Work in Progress

 

Over the last couple of years I have been working on a couple of ideas for novels and I thought I would share them with you. The first of which has the working title, Granny goes to Uni. It was partly inspired by my own experience of studying for a degree as a very mature student (although I am not a Granny yet). It was also inspired by a vision of the future for many older people whose pensions will not provide the kind of lifestyle they envisaged for their retirement. The Granny in the novel, recently retired Nina Smyth, lives alone in her three bedroom apartment in Portobello, Edinburgh, and she faces a bleak future, juggling bills with her savings draining away quickly on mundane things such as replacing the central heating boiler, rather than on her dreams of seeing the world.

She is inspired by an advert in an Estate Agent’s window to rent her spare rooms to students and she takes in two young women who are studying at Edinburgh University. Nicole and Abigail bring youthfulness and energy back into Nina’s home and before long she is inspired to sign up to a degree course in Scottish Cultural Studies. Her experience of academia is both challenging and exciting and before long her social life has expanded.

As usual there will be some element of romance in the novel. I haven’t quite decided whether it will be a lecturer, a museum curator, or even her ex-husband. But when I get around to that part of the story it will be interesting to tackle the idea of dating at such a mature age. In reality I don’t expect it is much different – maybe less reliance on social networking as a communication tool.

The other novel has a working title of Laughing with the Kookaburra and it is set mainly in Perth, Western Australia. This is also inspired by real life in a funny kind of way. The protagonist in this story is Zoe, a divorced woman who lives in Shetland whose daughter, Ella, takes a year off after university to work in Australia. Towards the end of this year Zoe travels to Perth to see her daughter and stays with her cousin Janice who emigrated there many years ago. 

To Zoe’s horror her daughter has met a very nice Australian man, and has landed the job of her dreams in a young offender’s unit working with teenage boys. Zoe faces the prospect of hardly ever seeing her only child and she is distraught, but cannot share this with her daughter. Encouraged by her cousin Janice to move to Australia too, Zoe discovers she is too old and her only option would be to marry an Australian. So Janice sets about introducing Zoe to the single men of her acquaintance in the crazy hope that she might meet someone suitable.

It is indeed a crazy hope and Zoe has to suffer a serious of disastrous dates before she gives this idea up and returns to the UK alone. This was never going to be a serious novel and I was planning on concentrating on the comedy. But, as fate would have it, between planning the novel and getting it written, I now face the very real prospect of my eldest son settling down in New Zealand. So it isn’t quite so funny now. However, I am hoping to write a happy ending for Zoe involving a tall dark handsome Kiwi and if I can somehow influence fate again in my own life, well so much the better. The title was inspired by a visit to Perth Zoo with Franklin and Victoria when a kookaburra burst into “laughter” when we walked past him. 

Fit to Write

 

I haven’t been very good at keeping my blog up to date for quite a while, mostly because I was forced to take a much needed break from writing. Over a year ago I decided that I spent far too much time either sitting at a desk at work or sitting at home chained to my laptop. I was unfit, with rising blood pressure and not sleeping well. As a long-time magazine addict I had read at least three million articles on getting fit, losing weight and find a good work-life balance. It was time to put some of this knowledge into action; so I joined a rowing team.

At first, this only served to emphasise my lack of fitness and stamina, but the twice-weekly training sessions in a six oared boat (called a yoal – a Shetland wooden rowing boat based on a traditional fishing boat) meant that my fitness started to improve fairly quickly. I started to compete in the regattas that took place almost every weekend during the summer which were brilliant fun. I made new friends and became pretty much addicted to rowing – until the last race.

Last August during a hard-fought race in which we came third, I felt something “go” in my shoulder. That was pretty much the end of my rowing season. It was agony and so I booked an appointment with an osteopath to find out how I could fix it. However, this was no ordinary pulled muscle. I had a slipped disc in my neck and I had a torn ligament in my shoulder which meant my left arm was not being held in place properly. I blamed the rowing, but my osteopath had other ideas. She blamed my sedentary lifestyle – my 30 odd years of working in an office and the 10 years of spending my free time either reading or writing. She said I needed to make some serious changes. 

There was no way to ignore this advice as for the next few months I was in considerable discomfort. However, fast forward to this year and everything is vastly different. I am fitter, leaner, with greatly lowered blood pressure and have more energy than I have ever had since I was in my teens. And this is how I did it.

1.     I bought a Fitbit – the cheapest version for £34, and started walking as much as I could. I became slightly obsessive about making sure I hit the 10000 daily target; even if it meant pacing up and down in the lounge while I was watching Downton Abbey.

2.    I ordered a standing desk for my office and began to spend a lot more time standing while I wrote. Initially it felt a little strange but soon I was standing up to around 70% of my day. It became so normal that I found myself standing around in my kitchen watching the news instead of sitting down. I also found space to site my laptop at home where I could stand up while I wrote. (I am standing while I write this blog).

3.       I did circuit training during our winter training classes at the boating club and carried on some of the exercises at home. I can now do a 60 second plank without any bother.

4.       I cut down on alcohol; not that I was a huge drinker in any way, but I decided that I could do without the empty calories, especially as drinking wine led naturally to eating crisps.

5.     I started running – yes seriously; I live near a park that is usually deserted on early mornings at the weekend, and it is surrounded by high walls which meant I don’t have to feel self-conscious when I am jiggling along at a less than Olympic pace.

6.     I made a supreme effort to cut out all processed food and to cook everything from scratch. My curry making skills improved no end. I also cut down on meat.

7.   I stopped myself from feeling guilty about not spending any time writing. I stopped setting self-imposed deadlines for finishing the next book. I spent a little more time reading instead, although I never stopped plotting the next book in my head.

So in early May when the rowing season started again, I noticed that these little lifestyle changes had made a big difference. My stamina, strength and flexibility have improved dramatically. My shoulder has healed completely and my posture has improved too. More importantly my blood pressure is normal and I also sleep much better too.

This shouldn’t be unexpected, since every fitness article will tell you that the more you do, the more you can do. But when you are tired and stressed out and have allowed yourself to get unfit this is a hard concept to get your head around.

Anyway, I thought I would share this since I’m sure I’m not the only writer to spend far too much time at a computer and with my head in a permanent day-dream. If I can get fitter, then anyone can. Baby steps and little tweaks to my lifestyle is all it took, and most of it was free.