Welcome all to my new blog home

My blog has a new home:

http://helenholloway.com

Thank you everyone who has taken the time to visit my blogs here on blogger.  I just wanted you to know that all future blog entries will be posted on the above link.
Thank you again,

H

Am I old?

William, who is nearly five, and I were driving to school this morning taking our regular route. We're almost at the school when we pass a senior living place. William, from the back seat, reads the name of the home. "Mommy", says William, "Have we been there before?" 

"No, we haven't", I reply. I then explain to William who may need to live there and why.

"Sometimes old people need help with getting dressed, walking around or cooking for themselves" I say. 

"But you can't cook, Mommy. You need to live there!" 

"But it's for old people", I say.  

"You ARE old!", says William, trying to figure it out. 

Age is a funny thing. I don't feel old, yet after I dropped William off at school it happened. I drove to Goodwill, which is about five minutes drive from the school, to check out their books. I got back into the car with my treasures and started off back to Bagel Boys....which normally is on the way back to school. But it wasn't today.  I found myself passing neighborhoods, shops and roads that I hadn't seen before. I was lost!  We've been living in this area since 2002 and I was lost!  How could that be? Maybe William is right. Maybe I'm getting old and need to be moved into a senior living home before I get lost again. I had to pull into a car park and ask Siri "Where am I?"  

So you'll be happy to know that I'm typing this from Bagel Boys and I'm safe and sound. Have a great and safe weekend everyone. 

I'll have the fruit cup, some tea and a new friend, please!

Its amazing the people you meet when you need them. I'm back at Bagel Boys, which is turning into my regular place of work, and I start talking to the lady behind me. I've seen her sitting in her'office' before, typing away with her net book and coffee. 

She's a marketing writer for large companies and was explaining how to platform, which is what I've just been reading about in '2014 Children's Writers and Illustrators Market'.  It's a little confusing and overwhelming for me but she had some great ideas about blog writing and researching.  

She's so inspiring and I'm grateful for her time and advice.  I was looking for answers in the book but sometimes the walls go up regarding creativity and you're stuck. She taught me in a few words and a few minutes to be free from rules. No one can tell my story...only me! 

Ready for comments

Just realized that how I had my Blogger settings meant that no one could comment unless they had an account with Blogger. Now anyone and everyone can comment. So please feel free to leave any comments, opinions, criticisms, etc.  I'd love to read them! 

 

With the grown ups

Back at Bagel Boys doing a little research when I notice two things: 1, my eyes are beginning to ache because I've forgotten my reading glasses (how dumb is that!) and 2, I'm sitting in between two other women and the tables they are occupying. They are both busy typing away on teeny weeny laptops whilst sipping their coffee whilst I'm sitting with paper, a pencil, an eraser, and juice. So I'm feeling like a child 'playing' at writing in between the grown ups!  

30 minutes later..... Somehow get chatting to the two 'grown ups' and they're both writers too, different kinds of writers but both writers. Even just knowing this makes me feel like a different kind of person to who I was a few weeks ago. I'm now a writer! 

This looks familiar!

The smell of bagels!

So my office today is the local Bagel Boys Cafe where one of the only items on the menu for me to select is tea. Thank goodness they have tea!  It's somehow ironic for a person who is gluten, lactose and caffeine intolerant to be voluntary sitting in a bagel and coffee shop. But the nearest Starbucks or any other similair place is miles away from William's school (which is where I need to be in an hour or two). 

So I have my tea; that's a good start. I have paper and one if those funny pop up pencils that I stole from our trick or treat bucket last week. And I have my brain that I'm trying to stop thinking about the end of this journey and just trying to let it do 'it's thing'. 

Someone asked me recently "what's stopping you writing?".  I guess the truth is I'm scared. Scared of failing!  What if no one likes my work?  What if I give up?  Maybe I should have picked the chamomile tea!