually writing, editing, researching etc.

· Novel update – I have a zoom with SWWJ International Feedback Group 29^th Jan and I will discuss my first pages and perhaps a change of title with them. I’m considering going to the London Book fair this year in hope to make good connections. But that will be a challenge.

· Another challenge I have is to attend the 130^th Anniversary of SWWJ (Society of Women Writers and Journalists) also in London. At the HOUSE OF LORDS, no less! Baroness Floella Benjamin, who is president of SWWJ, will be in attendance and it would be so lovely to meet someone I have admired since she presented Playschool on television all those years ago.

· I continue to attend Tamworth Writers Group which, over the winter, is just one evening a month in an award-winning town centre pub called The Tap. Although some of us find the stairs to the top floor quite a feat, we have a lovely time together listening to any work we want to share, discussing writing topics and having a laugh or two. As a group we have again contributed to a 2^nd anthology being put together by Tamworth Castle. Watch this space for further news next month.

· I have booked to attend Swanwick Writers Summer School again in August, my 8^th year and their 75^th anniversary. This is held at The Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire and I am there for the full board experience again after going part-time only since the pandemic years. If you are a writer at any stage, from beginner to experienced, of any genre, fiction/non-fiction, poetry, scriptwriter, song writer etc. do look them up. So many courses to attend, great food and entertainment. Or just a cosy room to retreat to write in, lovely grounds to walk around. Then talking the talk at breaks and meals is so encouraging being with like-minded people. Seek me out if you book your place. www.swanwickwritersschool.org.uk

· Writers often read a lot of books too. I read two Christmas books by two of my favourite authors: Cathy Bramley Merrily Ever After & The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft. Both very enjoyable, as all of their novels are. See my reviews on www.goodreads.com.

My delight in knowing that children are enjoying Oscar the Owl cannot be put into words. I have had a number of photos sent me, but I have permission to share these of my great-niece.

Imogen aged 4 reading, clever girl. Photos taken from a film clip.

Wednesday 24 January 2024

Wash Day Blues....

I remember when .....

Monday was washing the clothes day, but today is Tuesday and my washing machine is on. What's to write about, you may ask? But as I loaded the whites into the drum I remembered days when I would stand on a stool and watch Mum's large washing machine swish the water around to make the soap suds foam. Then I'd help her feed the clothes through the attached mangle. Did she even rinse them? I think individually they went into cold water in the kitchen sink, then back through the mangle.

Then I remembered my early married years with a twin tub machine, it seemed like a luxury at the time. But again, just soap powder went into the tub.

THIS is today's experience:

Pods, not powder into the drum.

Stuff for avoiding a build up of limescale in the machine.

Fabric softner.

Smell booster pellets.

Whitening sachet and after all is washed, rinsed, spun to an inch of dryness, there is disinfectant to kill any germs left in the machine! What a lot of 'stuff'.

No doubt some people use drying machine stuff too.

When did doing the weekly wash become so complicated? No wonder OH finds it mind-blowing - what goes where? Pods (1 or 2), whitener (1) and smelly pellets (measure a cap full) into the drum, Calgon and Comfort in the drawer (use caps to measure) in slot 1 & 2. Then when the cycle has finished, take clothes out and run a rinse with the detergent. Simple - not!

Then there's the cost: A box of washing powder to do 65 washes is £13.50. The above collectively cost approx. £32.00. Ok, the pods are supposed to do 33 washes and the fabric softener 83 washes. But even if the other items do 10 washes, its still more than 20p a wash that the one box of washing powder does!

Plus electricity and water costs of course. And what of all that packaging for recycling or disposal.

Give me back my twin tub and a packet of Omo!