Happy Wednesday everyone, I hope your week is going well. I thought I would post a funny pic this week. Not a place I’d choose to visit! I took this photo years ago, on a visit to the Gold Coast in Australia.
Lynn Chapman Writer
recent posts
To receive notifications of new posts, please enter your email address below and hit the ‘subscribe’ button
-
A big thank you to Susan Batten for writing a great piece for this week’s memory slot.
Little Ice Age
We humans have become so confident we can control (nearly) everything, it is galling to think we are at the mercy of this fierce weather.
It might do us good to remember that climatic change is nothing new. In the Middle Ages, starting about 1300, northern Europe suffered the “Little Ice Age”.
Frost fairs sound romantic but for the four hundred years waves of freezing weather beset us, people in northern Europe lived with daily disaster.
Britain, then dependent on agriculture, saw torrential rains flooding the fields, ruining crops and leaving the stock to die of hunger. Temperatures dropped by up to 2ºC. With the crops decimated and a shorter growing season, tens of thousands died of starvation and diseases related to the famine.
In literature, we find Mr. Pickwick skating on the pond on Christmas Day and Bob Cratchit going down a slide on his way home from work. However, as people went skating on the Thames, the ice affected harbours and impeded coastal shipping.
Forest fires springing up in the “red alert” areas today are certainly alarming, but warm dry winds contributed to the famous Great Fire of London in 1666, which destroyed the city and left a hundred thousand homeless.
So, by all means, moan about the heat (or rain, or gales or hailstorms) but remember that climate change is always with us, and these days we deal with it with better resources than those unfortunates back in medieval times.
-
What are your fears as a writer?
I have a few fears as a writer. The main one is that someday I’ll wake up and completely run out of ideas – strange eh? I can’t see it ever happening, but it sits in the back of my mind, nagging like a toothache. I also worry that I will suddenly decide I no longer want to write – perish the thought!
Another fear is AI – the dreaded AI. Should we be worried about it? As writers, I personally think we should be concerned. I have attended many zoom sessions on this subject with the Writers’ Bureau. We’ve discussed it at length and we agree that AI doesn’t have feelings, how can it?
I have lots of conversations in the workplace, where my colleagues’ ages range from seventeen to over sixty, and I can honestly say I’ve never heard any of the ‘older’ staff mention AI. The youngsters – they talk about it non-stop and one even told me how they write and sell songs on social media with the help of AI. Being a musician, I was aghast at the very thought of it.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
-
This was taken from a rotating cable car from Malcesine to Mount Baldo in Lake Garda.
Malcesine Mount Baldo cable car is open for 10 months a year and it brings you from Malcesine to Tratto Spino, on Mount Baldo at 1760 m of altitude, in just 15 minutes. I loved it. -
Saturday night television in 1970s Britain
In 1973 I was 10 years old and my parents ran a newsagent in Walworth, South East London. I used to help out every Saturday; I sold kids ‘penny muck’ and my mum used to give me some change in a small box, just in case any of the kids needed it.
To me, those were the best days of my life. We lived above the shop and every Saturday evening we used to settle down as a family and watch television together. I really miss those days and wonder if families still do that today?
Saturday night TV in our house was the highlight of our week. We usually had a mixed grill for tea, or fish and chips and I remember there was an abundance of programmes to choose from: The Generation Game, Mike Yarwood Show, Dixon of Dock Green, Basil Brush, The Two Ronnies, Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Seaside Special and, later in the evening, we watched Michael Parkinson and Match of the Day.
I was never a Dr Who fan, I guess I’m in the minority but I could never get into it. The same is true of programmes like Poldark and The Onedin Line.
Sitting and watching television together as a family was an institution when I was growing up and being the youngest, I was always the TV’s remote control! But they were fun, innocent times and I wouldn’t change them for anything.
I’d love to know what television programmes you watched when growing up.
-
Name five things on your writing desk right now!
Happy Saturday everyone. I hope the writers amongst us are getting plenty of words down on paper / typed onto the screen.
I’d love to know five things that are on your writing desk right now – no cheating! Here’s mine: mobile phone, red pen, EMPTY tea cup, fan (thankfully) & my black kitten called Buddy.
What’s on YOUR desk?
-
Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing good and coping with this exceptionally hot weather if you’re here in the UK. I apologise for my totally unplanned and unexpected absence from my blog and others. Unfortunately, my PC was hacked and it’s been a bit of a nightmare trying to get back on track with everything.
If it has ever happened to you, then you’ll be well aware of how stressful and difficult it is. I’ve had to completely wipe my PC of everything and start again from scratch. The most annoying thing is I had a well-known anti-virus programme installed. It’s frightening when you know you’ve taken every precaution to be safe online but still get hacked.
Anyway, I want to thank everyone who has liked and/or commented on my recent posts and I will get around to reading them all. I’m finishing on a positive note – our kittens celebrate their first birthday tomorrow! So here’s a cute cat pic of all three. The older cat, Charlie, is in the middle. Have a great weekend.
-
The Mini Metro. I had one of these back in the 1980s and I absolutely loved it. It was my second car, my first was a Fiat 126. This photo was taken at the Motor Museum in the Lake District.
-
Faversham Armed Forces Day 2026
Some friends and I visited Faversham on 14 June for their annual Armed Forces Day. I love history and it was just like stepping back in time. The street was full of re-enactors who so vividly brought the 1940s to life. It was like being transported back in time and it was wonderful to witness it.
The whole vibe was amazing: swing, jazz and big-band music blasted out from two huge PA speakers, vintage vehicles were parked up on display and the café sold my favourite – bread pudding! The waitresses were dressed up and looked wonderful in their forties regalia.
Of course we were also there to honour our brave armed forces lads and lasses, who fought so proudly and resolutely for our freedom. It was a chance to reflect and remember, whilst enjoying the history and music of the forties.
As usual, I took a few photos of the occasion and I hope you like them. The guy dressed as Sir Winston Churchill – had to be seen to be believed!
-
How do you prioritise your writing work?
Maybe I should have asked ‘do you prioritise your writing work?’ We’re all different and I’m sure we have particular ways and means of getting our writing done – whether that writing is for our pleasure or to send off to a magazine or writing competition.
For me personally, I love a list and always write down what I would like to achieve in any given week. I have to be organised and set myself goals that are written down. I get great pleasure in ticking off my achievements!
The best piece of advice I’ve been given – and this absolutely works for me – is always prioritise the important stuff and get that done first. Any spare time left at the end of the day, that’s when you can look at the not so important stuff.
I know it sounds simple, but I found myself working on this blog, sometimes for hours on end, whilst my novel sat there screaming to be edited! I now put my novel at the top of my list and have since edited so much more of it than I ever thought possible.
This sound piece of advice came from Esther Chilton, who many of you on here already know. For those that don’t, check out Ether’s blog – you’ll find it here.
I can’t wait to read how, or if, you prioritise you own writing.