Were you, or even are you, a fan of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five? If so, you might be interested in the this news clip announcing that the series is now going to be updated into a television series.

As somebody who grew up reading almost all of Enid Blyton’s books and having passed many of them on to my children, the news makes me excited and nervous. Yes it will be great to have the Famous Five immortalised in yet another technology, but, since I’m not convinced that our children find the stories as gripping as we did, I’m concerned about the popularity of the series and the changes that might be made to attract a larger audience. But then maybe the stories don’t need changing to attract children, maybe they just need to make the transition from ‘the books mum read’ to ’cool books’?

Do your children read Enid Blyton? 

Why is it that the longer you leave writing a entry into either a journal or blog the more important that entry has to be?

Over the years I have started my fair share of journals. I still have them here to prove it. Sadly I don’t think any (except the one that covers my last UK trip) have more than 10 pages written in them. Once the inital excitement has worn off and I put the book down I have to be really motivated or determined to pick it up again. Actually I’m the same with reading novels - which I guess explains why I like YAs (young adult books), they are short and faster.

I read somewhere that there is a logical reason why some writers can keep journals while others struggle at it. And before you say it, it wasn’t because they were slack or lazy, it was more logical than that. It seemed to tie in with left and right brain strengths and making lists, but can’t remember. LOL! maybe it was to do with being preoccupied and forgetful.

Anyway I decided to go against my trend of not continuing my record keeping till I had something amazing to say. Maybe there is hope for me yet. 

So I was out yesterday morning, mixing with one of my favourite groups of writing ladies when we got on to an interesting subject. In yesterday’s case it was: how do you get a husband to accept that their wife’s writing was worthy of being placed high on the list of priorities?

Although, of more interest to me is, why aren’t all spouse’s as supportive as mine?

• Is it to do with the strict gender roles of past generations (in other words are younger partners more willing to let you do your writing before the vaccuming)?
• Is it because some women are so used to putting everybody first that they don’t know how to assert themselves?
• Is it a lack of respect and belief in our own writing, that rubs off on others?
• Is it a lack of faith and fear of rejection that makes it easier not to let everybody know we need writing time?
• Is it due to a lack of communication with regards to needs and dreams?

Please tell me it is one of these (or something else) because I really don’t like  the thought of women not writing purely because their husbands don’t believe that they can.

So it’s now four days since we got back from the Boyup Brook Book Bonanza. The suitcase is almost unpacked and all our clothes are once again clean and hanging in the walk-in robe, however I’m left with one question. If there are so few events (cultural for want of a better word) in the country, why are the ones that are held so poorly attended?

As a previously country dweller, I know that three country kilometres are equivilent to about one metro kilometre when it comes to driving, so surely it can’t be due to driving distance.

What is so sad about this past weekend is that the workshops, classes and infrastructure of the weekend could easily have supported ten, if not twenty times the attendence. Don’t get me wrong, people turned up, bought books, attended workshops and drank coffee, but no where near as many as should have been there. They have 14,000 people attend their music festival for heaven’s sake.

Having said that though it was great for us who did go. We got almost one on one tuition in workshops conducted by recognised names in writing, we didn’t have to elbow ourselves into the free talks to get a seat and there was plenty of time to sit and chat to other writers.

So here is the question, what writing related event would drive a 120 minute round trip (or more) to see, hear or learn? 

I’ve got a question for you. It’s a topic that keeps coming up in conversations at the moment and I’m wondering if my answer to it is realistic or just due to my age and the lifestyle I live.

If a person is serious about being a writer and having their work published should they have access to, and use the internet?

To me, not using the internet when you’re a writer is like not using your local library. But, it’s not just the endless information (which may or may not be correct)  that makes me feel this way, it’s also the fact that publishers use emails and the internet and if you want to deal with them, don’t you have to use the same or else risk lessening your chances of publication?

I understand the concept that many people find technology scary, expensive, brainbending and so on, but isn’t that what adult education, free library internet access and grandchildren are for?

So what do you think, are these thoughts realistic or just the hard-hearted ramblings of a person who was brought up in the computer generation?