Here I am reading from my book and here is Nic Wilson, a Hitchin-based author who gave a fascinating talk about her new book 'Land Beneath the Waves' at The Book Nook this week (she even set up her own nature table which took us all back to our primary school days!).
It's Independent Bookshops Week this week. Bookshops of all kinds are an endangered species in the UK these days, as more and more of us buy books online (me included of course sometimes). But a real bookshop is a delight, for all ages. Adults can't resist the urge to browse and children's eyes light up when they see how many books there are - actual books they can touch and choose.
Independent bookshops go further and create a relationship with their communities and this is how they survive. Julia Chesterman who runs The Book Nook not only sells books but runs an imaginative programme of author events, such as the visit by Nic Wilson, which connect authors directly with their reading public and is so rewarding for everyone.

​Books, balloons and belonging…
This was the fourth year of the Herts Book Festival, taking place in Hertford on the Saturday, in the new BEAM theatre, and Ware on the Sunday at Southern Maltings Arts Centre. I’m one of a very small group of volunteer organisers (all women), who have created the festival pretty much from scratch. In doing so we’ve tapped into an amazing network of people who write books, people who read books and people who dedicate themselves to helping others, especially children, to discover books.
The heart of the festival is the Author Market, a kind of farmers’ market for writers. Authors take a stall to sell their books. This is a challenging concept, because most authors are not natural salespeople, but it works because they’re not really selling, but connecting with the members of the public who come to this free event, and communicating their love of their stories and characters.
The Book Festival has something for all ages, and it was lovely to see the parents arrive pushing buggies and bringing tiny ones to hear the ‘Baby Rhyme Time’ sessions run by Hertford library and Ware library. Children’s authors make up about half of the Author Market and they always go above and beyond for kids, doing story reading, offering activities or a cuddly animal to hold. This year we attracted people to the festival by handing out balloons in the town and the chatter in the venue was regularly punctuated by a pop and a small child’s wail… before they were handed another balloon.
At the adult end of the scale, there are writers in every genre you can think of – crime, romantasy with fairies, horror, history, fantasy with goblins, futuristic dystopia, psychological thrillers, poetry, rom-coms…
Most of our authors are self-published or are with small, independent publishers. They don’t have the marketing power of a major publisher behind them, or the ability to get into bookshops nationwide. Festivals and bookfairs like this are vital for these authors. What is really striking too is how much the Herts Book Festival authors have become a community, supporting each other, giving tips on marketing, cover design and so on.
It's not always easy for a writer to say, ‘I’m an author’. There’s a lot of snobbishness in the literary world against authors who are self-or indie-published. But ultimately it’s the readers who decide whether a book is good enough or not, and these are authors who are brave enough to face the reader directly. At the Herts Book Festival, I hope, all authors can feel they belong.
Looking forward to next year…
​www.hertsbookfestival.org 

While East Herts may seem far from the Caribbean, it was at the heart of the campaign to end the slave trade and then to free the enslaved plantation workers.

This is the Clarkson memorial on the hill at Wadesmill, just north of Ware, the spot where in 1785, Thomas Clarkson resolved to take action to end the slave trade. He became one of the leading campaigners nationally (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Clarkson) and was supported by many in the area, such as Rev William Hughes, vicar of Thundridge at the time, and David Barclay of Youngsbury.
Women played a major role in the abolition campaign, organising petitions to Parliament and orchestrating a sugar boycott to hit the slave-owners where it hurt – in the pocket.
And yet, at the same time, the abolitionists were surrounded in Hertfordshire (as in most counties) by the large houses and wealthy estates benefiting from the profits from plantations.
Our play is set in 1823. The slave trade has been abolished, resistance is growing among the enslaved plantation workers themselves. But the British establishment blocks emancipation at every turn. Though the abolitionist cause seems hopelessly stalled, Thomas Clarkson is not giving up. Once again, he visits Wadesmill…
​
More news as we progress with plans for this play in 2023.

The Book Festival was first planned for 2020 but of course had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Now it is back and I've been involved, liaising with the more than 35 local authors taking part and planning some great events which I hope will get readers interested and excited about our authors' work. We also have some writing workshops scheduled.
For authors, it is very welcome as the series of lockdowns has meant many have been unable to promote their books, or even have new books launched properly. When we put out a call for local writers, we had no idea that so many would want to join the Author Market! We have already had to start a waiting list for next year.

‘Authors in conversation’ panel sessions at the Author Market
Informal half hour sessions, assisted by a facilitator, with two authors whose books have something interesting in common. Each author will give a short reading from their book and then will chat about the inspiration for their books and how they approach their work.
 
Saturday 7th Hertford
1.30-2.00pm Strange Worlds
Abena Eyeson (author of ‘Looking Up’) and Roxy Eloise (author of ‘The Guidal’) talk about writing for teenagers and how fiction can help adolescents face change and the unknown in their lives.
 2.00-2.30pm The Story in History
Louisa Treger (‘Madwoman’) Zoe Jasko (’What the Wind Saw’) discuss their books and how they research and create vivid historical stories.
 2.30-3.00pm Tales of the Dark Fantastic
J S Watts (the ‘Witchlight’ trilogy) and John Tarrow (‘A Stranger’s Guide to Talliston’) talk about myth and magic in their work.
 3.00-3.30pm The Power of Stories
Sara Nisha Adams (‘The Reading List’) and Nick Jubber (‘The Fairytellers’) talk about the age-old power of literature and its effect on our lives.
 3.30-4.00pm Life and Love
Lauren Forsythe (‘The Fixer Upper’) and Hina Belitz (‘To Lahore With Love’) on their novels about women trying to navigate the choppy seas of life and relationships.
 
 Sunday 8th Ware
1.30-2.00pm Danger on the Page
Philip Cox (‘Sam Leroy’ series) and Sarah Goodwin (‘Stranded’) discuss how they create suspense and peril in their thrillers.
 2.00-2.30pm Law and Disorder
Paul Gitsham (‘DCI Warren Jones’ series) and Abi Silver (‘Burton and Lamb’ series) talk about their police procedural and legal mysteries.
 2.30-3.00pm Bringing the Past to Life
Vivien Freeman (‘The Escape of Rose Alleyn’) and Philip Allan (‘Alexander Clay’ series) talk about their approach to creating vivid characters in historical fiction.
​
 Writing workshops
Free of charge but participants to book on Eventbrite via the www.hertsbookfestival.org website.
 
Hertford (Old Cross venue)
11.00am-12.00                        Writing your memoir - Dr Bev Morris
Do you need some practical tips on writing your memoir –what structure to choose, how to deal with difficult truths and how to bring your story alive?
Memoir is the most unique form of writing because it tells a story in a way that only you can. Taking your life and turning it into a book, play or film is a huge undertaking. Joining this workshop provides you with a chance to try out your memoir ideas and to meet other writers on their writing journey.
The workshop is led by Bev Morris, a prize-winning author of short fiction and poetry as well as being a writing mentor specialising in memoir. She has written the story of an ex Special Forces soldier, created a podcast giving voice to survivors of abuse, published poetry on the pain of a lost love, and is working on a memoir in flash based on interviews with military veterans.
Bring a notebook and pen and be ready to write!
 
12.00-1.00pm              Writing Historical Fiction - Dr Kat Armstrong
You may have a great idea for a historical novel, or a work in progress you want to improve, or you may simply love to read historical fiction and wonder how it’s done. Whatever your starting point, all you need for this workshop is a pen and paper and a willingness to forget the history books and let your imagination run free. We’ll start with a couple of exercises to prove we’re all capable of bringing the past to life, whether we’ve been writing historical fiction for some time or have never tried it till now.
Kat Armstrong is the author of ‘A Sharp Pair of Eyes’ and is currently working on the sequel. 
 
2.00-4.00pm    Wild Your Words – El Rhodes
Join award winning writer and teacher, El Rhodes for a two hour creative nonfiction writing workshop. Find out how to get started on a piece, get creative with it, and how and where to submit your work. This session is suitable for anyone, whether they’re a complete beginner or already have thousands of words under their belt. We’ll focus on nature writing, but don’t expect to stop there. Come with a blank page, leave with a draft piece and inspiration. 
 
 
Sunday 8th May
Ware Priory (Fletcher’s Lea)
11.30am-12.30pm       Getting Published – Nikki Vallance and Karen Skinner
Do you have a book you'd like to write but have no idea how to get it published? In this interactive workshop learn from two local authors, Nikki Vallance (www.nikkivallance.com) and Karen Skinner (www.klskinnerauthor.com) about the routes they took to publication and the alternative options available to writers today. Come prepared with all your questions and take away your own action plan to getting published.
 
1.00-2.00pm                Writing Ghost Poems and Stories - Sarah Wragg
Ghost stories are more popular than ever and there’s an unending appetite for new stories about spooks. But how does a writer go about creating a ghost that’s suitable for fiction? Whether you’re writing a novel, short stories, flash fiction or poetry, this workshop’s for you. Sarah Wragg specialises in writing ghost poems and recently published her prize-winning first collection, Ghost Walk. She’s busy working on her second collection which is about real as well as fictional ghosts haunting Hertford and Ware. With having to invent dozens of different ghouls for so many short, poetic bursts, she’s learnt a thing or two about bringing ghosts to life. In this workshop, she’ll share her secrets about creating convincing ghosts and their stories for the fiction market.

Everything is free of charge, there is lots for families and we hope it will be a real community event.

Post from my 'Underfoot' blog: www.katemillerwriting.wordpress.com

Yellow has traditionally been the colour of cowardice, but it seems to me to be the colour of resilience. The sunflower yellow of the Ukrainian flag is a life-sustaining yellow; so far the people there have met a horrific invasion with an energy and courage that makes me ask myself, what would I do? Could I find the hope, to resist?
The brutality of a senseless war is clouding this spring, but spring has still begun. Here, it is daffodils that give us that energising burst of yellow. I love daffodils. They come up year after year, no matter what. Winter has been relatively mild this year, aside from the destructive storms, but even after the worst of snow, frost and rain, daffodils will flower, undeterred.
It's a cold, bright morning and we’re walking to Panshanger to look for daffodils. Last time I was there, I could see their spikes coming up among the snowdrops.
Birds are singing this morning and as I stop to take in a blackthorn in bloom, a wren breaks out in piercing song.
In Panshanger Park, jackdaws are busy in the Great Oak, chacking to themselves, then flying out to the fields to poke around for worms. The dead oak trees here, full of holes, are a gift to them. We watch two jackdaw pairs disappear into adjacent holes in an old oak, presumably where they are nesting, as neighbours.
In the wood around the Great Oak, daffodils look pretty in the dappled light, but on the south-facing slope of the wood, they’ve exploded into full brilliance. These small flowers, some of them possibly descendants of bulbs planted more than a century ago, have been flowering spring after spring, through the years when the estate was neglected and unvisited, closed off, when their blooms went unseen. Many are double flowers, fluffy as yellow pom-poms.
Wordsworth’s famous poem about ‘a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils’ is not called Daffodils, but ‘The Inward Eye’. It’s about the lasting ‘wealth’ he feels he gained from seeing this wild display.
They flash upon that inward eye…
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
Daffodils of the heart. Giving strength.

1st January 2022
 
On Boxing Day we went for a walk, taking advantage of a brief pause in the rain. We crossed the road to Goldings, where the view widens out to the meandering river and open meadows.
Looking over the parapet of one of the old, brick-built bridges, I saw a flash of blue. A kingfisher! The brilliant turquoise blue of its back glowed against the dull brown of the reeds as it darted down the stream to land, out of sight, in an alder tree.
That jewel-like blue, the blue of a damsel-fly, is other-worldly – or at least, un-English. We were almost unable to believe what we’d seen.
It’s not that kingfishers are rare. I’ve seen them on the Beane before and local wildlife photographers regularly take marvellous pictures of the birds on the Lea, but every time I’ve seen one I’ve had that sensation of being given a precious gift, or being let into an astonishing secret.
Some years ago, we were having a walk in St Albans, one dank and gloomy new year’s day, and we watched a kingfisher on the river Ver, in the middle of a busy park. We appeared to be the only people who had noticed this wonderful sight. I wrote a poem, and I couldn’t write about a kingfisher without the influence of Gerard Manley Hopkins, of course. It's here, called New Year's Day (click to follow link).
  
As this pandemic has gone on, our horizons have been narrowed, a net drawn tighter and tighter around us: confined to our towns, our homes, and for some people, literally confined to their room, day after day. Our shoulders are hunched, our eyes cast down. Even if we’re not actually ill with the virus, our souls can’t breathe.
 
We need the healing of being able to look outwards, away from ourselves. While I was lucky enough, in the summer of 2021, to be able to stand on a mountain and gaze at a distant horizon, feel the expansion in myself, I know that for most of the time, was helped me was giving my attention on our walks to even the small things. These didn’t have to be as brilliant as a kingfisher – with attention, the bark of a tree, a berry, a small white flower, can take you out of yourself.
I paid attention because I wanted to write about them in my blog
(www.katemillerwriting.wordpress.com) and in 2021, for the first time in a long while, I think, I really opened my eyes and looked.
 
Yesterday, new year’s eve, we walked with friends to Waterford and went into the little church, a glowing jewel of beautiful art
(https://www.explorechurches.org/church/st-michael-all-angels-waterford).
​The daylight was fading and the church warden kindly switched on the chancel lights, which made the glittering mosaic angels behind the altar come to life.
Each has a banner above their head, with a message:
 
Awake                         Rejoice

Underfoot - Adventures in the nearby and close-at-hand
Early in 2021, when there was little light in the day and none at the end of the tunnel, I had the urge to escape by reading about wilderness.
I read Abi Andrews’ weird and wonderful, The Word for Woman is Wilderness, about a woman’s edgy, (fictional), challenge to herself to survive in Alaska, and – closer to home – Robert Macfarlane’s The Wild Places. It was enjoyable to read Macfarlane’s account of his trips to some of the most remote and beautiful parts of the British Isles, but what I found most encouraging was the way he discovers that the wild can be found in the humble and close to home, as well as in epic landscapes of bare mountains and storm-battered coasts.
He quotes a comment by his friend and fellow-adventurer Roger Deakin, who talked about ‘the undiscovered country of the nearby.’
That is the country I want to explore.
During the pandemic I have been endlessly grateful for being able to walk out of my house and straight into the Hertfordshire countryside. It is not an epic landscape, no area of outstanding natural beauty: it is 30 miles from London and from the air it would look like featureless fields hemmed in by motorways, with the odd patch of woodland.
But I know it has its own wonders and I want to notice them, acknowledge them, celebrate and share them. Writing about them and the thoughts they prompt, and taking the occasional ill-focused photo, helps me do that. A lifelong interest in wild flowers means that I often have my eyes on what’s underfoot, but I also like to look for birdlife and I’m fascinated by how the history of the area shows in its landscape and habitation.
Follow the blog at www.katemillerwriting.wordpress.com

One of my stories, 'The Enemy at the Gates', first published in the Hertford Writers' Circle anthology Heart of Herts, has been turned into a beautifully performed online tale by actors Vickie Holden-Swinton and Dan Swinton. We've all been looking for ways to get creative work out there during lockdown, and they've done an incredible job recording and producing this at home.
Specially produced for Hertfordshire Year of Culture 2020, the story is set during the over-the-top Hertford Pageant of July 1914, when emotions were running high among young people - who had no idea what the future held for them.

Click here for  the link to it on You Tube. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqvv5BzdqBM&list=PL7SjwiQC3zgRIWhJrUcaWEEn7ZPif4gjp

Between 1871 and 1899, the proprietor of one of the largest and most successful theatres in London was a woman - Sara Lane. Her theatre, the Britannia in Hoxton, was an astonishing palace of illusion in the heart of the East End - not a music hall but a full scale theatre, seating 3,000, offering a programme of performances from fire-eaters to Shakespeare. The theatre was particularly well known for its annual three-month-long pantomime, witnessed by Dickens (who enjoyed himself). 

The photo is of an original programme for the 1886 pantomime, from the archive of Sara Lupino, a descendant of the famous Lupino acting family, who were related by marriage to Sara Lane. Sara Lupino first told me the story of her ancestor and gave me the idea of writing a play about her. 

This is still a work in progress, but here's the first scene, an introduction to the extravagant world of Victorian theatre...

THE QUEEN OF HOXTON
 
SARA LANE             Proprietor of The Britannia Theatre, Hoxton
CAROLINE LA DOUCE      Singer and actress at the Britannia
 
SCENE 1
Autumn 1889.
Sara’s cluttered office, backstage at the Britannia. Sara is writing at her desk, feeling pleased with her work.
Caroline enters, carrying a large poster – the bill for the following week’s performances. She takes a stand in front of Sara’s desk.
 
SARA             Bigger and better than ever before Caroline!
CAROLINE   I’m not having it.
SARA             (sighs)
CAROLINE holds up the poster.
CAROLINE   Next week’s bill. You’ve put me below the Hungarian goats.
SARA             The goats are very popular.
CAROLINE   It’s a question of skill Mrs Lane. There’s no skill in being a goat.
SARA             They’re very popular.
CAROLINE   So am I.
SARA says nothing.
CAROLINE   I have my loyal followers.
SARA             They don’t turn out like they used to. Some have dropped off due to rheumatism and deafness.
CAROLINE   The young fellers like me too. I sing the latest. I’ve got a new one.
SARA             You’re more popular than the castanet and spoons. Be grateful.
CAROLINE   But the bill. You’re going to pay the goats more than me.
SARA             There are fifteen of them.
CAROLINE   And they shit all over the stage! Estevan is taking money that rightly should be mine and is he using it to feed his fifteen goats? No. They’re out in the back alley eating rubbish.
SARA             I’ll have a word.
CAROLINE   He’ll be sorry when they can’t do their balancing act ‘cos they’re too weak on orange peel and some spat out tobacco!
SARA             We’ll do you a benefit night soon Caroline, I promise.
CAROLINE   I don’t want charity. I want a decent wage.
SARA             Some acts are more of a draw than others.
Pause
SARA             I’m a business woman. I can’t argue with the takings.
CAROLINE   I’ve been with you ten years Mrs Lane. And I’ll still be here when all the acrobatic goats, castanets and spoons have been forgotten. I’ll be here singing a good tune.
Pause
SARA             The Monarch on Shoreditch High Street is closing.
CAROLINE   I heard.
SARA             That’s three East End theatres gone in the last two years. There aren’t the opportunities for artistes that there used to be.
CAROLINE   Hm.
SARA             But good news for us. People still want to go to a show and they’ll come to the Britannia. I’m expecting a boost.
CAROLINE   I never knew the Monarch was in trouble.
SARA             Times are hard.
CAROLINE   You wouldn’t close the Brit?
SARA             Caroline, I wouldn’t dare! I’d have the ghost of my poor Sam Lane ruining my sleep every night! He said to me on his deathbed, ‘promise me Sara, that you won’t let the Britannia go,’ and I promised. My Sam built this theatre up from nothing, from a dirty room at the back of a tavern, and I’ve carried on his work. Look at the Brit now
CAROLINE   Mr Lane would be proud of you. But…
SARA             … the most wonderful Palace of Illusion in the whole of London and people down from the West End have said so.
CAROLINE   There’s rumours...
SARA             I know. But the pantomime will be our saviour, as always. Ooh, it’s going to be bigger and better than ever before! Ali Baba and the Demon Bat King.
CAROLINE   Bat?
SARA             Cave. Treasure. Realm of the Demon Bats.
CAROLINE   Ah.
SARA             Subtitle – Harlequin, Sultana and the Magic Lamp!
CAROLINE   Chief Fairy?
SARA             Of course Chief Fairy. Fairy Shalimar.
CAROLINE   Thank you.
SARA             I would never give that part to anyone else Caroline. I might have to have you double up as one of the 40 Thieves, and a Djinn.
CAROLINE   Ooh, a Djinn. Who are you?
SARA             Madame Sultana the Fruit Seller. Searching for the brass lamp left to her by her dying grandmother and wickedly stolen from her.
CAROLINE   Have we got a pair of bungling thieves?
SARA             Of course, Harry and Arthur Lupino are down for that.
But listen, I have this vision Caroline. The transformation scene – bigger and better than ever before. Come with me, to the Paradise of the Crystal Oasis.
An ethereal haze clouds our vision… the smoke clears and we see an exotic scene… a dark cave, desert palms, snowcapped mountains, a blue sea in the distance…
CAROLINE   But the light changes, the gauze lifts…
SARA             And we are in a fantastic cavern, the rocks sparkling with coloured jewels, golden treasure heaped everywhere.. but again the gauze lifts…
CAROLINE   We move on, towards paradise… The music swells… excitement mounts..
SARA             There’s a glimpse of magical beings moving, shifting… Gauze after gauze lifts…
CAROLINE   To reveal…
SARA             A scene of pure delight..
CAROLINE   The audience gasps…
SARA             Against a backdrop of a shining marble palace, crystal fountains gush sapphire blue water. Beautiful fairies in sparkling costumes dance a captivating dance. Above them, as if by pure magic, wonderful spirits fly through the air…
CAROLINE   Wait wait!
SARA             What?
CAROLINE   I’m not doing no flying.
SARA             Well…
CAROLINE   Last year I said never again.
SARA             You’re one of our most experienced flyers.
CAROLINE   Exactly. I’m too old for that malarkey. Remember last year? I nearly lost all my hair when they got me too close to that gas lamp.
SARA             It won’t happen again.
CAROLINE   Dangerous Mrs Lane. Flyers could start a f… Not to mention what it does to your back. At my age.
SARA             At your age?
CAROLINE   I mean… you want the young ones doing it. The ones who haven’t carried three children. Clanked into that iron corset thing, hoisted up…
SARA             It’s perfectly safe.
CAROLINE   It’s agony. You try being gracious and fairylike while you’re suspended horizontal for an hour and your back’s killing you.
SARA             No one said the theatrical life was easy Caroline. You know the audience always loves to see the flying. We mustn’t disappoint them.
CAROLINE   Huh…
SARA             I’ve stood there in the wings and seen the look on a child’s face as she gazes up, and she truly believes she’s seen a fairy soaring on gossamer wings. The illusion is complete. We’ve done our job.
Pause
CAROLINE   What’s Fairy Shalimar going to do then?
SARA             What the Fairy Godmother always does. Take pity on a poor, suffering child and transform their life. Ali Baba, shivering orphan on the streets, finds untold wealth and becomes prince of … of…
CAROLINE   Persia?
SARA             Persia.
CAROLINE   And love.
SARA             What?
CAROLINE   He finds love. Marries the princess. Love is worth more than all the treasure of the Forty Thieves.
SARA             Yes yes. All that.
CAROLINE   We could do a dream.
SARA             Fairy Shalimar comes to Ali Baba in a dream. Yes. He’s asleep – Maria’s going to be Ali Baba. He’s huddled under Madame Sultana’s fruit stall… and you descend like an angel from above…
CAROLINE   No flying!
SARA             You rise up, a vision of loveliness. We’ll do a trap.
CAROLINE   Not too much smoke. Makes me cough. Could we try steam again, instead?
SARA             Oh no, it made the whole theatre smell like a laundry. We’ll do a Corsican trap. He’s asleep, here. Slowly, in wreaths of smoke, you begin to appear out of nowhere… back here… Rising up. You move, as if by magic…
CAROLINE   Alf and Bert underneath the stage cranking away like mad…!
SARA             The trap is up.
CAROLINE   I step towards the sleeping boy and touch him with my wand.
SARA             But who… who are you?
CAROLINE   Do not be afraid Ali Baba. It is I, Fairy Shalimar. I am here to make your dreams come true. A life of wealth and power lies before you.
SARA             No, I am just a poor orphan.
CAROLINE   Tomorrow Ali Baba, head for the mountains. There you will find a cave, filled with treasure. And… um… and most precious of all, a Magic Lamp.
SARA             (whispers) But beware the Evil Bat King.
CAROLINE   But beware the Evil Demon Bat King who rules the dark depths. He will try to suck your blood and take from you everything that is rightfully yours!
SARA             Can this really be true?
CAROLINE   Indeed. Because I am Fairy Shalimar from the Paradise of the Crystal Oasis.    Then I do my dance?
SARA             Yes.
CAROLINE   Which one?
SARA             The one you did for Cinderella and the Enchanted Forest.
CAROLINE   That was a good one.
SARA             It’s going to be a wonderful show. Bigger and better than ever before. And Easter’s late next year so it will be a long run. 15 weeks from Boxing Night.
CAROLINE   We’ll be exhausted.
SARA             We’ll be in the money. This will mean a turnround in our situation.
We’ll be in the money, three thousand customers will be in the warm on a winter’s evening, we’ll all be in paradise.