WE: A Manifesto for Women by Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Catherine Balavage

WE: A Manifesto for Women immediately caught my eye. As a proud feminist I am always on the lookout to support other feminists and find out about movements. I jumped at the chance to review this book and starting reading it soon after it arrived. My first thought was that it has lots of good quotes, which I love, and my second was the bravery of Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel. It is so honest and beautiful.

This book is needed as 2017 has been a regression of women’s rights and we need to stick together more than ever. We also need to work towards our own happiness. Not everything in the book is for me; I hate being told to meditate for example, but I found the entire book just so full of truth and helpfulness. Even the parts that I thought weren’t meant for me made me think.

I highly recommend this excellent book. It makes you laugh and it makes you happy. It also lets you know you are not alone. Women have to start speaking the truth about their lives and standing up to the things that oppress us. During an appearance on This Morning Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel were subjected to sexist comments on Twitter and – surprise surprise- The Daily Mail because they were not smiling. Welcome to 2017 people. I believe The Daily Mail headline which was targeted at Gillian Anderson had “miserable bitch” in the title. And that is why we need WE: A Manifesto for Women. Join in now.

In their new book, Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel bring us a rallying cry for women to join together and create a female-led revolution. WE shows us simply how, one woman at a time, we can bring about positive change.

WE: A Manifesto for Women by Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel

‘Imagine a sisterhood – across all creeds and cultures. An unspoken agreement that we, as women, will support and encourage one another. That we will remember we don’t know what struggles each of us may be facing elsewhere in our lives and so we will assume that each of us is doing our best…’

So begins WE: an inspiring, empowering and provocative manifesto for change. Change which we can all effect, one woman at a time. Change which provides a crucial and timely antidote to the ‘have-it-all’ Superwoman culture and instead focusses on what will make each and every one of us happier and more free. Change which provides an answer to the nagging sense of ‘is that it?’ that almost all of us can succumb to when we wake in the dead of night.
Written by actress Gillian Anderson and journalist Jennifer Nadel – two friends who for the last decade have stumbled along together, learning, failing, crying, laughing and trying again – WE is a not a theoretical treatise but instead a rallying cry to create a life that has greater meaning and purpose. Combining tools which are practical, psychological and spiritual, it is both a process and a vision for a more fulfilling way of living. And a truly inspiring vision of a happier, more emotionally rewarding future we can all create together…

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Gillian Anderson is an award-winning film, television, and theatre actor and producer, writer and activist. She currently lives in London with her daughter and two sons. Jennifer Nadel is an award-winning broadcast journalist, qualified attorney, writer, and activist. American-born, she lives in London with her three sons.

http://www.wewomeneverywhere.org/

#wewomen

BLUSH by Charlotte Josephine

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Margaret Graham

We’re all busy so maybe this is one to put in your diary before you’re booked solidly through to summer.

Blush by Charlotte Josephine

Following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, the award-winning BLUSH now transfers to Soho Theatre before embarking on a UK Tour. Written by Charlotte Josephine and presented by Snuff Box Theatre, the team behind the sell-out, multi-award winning Bitch Boxer, BLUSH tells five candid stories about image-based sexual abuse and all its many victims. BLUSH is a slap in the face and a call to arms.

Blush feels like powerful and important theatre on an urgently contemporary issue (The Daily Telegraph).

This angry, honest and heartfelt piece seeks to encourage and broaden examination of how the scarcity culture in modern society is fuelling our shame, encouraging the destructive belief systems that we are not enough.

Daniel Foxsmith and Charlotte Josephine (who won a Stage Edinburgh Award for BLUSH) lead this fast-paced production, exploring why society has a desire to shame, what it’s the result of and how we allow this to happen. BLUSH shines a light on the secrets we attempt to keep in the dark, our fears of disconnection and our attempts to be part of the tribe.

The catalyst for the piece was legislation passed in April 2015 to make revenge pornography a criminal act. The law now makes it illegal to disclose a ‘private sexual photograph or film’ without the consent of the person depicted. Many people consent to the creation of an image but having it made public is a very different matter. While revenge pornography may have been the catalyst of Blush, the true focus of the work is shame.

BLUSH is presented in association with Sphinx Theatre and has been supported by the Peggy Ramsay Foundation, Unity Theatre and Arts Council England.

@SnuffBoxTheatre, @sohotheatre, #BLUSHplay

Tuesday 16th May – Tuesday 6th June 2017  Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE

Tour Dates:

6th – 10th June . 19th June 20th June 21st June 22nd – 24th June

Tickets are available from www.sohotheatre.com or 020 7478 0100 priced from £10.

Tour venues:

The Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter 162/3 Fore Street, Exeter EX4 3AT

Gulbenkian, Canterbury Darwin Road, Canterbury CT2 7NZ

MAC, Birmingham Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH

The Garage, Norwich 14 Chapelfield North, Norwich NR2 1NY

Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol The White Bear, 133 Street, Bristol BS2 0DF

The Mikado or The Town of Titipu UK Tour: April – July 2017

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Margaret Graham

Regan De Wynter Williams Productions present Sasha Regan’s all-male

The Mikado or The Town of Titipu UK Tour: April – July 2017

Following the highly successful all-male tours of H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, Sasha Regan returns with the world premiere of the irresistible The Mikado – one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most famous operettas.

In true topsy –turvy fashion, Gilbert and Sullivan’s inherent humour and timeless tunefulness are married with Regan’s wicked sense of fun. This vibrant production successfully pokes playful fun at British politics and institutions. The crazy storyline takes us to 1950s England where a school camping trip is visiting the far away land of Titipu – a place where flirting is banned on pain of death and where tailors can become Lord High Executioners but cannot cut off another’s head, until they have cut off their own.

Regan’s idea to transform these much-loved classics into all-male productions stems from her own experiences performing Gilbert and Sullivan at a single-sex school. Her shows are now renowned for playing on the humour that can emerge from these gender changes.

Regan comments, Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing our work playing in some of the most beautiful theatres our country has to offer. 2017 is going to be a great year for us as we bring a brand new staging to our audiences – it’s beyond exciting.

Rollickingly silly, beautifully sung and imaginatively reframed (Libby Purves – H.M.S. Pinafore 2016).

Sasha was recently awarded the Special Achievement Award at the Off West End Awards 2017 for her contribution to musical theatre.

Tickets are available from individual theatre box office. For more information on tour dates and venues see http://www.allmalemikado.com.

@allmalemikado, #AllMaleMikado

The Business of Books: #AMREADING

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Jane Cable

Jane Cable starts working through her ‘to be read’ pile

Two weeks ago I wrote, with some trepidation, about my slightly difficult relationship with reading now that I’m a writer. I have to say I was really pleased by the positive comments I received from other authors feel the same – I certainly don’t feel so much of a freak. But nevertheless I made a decision: this month I’m not going to write – I’m going to read.

I have, however, imposed a basic rule: the books I choose have to be in my genre – contemporary romance. Of course this exercise is for pleasure but it’s also research into how other writers and their publishers achieve excellence. So, what have I been reading? And what have I learnt?

The Girl on the Beach by Morton S Gray (Choclit)

You simply can’t be a romance author and ignore Choclit. They have such a huge presence in the market it felt irresponsible not to have read anything they’ve published. I decided to start putting that right with The Girl on the Beach because it was a mystery as well as a love story so right up my street.

It was completely different to my own books in that much of the intrigue was fairly obvious and initially I wondered how it was going to hold my attention. But it did – largely because of the wonderful characters; I cared about Ellie and as with every great romance, even fell for Harry just a little bit myself. The writing was crisp and unpretentious and I found it hard to put this book down. It re-enforced my belief that well written mainstream romance will never die.

Last Dance in Havana by Rosanna Ley (Quercus)

I have been a big fan of Ley’s for some years and was delighted when she provided me with some lovely cover quotes for Another You. Last Dance in Havana flips between Bristol (which I know) and Havana (which I don’t) and tells the story of a step-daughter’s and step-mother’s searches for love. Ley’s descriptions brought both places to life to the point I could feel the Cuban sun on my back but it was her superb characterisation that made the book for me. In particular Rosa, the older woman, will remain in my head and heart for a very long time.

Writing as well as Rosanna Ley takes years of experience but thinking about this book (and her others) they show me that with a good story, great characters and an amazing sense of place you don’t need gimmicks to write a first class commercial romance.

Sealskin by Su Bristow (Orenda Press)

Sealskin is the book everyone is talking about at the moment. It’s a re-telling of a Scottish legend about the selkies, seals which can turn into people, and is a fairly short but thought-provoking read. I was completely transported to a remote Scottish fishing village and one of the really clever things about the book is its timelessness – there isn’t a clue about when the story takes place and it actually doesn’t matter. It’s a multi-layered romance which sits equally well in the realms of literary fiction which is where its publisher’s interests lie.

It’s also been marketed incredibly well by Orenda and I’m delighted that the dynamo behind this amazing independent publishing house, Karen Sullivan, will guest on this column in April. In the meantime I’m trying to work out what I would need to do before I’d even consider sending a manuscript to them. Although I can recognise literary fiction when I see it, how to create it is another matter entirely. Definitely something to aim for, though.

Get into Your Zone with MYZONE

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Kesh

Training is changing and we are becoming a nation which is more mindful when concerned with the question: are we active enough? Fitbit’s and Apple Watches seem to be revolutionising our ability to check our statistics frequently. We are in competition with ourselves to beat our steps, practise one minute of mindfulness and compare our data to our friends. With many different types of tracking technology on the market it’s hard to know what is going to work for us. MYZONE have now unveiled that they are not only introducing their new heart rate monitor to the market but they are to go one step further by introducing a subscription service too.

The heart rate monitor technology has cleverly been adapted to be clipped into ‘smart’ clothing, which the company have created, including a men’s compression vest and a women’s sports bra. But the real beauty of the MYZONE subscription is that the MYZONE app will have a library of over 500 interactive classes from Yoga to Cycling for to try wherever you are in the world. The app will not only be available on a wide range of smart devices, but will also provide you with realtime feedback based on your physiological boundaries making this a truly individual service.

All of the products are available to buy via www.myzone.org and the physical activity belt is currently priced at £129.99

The MYZONE app is free to download and available for iOS and Android

For more info visit:

www.myzone.org

Lisa Jewell I Found You Book Review

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Catherine Balavage

I am going to start this review off by being honest: I found this book a bit scary. Not horror scary, but anticipation scary. That is the biggest compliment I can give to Lisa Jewell. She has written a novel tight on anticipation and suspense. A proper thriller book which can sit alongside Gone Girl.

It was hard to put this book down, even when I wanted to. There are numerous twists and even moments of unbearable sadness. It is a good novel and the writing is done with so much technical talent that I was in awe as a fellow writer. Tightly wound and with enough surprises to keep any reader happy; this novel works on every level. I also loved the cover. It is so lovely seeing a female writers book being marketed to both genders. I can recommend this novel but, as I said, I also found some of it sad. I don’t want to give too much away, but it also leaves you angry at some of the characters.

Recommended.

Everyone has secrets. What if you can’t remember yours?

Lily has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night, she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one.

Alice finds a man on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, no idea what he is doing there. Against her better judgement, she invites him into her home.

But who is he, and how can she trust a man who has lost his memory?

Two women, twenty years of secrets and a man who can’t remember lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s brilliant new novel.

Lisa Jewell had always planned to write her first book when she was fifty. In fact, she wrote it when she was twenty-seven and had just been made redundant from her job as a secretary. Inspired by Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, a book about young people just like her who lived in London, she wrote the first three chapters of what was to become her first novel, Ralph’s Party. It went on to become the bestselling debut novel of 1998.

Thirteen bestselling novels later, she lives in London with her husband and their two daughters. Lisa writes every day in a local cafe where she can drink coffee, people-watch, and, without access to the internet, actually get some work done.

Debbie Macomber If Not For You Book Review

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Catherine Balavage

If Not For You is a delightful and engaging novel. Debbie Macomber is so skilled at drawing out the characters that it is impossible to feel like you do not know them. This novel is not a standard girl-meets-boy novel. It is a novel about what happens when something unexpected throws two very different people together. The novel jumps straight into the action and has plenty of twists and turns to keep you occupied. Definitely worth a read.

Sometimes, just one person can change your whole world…

If not for her loving but controlling parents, Beth might never have taken charge of her life.

If not for her friend Nichole, Beth would never have met Sam Carney – a tattooed mechanic who is her conservative parents’ worst nightmare.

And if not for Sam – who witnessed a terrible accident and rushes to her aid – Beth might have never survived and fallen in love.

Yet there are skeletons in Sam’s closet that prevent him from ever trusting a woman again. Will he be able to overcome his past and fight for love?

Debbie Macomber is a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers. In addition to fiction, Debbie has also published two bestselling cookbooks; numerous inspirational and nonfiction works; and two acclaimed children’s books. The beloved and bestselling Cedar Cove series became Hallmark Channel’s first dramatic scripted television series, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove, which was ranked as the top program on US cable TV when it debuted in summer 2013. Hallmark has also produced many successful films based on Debbie’s bestselling Christmas novels. Debbie Macomber owns her own tea room, and a yarn store, A Good Yarn, named after the shop featured in her popular Blossom Street novels. She and her husband, Wayne, serve on the

Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, and she is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie and her husband Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington (the town on which her Cedar Cove novels are based) and winter in Florida.

Mother’s Day Ideas

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Margaret Graham

Now look, I am falling on my sword here, tasting wines to recommend for Mother’s Day. You can see that the merest of tastes grew, much like Topsy, into a couple of glasses of the Sauvignon 2014. OK, not on my own, ‘him indoors’ removed the cork, so felt he was owed something. But this is the first of two wines I consider essential for Mother’s Day. They are both good hearted wines, both worthy of the best mothers in the world.

Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2014. The label says this red wine is from old vines grown in the gravel soils of the Valle de Aconcagua in Chile. It is a full and aromatic wine and its barrel-ageing causes a silkiness. Get them to cook lamb or beef with this, as it’s your day off. I have to say I did a double take at old vines, and feel it entirely suitable for an old but good ‘un of a grandma like me.

RRP £14.75 available from Waitrose and others.

Now for the Villa Maria Reserve Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I love New Zealand wines. Clean and full of flavour as a rule. Is this? From the Wairau Valley, Marlborough this has been awarded the designation ‘Reserve’ which is reserved for wines of exceptional quality.

Indeed it deserves this accolade. This is bursting with the ripe fruit characters found in this sub region. Lovely fruit nose, and leaves a entirely satisfactory flavour of … gooseberry I think. Great stuff.

So once you have been fed and watered, how about unwrapping the gifts?

I like The Flower Year – an adult colouring book created by Leila Duly

It is hard backed, and a celebration of the botanical seasons. You could work through it month by month, or just pick and choose. I have been thinking of reworking the back garden so my thoughts are full of what to plant, once it’s dug. Quite who is to dig, is still open to discussion.

It is from the publisher that brought you Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. Leila Duly is a textile print designer, and her work is inspired by old Victorian etchings. It follows her debut colouring book: Floribunda: A Flower Colouring Book.

The Flower year: A Colouring Book, pub 13th March hb £9.99

The Idea of You by Amanda Prowse

Inspired by her own miscarriages Prowse writes a novel around the subject.

With her 40^th birthday approaching and the biological clock ticking Lucy Carpenter’s life seems set firm for happiness. Until the miscarriage. As the stresses of work, grief, uncertainty take their toll on her marriage the final straw seems to be the arrival of her step-daughter to live with them. She is adolescent (say no more). Is this the end of all Lucy has, or a new beginning? There will be lots of step-mother’s out there, who can relate to this novel. And Mother’s Day is for them too, isn’t it?

The Idea of You by Amanda Prowse. Pub 21 March. pb £8.99 and eBook £3.98

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