When I was younger (in
my teens and 20’s) I used to write, a lot. I didn’t just write: I
was published in poetry anthologies and magazines, but then I
stopped. I was too busy with working and being a mum. Maybe the
writing abandoned me rather than the other way round. Maybe as
Virginia Woolf put it “Every woman needs a room of her own.”, not
just physically but psychologically – a creative space.And I didn’t
have one.
I’d always made up
stories and composed poetry, even before I was taught how to write
them down. And not having a room of my own didn’t stop that
process, I just didn’t write anything down. Somehow it wasn’t
important enough. I needed to get away. About seven years ago I
bought a farmhouse in the Czech Republic. I had intended to buy a
little hut, somewhere that didn’t need lots doing to it, where I
could live in nature for a while and write. Instead I bought a ruined
farmhouse, one which would need lots of TLC and work. Talk about
sabotaging one’s best intentions!
But
the Czech house brought one great benefit – I started to blog about
my experiences in “Adventures
in the Czech Republic.”
And I loved blogging, the feedback was great and I got to know some
really lovely, interesting people in cyberspace.
A few years ago the
house, although not finished (I had run out of money), was ready to
be used for my original purpose. I took a deep breath and sat down
with my hands resting on a computer keyboard and a blank screen in
front of me.
