Category Archives: Life & Style

Let Your Baby Sink Their Teeth Into Leo The Snail  – by Dr Kathleen Thompson

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Possible a controversial title – but Leo the Snail, a teether/rattle/dummy from BabyToLove is unique and delightful, and perfect for teething babies.

Firstly it looks extremely attractive, in pink or green. It’s big enough to grab Baby’s attention but very light, so easy for even a 3-month old to grab and hold – and of course, take straight to their mouth. The whole toy is made of food-grade silicone so no concerns when Baby chews on Leo’s various bits, and the snail’s feelers are designed to resemble a dummy (pacifier in the USA) which is a clever additional feature.

The whole thing is light and delicate, yet robust, and will wobble playfully if Baby shakes it, which will also activate the delicate integral rattle.

So if you have a new baby present to buy, or Baby’s first Christmas, this is just great. At £11.95 from BabyToLove it is a beautifully-made and unusual toy.

 

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk

 

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

My Writing Process – Roger Bray

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I was raised in Blackburn, Lancashire and served for ten years in the Royal Navy before coming to Australia in 1983, after I returned from the Falklands. Writing is something I have always enjoyed and fiction was a favourite.  I loved being able to write anything within the bounds of the particular subject and not be restrained by anything except my imagination.  One restraint I did learn at school was other people’s perceptions of what is age appropriate for a juvenile to be writing.  Apparently graphic death scenes weren’t. 

My writing stayed in the background for many years until I was invited to write short stories for a couple of magazines which were well-received.  I then dabbled with a novel for a couple of years before getting into my stride and writing my first publication The Picture.

At the moment I am halfway through my fourth novel, currently untitled.  It is a story set in the UK and across Europe and deals with sex trafficking and organised crime from the perspective of an investigative journalist who is fighting his own battle with past tragedy while trying, against his better judgement to report what he has found.

As with all my novels I come up with a very broad idea of where I can see the story going.  I write and rewrite parts and scenes in my mind until I see a path then I commence.  That is how far I plan, maybe I’ll do some research at the start to get me on the right track but broadly speaking, once I start I write linearly.  I stop and research as I go and edit sections before moving on.  My word count is whatever I manage for the day but overall I aim for 90 – 100,00 words for a novel +/- as the editing progresses from me to beta readers and to my editor.

My basic day of writing would be re-read what I had last written, editing as I go.  I find this gets me back into the moment.  I then continue and write until I run out of steam or find myself veering off or woffling to pad out the chapter.  Either way that is the end for the day be it 3 or 8 hours later.  Rinse and repeat the next day until finished.

The hardest part of writing isn’t any sort of blockage, though they happen but I tend to get over them by just writing — sitting down and writing, getting words onto the page is, I have found the best solution.  Even if what you have written isn’t great it gets the process moving along and gives you something to edit.  It is difficult to edit a blank page.  The hardest part for me is staying within the storyline.  I have some great ideas which, unfortunately, don’t fit the arc, but I can waste hours trying to make them fit because I think they are so good — usually mistakenly.

In my current novel I have edited the first 2/3 of the novel to delete some of these great ideas I had but have turned into a bit of a millstone later on, something I have to be firm about.

I find the least enjoyable part is the whole process from writing The End onward.  There are lots of moments of doubt once I release my latest to a broader audience (broader than me and my wife’s cat).  Is it great or is it rubbish?  Typos – the bane of my life, plot holes or bits that grate when read?  All these things need identifying and fixing.  Nothing wrong with having any of them, that’s life as a writer but the process of sorting it out is no longer writing, no longer imagination and art.  It’s a drudge.

Any advice I can give? Keep going — you don’t fail until you stop trying.  Writer’s block?  No such thing — keep writing through, it, you can edit rubbish, you cannot edit a blank, tear stained page.

Website https://rogerbraybooks.com/ 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rogerbraybooks/ 

Twitter https://twitter.com/rogerbray22 

Book Review: Cold Storage by David Koepp. Reviewed by Natalie Jayne Peeke

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December 1987 Roberto Diaz a bioterror operative and Trini Romano a Lieutenant Colonel are on their way to the Atchison mines . They are transferring a metal crate that the have flown half way across the planet . The mysterious crate and it’s unknown contents are securely sealed in the facility and should be out of sight out of mind .

Fast forward to March 2019 we meet the loveable , cheeky and rebellious Teacake who has recently finished a 19 month prison sentence. He has a new job at a local storage facility.

A concoction of boredom, persistent beeping and the desire to talk to Naomi, the new girl at work , results in a series of catastrophic events, events that put all forms of life on earth at risk .

I’m not going to lie, I would not describe myself as a Science fiction fan. I initially chose ‘Cold Storage’ because it is written by David Koepp who is a celebrated screenwriter and director for films such as:
• Jurassic Park
• Spiderman
• Panic Room
• War of the World’s
• Mission impossible
• Indiana Jones
And having watched most of those amazing films I had very high expectations and decided to give it a go .

Koepp in his genius way, not only makes the characters believable but also the extreme situations that they find themselves in. There were times where I could not turn the pages fast enough .

Written from many different points of view , the reader gets a true understanding for the story line. What struck me most about ‘Cold Storage’, other than the heart racing , nail biting plot, was the fact that with all the scientific jargon I was able to understand what it meant and therefore what was going on. This is not due to my scientific knowledge, oh no, it is Koepp’s clever writing style. Much like ‘Mr DNA’ In Jurassic Park.

A perfect blend of excitement, humour, science and nightmarish terror.

Cold Storage by David Koepp. pub Harper Collins. Hardback £12.99 eBook £9.99 Audio £12.99
Natalie Jayne Peeke.  The Bookworm mother.

Poisoned Polluted The Old Red Lion Theatre – one for the diary.

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Kathryn O’Reilly and Anna Doolan

image credit Nick Rutter

 

The complexities of childhood trauma, drug addiction and shame are brought to the forefront in this bold new play from writer and actor Kathryn O’Reilly.

Blending powerful physical expression, lyrical monologues and realistic drama with original music, Poisoned Polluted is an exciting and challenging piece of theatre, taking the audience on a brutal journey as they face the devastating reality of the impact and strain of addiction within a family.

Poisoned Polluted, explores the impact of being nurtured in a toxic environment. Stark, raw and bold, this original full-length poetic drama tackles uncompromising social issues and shines a light on the direct correlation between addicts,
abuse and suffering which is carried within our bodies.

Writer Kathryn O’Reilly comments, Poisoned Polluted began as a poem inspired by real life
experiences. As a playwright I am constantly exploring what it is to be human, our interactions,
transactions and coping mechanisms. I am fascinated with learning more about the nature of
addiction, as we all have the capacity to become addicts. Drugs don’t discriminate, but affect
every walk of life, age, class, gender, culture. Why are some people’s lives destroyed by it, and
others are not? It’s important to create female-led stories with new and varied characters for
women, focusing on issues in society that affects us all and to raise awareness.

Poisoned Polluted Tuesday 5th – Saturday 30th November 2019
Location The Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John St, Islington, London EC1V 4NJ

Tickets are £14.50 with some concessions available frommnnhttps://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/poisoned-polluted.html or
0333 012 4963

 

PortaScent – So You Can Smell Lovely Anywhere, At Any Time  by Dr Kathleen Thompson

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Recently, I watched a good friend struggle with the 3-dimentional jigsaw required to fit one’s liquids in the modest plastic bag provided at UK Airports.  Having already ditched a half-carrier bag’s worth of lotions, and, balancing a full-sized bottle of rather expensive perfume on the top of various face creams, deoderants and sunscreen, she handed the gaping bag to the (very patient) security officer.  Her triumph and relief melted as she was told that the bag needed to be sealed – a complete impossibility due to the Givenchy-embossed bottle struggling to escape. I shifted my few small bottles, which were mixed with the refugees I had already taken from her bag and somehow managed to fit in her perfume in my plastic bag too.  Everyone was happy and the Givenchy was saved from the large bin by the X-ray scanner.

Next time I hope she’ll decant her precious beauty products into 50ml plastic containers, but what about the perfume? Well I shall probably buy her a Portascent atomiser for her birthday. It’s such a simple but clever gift, and perfect for travelling. Made of aluminium it’s extremely light and small, and of course unbreakable. You can fill it with perfume in seconds. Simply remove the spray end from any perfume bottle, exposing the nozzle underneath. The Portascent has a port underneath which fits over the nozzle. Pump the Portascent up and down on the nozzle and it will fill up with perfume. A word of caution, you must keep the cap on the Portascent when you do this or it won’t work.  If your perfume bottle isn’t a spray, there’s an option for pouring too. It looks neat and attractive, and carries 120 sprays – perfect for a holiday, or even just carrying around in your handbag, in case you bump into Daniel Craig on the commute home. At just £7.99 from Leakproof.co.uk it makes a really useful present.

 

 

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk

 

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

My Writing Process – Milli Hill

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What you have written, past and present.

I have written two books, both about childbirth. The first, a ‘how to’ manual called The Positive Birth Book, is a guide for pregnant women on how to approach birth differently, reframe it as a positive experience, and have a positive birth in any circumstance. The most recent, Give Birth Like a Feminist, is a call to arms, exposing the misogyny and power imbalance at play in the modern birth room, and giving women information about their choices and rights so that they can take a more active role in their birth. I also write opinion articles and features for the Telegraph, Guardian, ipaper, Independent, Mother&Baby and more! I started out as a blogger when I was taking a break from my work as a therapist due to having two young children. My blog became really successful and through that I got work as a journalist, and now an author.

What you are promoting now. 

Give Birth Like a Feminist, which came out on August 22nd.

A bit about your process of writing. 

I do a lot of thinking before I start. Maybe over days, or months, or during a dog walk, or in the shower! Then I usually make a spider diagram with the key point at the centre and all the other points coming off it. This sounds terribly organised but it’s normally done on the back of an envelope with a child hanging off my leg with the key aim of preserving the thoughts before they are lost! Then when I get the time to write, the ideas are all there, laid out for me. Getting to my desk is hard with a large family, and I also struggle with my inner critic / imposter syndrome etc, so the whole things becomes like a sort of inner dialogue between the part of me that believes in myself and my ideas and the part of me that says I’ve got nothing of interest to say. Those two parts of me argue for quite a while and then the confident part sort of grabs the reluctant part by the scruff of the metaphorical neck and frogmarches her to the desk. At which point I usually get on with it. I take a long time over what I have to say and am a perfectionist. Someone once described my writing as sounding ‘effortless’ which I took as a great compliment but it really could not be further from the truth!
Do you plan or just write?

I do both. I usually plan the skeleton but then putting on the flesh is the ‘just writing’ part.

What about word count?

I’m used to writing articles with a word count of around 800 to 1000 words and I think that’s a really nice bite size amount to get something across in. Even in a 10000 word book, breaking it down in your mind into chunks of 1000 words is a great way to keep it manageable both for you as a writer, and for your reader. I’m very conscious of how busy the world is now and how you need to get your ideas across quickly and in a way that feels accessible. And if you can just write 100 really great, thousand word pieces, then, bingo, you have a book. Effortless!

How do you do your structure?

I’m a big fan of circular structures by which I mean making a point / telling a story, or a joke etc in paragraph 1 of an article, then taking the reader on a journey through the next 8 paragraphs, and then coming back to the reference you made in paragraph one but somehow showing a development, growth, transformation has been make during the piece. On a larger scale you can do this in a book chapter, and then make an even bigger loop around the book itself. So you can have some nice loops within loops.

What do you find hard about writing?

I find it hard full stop, but also strangely compulsive! It’s like any creative process really, there is always that ‘void’ where it feels impossible, I totally hate that feeling of the blank page, the flashing cursor of doom etc! And as I’ve said, the mental battle of finding my voice is also deeply irritating! I also really miss the time when I was first writing my blog and could be more creative. Now I often feel I’m writing to order with article commissions etc and that kind of sucks the life out of it a bit. One day I really want to write fiction and I’m really looking forward to that!

What do you love about writing? 

I love the moment where creativity springs into life and the ideas start to flow and you know your fingers are knocking out killer sentences! I love reading something back and being surprised that I wrote it – this often happens to me! I think, oh, that’s actually really quite good! Did I write that?! That’s a really nice feeling. And I also like reaching other people through writing. Having my latest book published recently has been really fun in terms of being able to have conversations with people about what I’ve written and hear their feedback. The actual process of writing is quite isolating which I quite enjoy but then it’s nice to come and dance in the sunshine a bit afterwards!

Advice for other writers. 

If you are starting out a blog can be great – I was disciplined with mine and made myself do one post a week for quite a long time. I got better by doing that and I also learned a bit about what people enjoyed and wanted to read because of the instant feedback you get on a blog. Reading other writers you admire can be very inspiring too. But wherever you are up to as a writer, the main thing (and every writer knows this but it’s easier said than done!) is just write. Frogmarch yourself to the desk and just flipping well get on with it!

 

Give Birth Like a Feminist is available now.

Check out the The Positive Birth Movement.

HEARTY FOOD AND HOMELY VIBES: THE MANOR ARMS

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Situated on the streets of Streatham, we popped along to the Manor Arms to trial its upgraded space, upgraded food and, most importantly, upgraded drinks list!

You’ll find this dog friendly, country-style pub a stones throw from the High Street and its undoubtedly set to be a local  favourite. Here’s what we thought

THE FOOD

An absolute beige beauty. Too many people shun the thought of beige food but quite frankly, when done right, we love it. The Manor Arms partners proper comfort food with sophisticated flavours and its variations of crispy, deep fried coatings (from batter to breadcrumbs and everything in between), are cases of pure joy. Fillings don’t disappoint either, flakey white cod sits in a golden batter and is served with an extremely generous portion of chips and both duck croquettes, halloumi fries are packed with flavour and fried, breaded meats.  Prices for food are really reasonable at just £5 a portion for sides and up to £18 for a main including lamb shank shepherd’s pie.

THE DRINK

The Manor Arms seems proud of its drinks offerings and whether it’s local, national or international, the passion is there! Their wine list boasts beautiful variations from Chile as well as sparkling offerings from South Africa and the beers hero local London creations including the Camden Beer Co. Find yourself more set on a spirit? Don’t worry, the gin list and spirit spritz’ are second to none.

THE ATMOSPHERE

No matter what time of year you pop on down to the Manor Arms, we think you’ll be pleased. It’s revamped outdoor space is decorated with lights and there are hideaways strewn with blankets and log fires that you can hire for groups or a cosy eve for two. Inside, the space resembles those not-so-hidden gems you stumble across on a weekend of exploring outside of the city. Soft lighting and soft colours make for a relaxing trip. There’s also The Kite Room which often acts as a bar area overspill but also can be hired for larger groups. Still want more? They’ll throw on some truly exceptional live music. What’s more to love?

 

To learn more or book a table, visit https://www.themanorarms.com/

 

Living with Alzheimers – A Carer’s Story by Chris Suich

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Living-with-Alzheimers-Chris-Bob-Suich

In 2012 my husband, Bob, was diagnosed with Amnesia and we were told it could become Dementia. Three years later he was diagnosed as having vascular dementia. However, after two weeks in hospital in 2018 with severe anxiety linked to the condition, we finally saw a dementia specialist who diagnosed Alzheimers. Nothing could prepare us as a family for the devastating news – and that there was no cure. To see this dynamic and clever man become so dependent and scared of day to day things was devastating. My life now revolves around caring for the man I have been with for over 40 years.

I met Bob whilst having a gap year working on Cleethorpes Pier before starting a degree at Hull University. I was only 17, but we got on so well and shared so many interests that we became inseparable. We married a year later. Bob was theatre manager on the pier and went on to pursue a career in tourism and leisure, and I put my degree on hold to support him in his anti-social hours and bringing up our two boys, Joseph and Edward.

Whilst they were babies I enrolled in the Open University and after six years managed to gain a BA in English, History and Cultural Studies. After a year I started teaching full time at a local primary school. Bob’s career grew and soon he was in charge of tourism and leisure for East Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire. We met many stars of show business such as Norman Wisdom, Ken Dodd, Joe Pasquale, Lulu, and Barbara Windsor, who sadly also suffers from Alzheimers.

Bob worked hard and had a knack for securing TV appearances. He would follow up every bit of publicity he could, including swimming in the sea in January to prove how clean the water was after gaining a Blue Badge award.

He was managing a huge budget, a very successful manager and well-liked by his many staff. We had a great life. but so much has changed since his diagnosis.

Life isn’t easy but we do manage to share lots of fun and laughter. In sharing our story, I hope to cast a little awareness of what it’s like to be a carer for someone living with dementia.

A typical Sunday in our house.

Bob has taken to waking up very early. Today it was 4.00 am.

‘Hello ‘ he says. ‘ Are we getting up yet?’

‘It’s early, go back to sleep,’ I say. ‘I’m not at school today.’

Then the restlessness starts. We manage a few more hours then I give in, get him up, bathed, hair washed all clean set of clothes, wet shaved, pills, hair combed and all the other small things it takes to get him ready for the day. It’s exhausting and the day’s barely begun. He looks smart and well though, so it’s worth it.

We listen to the news whilst we share our morning coffee, having a discussion of the likelihood of which Tory will become the next prime minister. Bob has me howling as he has a complaint about them all.

Then it’s out for Sunday lunch at a friend’s house. Bob eats a small plateful, but I have to chop it up and feed him as he never manages more than a few spoonfuls himself. He’ll say he’s finished but I can usually get more down him as he forgets what he’s said.

When we get home another friend calls in for a glass of wine. He sits with Bob and they enjoy a beer for an hour. Bob ‘loves him’ because he knows him and feels safe. This gives me a break as I have real problems keeping Bob occupied. He wants to do something all the time, but his concentration is nil and so I’m not able to get on with as much as I’d like.

I put ‘Babe’ on the TV for Bob while I mow the grass. He enjoys children’s films as the story is not difficult to follow. I try to dodge the showers and just manage it before the heavens open. When it stops our friend helps me dig some plants in and put the heavy green bin out for dustbin men.

Our friend leaves and we settle down on the sofa, side by side, to watch footie for a bit. If it goes to penalties I might just be able to escape to do the pack ups and the organisation for work tomorrow.

Then out comes the doodle book with his nice new pencil crayons. He lasts fifteen minutes but I am cajoling him the whole time.

Getting Bob to bed is a huge undertaking as by 9.00 pm he is tired and irritable. I start by getting him in his pjs. He complains about getting changed as he wants to go to bed in his clothes. I have to manoeuvre his arms and legs as he can’t do it himself and his arms are stiff as he no longer knows what to do to get undressed.

Then the teeth.

‘Oh, not that!’ he says.

He hates the sound of the motor on the electric toothbrush and I have to brush his teeth as he would never do them.

Then the pills.

‘Not them’ he says.

Bob is on a cocktail of tablets: one for his memory, one for anxiety and several others. Then we go downstairs for a glass of ‘something lovely’ – part of the deal for co-operating in the getting ready for bed routine. Bed by 10.00 -10.30pm and Bob goes out like a light.

Whereas I am laid awake thinking; thinking about how my life has changed, how Bob must feel so bewildered, and how I’m going to have the strength to start it all again tomorrow.