Amongst Other Things

    Someone recently asked me why the content of my blog posts aren't about devil slaying and other fantastical beings all of the time. I explained that this is my official author site and it's my book that features the devil slaying part.

      There are occasions when I'm not sure if, you, my blog reader will find what I've written in my posts, interesting, amusing, or they may just bore you silly. However,  you will know if you drop by on a regular basis, that I write a fairly mixed bag and that's because  I want you, to know the author, Christina Rowell. Of course I want you to read my book, but not all blog readers read books and I'm also aware that not everyone is turned on by devil slaying.

    Therefore, that's where the , amongst other things, comes in. So if you're reading this I hope you enjoy the posts as much as I like writing them, because I just love to write.

   

   

   

All Saints Eve

The doorbell rings.

Is it a trick, or is it a treat?

Open the door.

A cloud of flour I might meet.

Costumes worn, lanterns lit.

There's no need to be frightened,

 no need to be scared.

Because it's time to remember our dead.

On this Eve of All Saints Day.

Fateful Meetings

     I don't particularly like travelling alone and if the flight is delayed, hanging around in the departure lounge on your own can be a real pain in the butt.

    So last week with Hurricane Gonzalez approaching the UK, it was inevitable that my flight to Tenerife would be just that.

    Fortunately it was only for a couple of hours, but nevertheless my plans on arrival in the Canaries had been disrupted. I was no longer going to be picked up at the airport and I was now unable to meet up with friends as anticipated, I was feeling slightly disgruntled to say the least.

    When I finally boarded flight I decided to get into a more positive frame of mind, after all I was now at least on the plane. I had been allocated an aisle seat and it wasn't too long before my two travel companions, for the next five hours anyway,  arrived to take their seats beside me.

    Once up in the air it wasn't long before we got chatting and for one reason, or another we were all three females travelling on our own. As we chatted we found we had many things in common and the hours just disappearedand in fact I was kind of sorry to say goodbye.

    I very much believe that chance meetings like this are fate and although I'm not sure why we were meant to meet, I'm very glad we did.

   

Truly, Madly, Deeply

 

    Everyone I know has married for love, even if it turned out to be a temporary state.   Therefore it's very difficult for me to comprehend that there still are women today being married to men only because of a generous dowry that her family are promising the grooms.

    The word, dowry, makes me think of the film, Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, where the refusal of the bride's brother to give a dowry causes an angry reaction from the bride, because she believes it's her entitlement. The film itself is what I would call today, a Romcom, the plot is light-hearted and demonstrates why the custom belongs in the past.

    However, this antiquated practise does still exist in the UK amongst certain communities, as I know it does in other parts of the world and it has been highlighted recently that women are being subjected to violence and even death at the hand of their, husbands and in-laws, because the money promise has not come to fruition.

    Is that all  life is worth? A bag full of money and a couple of silver candlesticks. What about just being truly, madly, deeply In love?

 

 

   

Crossing My Fingers

 

    I'm off to the Canary Islands again in the next couple of days and tomorrow I've got a packed schedule. Therefore, I thought I would publish my blog a day early, otherwise I probably wouldn't have updated until Saturday. I'm hoping that makes sense.

    Since coming back to Scotland, I've managed to get my land line and broadband in Tenerife all fixed out. So I'm crossing my fingers, toes and anything else I can cross, in the hope that the problems I've had in the past, either publishing my blog or, accessing Twitter will remain there.
    I'm off to pack now and I'll see you Monday. XXXX 

 

 

 

The Blogosphere

 

   
    It's now over two years since I started blogging and it's very much a part of my writing life. Not only do I enjoy composing my own posts, I love reading blogs written by my fellow writers.

   Whether we want to promote our business's, share our innermost secrets, muses, opinions, or give advice on a specialist subject, we know the blog is a valuable tool.

   Without reading the advice of other writers, editors, publishers and readers, I'm not sure if I would have ever plucked up the courage to blog, tweet, or have submitted my novel for publication. I can't remember the first one I read, however I do know that a whole new world opened up to me; as I'm sure has to many.

   The blog itself celebrated its twentieth birthday last week, the first ever which was called, Davenet, was written by the developer of blogging software, David Winer and he still blogs to this day. I'm not sure if I'll still be blogging in twenty years time, but I will continue to read the wonderful assortment that's out there in the blogosphere.

 
 



   

From Little Acorns a Mighty Oak Grows

 

   I can remember when I was at school there were several subjects that I used to question the relevance of being taught in class. Not being a particularly outspoken kid, I never did let my views be known, therefore my disinterest caused me to switch off.

    One such subject was music and being tone deaf never endeared me to the singing side of things, or encouraged me to learn how to play a musical instrument. However, it was only once I had left school that the penny dropped that I finally realised music wasn't only about singing and playing in the school orchestra.

    There's much more to it, the thing that caught my attention was realising opera, classical and contemporary pieces, as well as pop all have a story to tell. The composer/song writer is using their creativity to tell that story, or maybe get a message across, in the same way an author does.

    BBC learning and BBC Performing Groups has launched a programme called '10 Pieces' which they hope will help primary school children appreciate what classical music has to offer them, encouraging them to express themselves creatively, through music, dance and digital art.

   I think this initiative is a great idea and anything that cultivates creativity amongst children can only benefit us all as a society.