An update for the blog as I have neglected it for far too long. Thankfully the writing motivation has come back after the malaise of the pandemic.

I had an idea that I wished to pitch to an Editor. I worked up an idea and a pitch letter and sent it off to a well-known magazine. Two days later, I received a very positive reply.

I’ve been very excited about this as all being well; it will be my first paying gig as a writer. The job of editing the piece down from 1200 words to 650-700 word main body and two 120 word information boxes is proving more challenging than coming up with the idea of the piece in the first place! I’m also going to have to have a trip out to take some good photographs as well.

I have a copy date later in June to work toward, however, I have already started, and I would like to get it to the editor in good time.

This all came about from an article I had to write for an assignment for my course. It reminded me how to construct an outline and pitch letter, and the positive feedback from my tutor gave me the confidence to pitch to the editor.

My next assignment is to do a restaurant review. I’ve booked a place out in the next couple of weeks, and hopefully, I will be able to get that into a publication.

I also have ideas for a couple of blogs. For one, I have quite a bit of information already to work on, and my assignments have suggested another one. It is finding the time to sit quietly to start them off, which is the problem, but a nice problem to have.

My course is also encouraging me to pitch a lot more ideas to editors, as the more you can get out there, the better chance you have of getting one picked up. I have quite a few articles that I can revisit and send out outlines.

The Green Shoots of Spring and Motivation is Returning

I  have always believed that to be considered a writer, you have to write.

 It sounds simple; does it not?

When I finally had the confidence back in 2019 to pursue my dream of being a published writer, little could we know what 2020 would bring?

 Should lockdown have been a writers dream?  You have time to set up in that favourite place, a notebook full of ideas and most of all, peace. What is there not to like?

Indeed editors and publishers have seen an increase in submissions. Great, but is that the reality?

The reality for me is that it has been an adamant time for my writing career. Firstly, I contacted Covid-19 on the day that the Prime Minister locked the country down back in March 2019.   I wasn’t confident that what made me feel so awful was, but indeed it was the virus.  Testing was all but non-excitant at that time. I eventually got back to work after two weeks, and it was full-on. I work for the NHS as a Health and Social Care Team Coordinator for Urgent Community Response teams. We assist the emergency and acute wards to discharge patients with short term care. The team then works to either get the patient independent of care or, the more often used option, to move them on to a longer-term care provision. We also assist GP’s in keeping patients out of the hospital in the first instance. We are a bustling service even in ‘peacetime’, let alone in the middle of a global pandemic!

That is what I do for a day job.  In the middle of all this, I changed teams for work and then we had to move home, and my wife and I lost a Mother and Father, respectively —all in all, not the ideal situation for a writer. Admittedly, I managed to get a couple of articles written and completed a bit more of my novel. I have been writing a diary, journal throughout, which now amounts to three notebooks and a further one in use. Quite a few words, you might agree?

Motivation, sadly, was waning. What was the reason?

I think that it may well be the effects of ‘long Covid’. I have a reduced sense of smell, hyposmia, and at various times have suffered the loss of taste, ageusia, or the partial loss, hypogeusia. Occasionally, I have periods of significant fatigue.

Work has been ever vigilant in encouraging us to take our annual leave. The nature of our work leads many of our team to consider others before themselves. I came into the last quarter still having two and a half weeks left on my account. I took the first two weeks of March as annual leave and worked three and four day weeks for the next two weeks. A man of leisure, I think not.

I then was thought to have suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack. After being called in by my GP, I was stopped from driving, put on aspirin and referred to the Stroke Clinic at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. Thankfully, I did not have a vascular problem, and the symptoms that I had were more likely to be Vestibular Migraines. Migraines without the painful headaches. That and an opticians appointment took up the best part of my two weeks holiday!

Plenty of time for writing then, I hear you say. The motivation was lacking once more. But now we are into April, and the days are getting longer, things a feeling that they might be changing. The country is attempting to come out of the Covid malaise that we have been in for over 12 months. And I am sat here writing for the blog once more. It must be getting better!

I have had an article published in the Blue Band once again, and I will post about that in a few days. I have a travel article written for my writing course, and I have been prevaricating sending that off to my tutor. I only need to get everything together and get it sent off. I also promised myself that I would start sending pitches to editors more regular than I have been doing. The more that I can get in front of editors, the more likely I will get picked up.

Looking forward to what I expect to be doing for the blog, I have the Blue Band article that I would like to share with you, and I have an idea for a dog walking blog, which I aim to try out here first.

There we are then. I make no apologies for this first blog in a while being a bit self-indulgent. It has got me writing once more, and that can only be a help. I’m looking forward now to get ‘cracking ‘ on writing and getting my word count back up and beyond to where it was before the pandemic. Here is 800 to start with!

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back soon.

The Blue Band - First Edition 2020 - Leaving - Coming to the End

 

This is an article I was asked to write for The Blue Band - The Journal of the Royal Marines Band Service.

It talks about how it feels when the time has come and you have to leave the Band Service.

This was published in the first edition of 2020

ONE of the most frightening days that I had in my 25 years of service with the Royal Marines Band Service was the day that I left. I had secured a job that was starting the very next morning, everything was sorted and I had even attended a couple of days earlier for the hand over from the previous post holder. But that sense of dread and fear as I drove out of Unicorn Gate was so palpable that I had to pull over in a flood of tears further down the road.

There is one sure thing, that no matter how long that you serve in any of HM Armed Forces, one day you will have to leave and return to whence you came, ‘Civvy Street’. From Field Marshall right down to the lowly and humble Junior Soldier, we have all got to finish at one time or another.

Without a doubt, the Royal Marines Band Service produces some of the finest experienced musicians, highly qualified and the envy of armed forces musicians worldwide. They are instilled with superb leadership skills from a world-renowned Corps. Add to all this, a plethora of life skills and experience of both musical and military operations, we should find life in the great outside a breeze, shouldn’t we?

Leaving an organisation that you have lived and breathed for a considerable amount of time is never going to be easy.  If you have been an NCO you will quickly find the average civilian will not immediately drop what they are doing and go and do something else for you. Their timekeeping is not what you would expect and they certainly don’t shine their shoes daily. Surprisingly one of the first things that I missed after leaving was not having somebody to tell me when to get a haircut!

You have served for a good period of time with the band service; you have been afforded and given great loyalty to your colleagues. Certainly, after the last couple of decades, you will probably have a chest full of medals. You will have gained the respect of your peers. You have massive experience both musically and militarily.  All that will mean absolutely nothing to your average civilian colleagues, sadly. They even may see it as something to use against you. It has even been known for them to complain that you treat them like a soldier. You will feel that you are just getting on with your work, getting things done whilst those around seem to be slacking. There will be those who completely do not understand why you ever served in the military at all!

 That all sounds like there is a great conspiracy against former military people; let me assure you there isn’t, but it might feel like that. It is this feeling that bought my mental health down and from my research. I am not the only one out there either.

As successful as I was upon leaving the band service, it was not easy. I had to work hard not only to understand the work I was being asked to do initially but also the differing attitudes to work, getting things done by my now civilian colleagues.  I ended up an ‘inwards rower’, taking all things on and eventually all became too much. My doctor explained it to me this way. Imagine yourself as a sponge. You spend time soaking up the new work, but at some point, the sponge fills up and the water spills out. It is at times like this that you start to feel depressed, anxious, suffering sleepless nights and your general wellbeing goes downhill. Those who have suffered this will agree with me that this is not a good place to be in.

Mental Health is currently high on the agenda both in society and within the armed forces and quite rightly so. Organisations now train Mental Health First Aiders and access to mental health professionals is so much easier now generally. I now work in the NHS, in Health and Social Care, and wellbeing events are actively encouraged. My colleagues have recently attended a happiness event, which has benefitted them greatly already.

 If I think back over the years, the Band Service has served, in some capacity, in nearly every conflict that the Royal Marines Corps have been involved with and some operations where they haven’t too. Band Service members have been witness to many things that most normal people will never see in a lifetime and add to this atrocities and accidents over the years, it’s a wonder that there hasn’t been a whole host mental of health problems, or has there?

I am positive that there are those within the Band service and the wider band service family who have have felt like they are treading water or feel that they are like a swan, serenely sailing along and paddling like mad under the surface.  Symptoms vary but this is not a natural feeling and needs to be sorted.

A change of circumstances is never easy for anyone no matter where they are in society, but there are not many people these days who will stay with a company for 25, 30 or 37 years man and boy, girl and woman. Leaving the service is never going to be easy after all that time and couple that with probable retraining and relocation, it is not going to be plain sailing.

That feeling of not being able to conjure up a positive attitude and that overwhelming feeling of isolation can be horrible. Transitioning into civilian life can be helped by organisations such as SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity and can be of great help, so too can the NHS website. There are a few self-help strategies that you can undertake; talk, exercise, drink less and be mindful of others and of course yourself.

During my research for this article, I have discovered several sad and rather disturbing stories.  Stories numbering from not being able to settle, loneliness, bullying and many more. To the friends and former colleagues who have opened up to me, you have been immensely brave, conduct very much becoming of a Royal Marine. But in all seriousness, I hope that being able to talk has helped you a little bit. To all those still serving please remember that fateful day will eventually arrive when you will have met the Principle Director of Music for the last time, your kit will have been returned to the stores and the clerk is cutting up your identity card in front you. It’s all over. I miss being in the band service every day and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Life has thrown me double sixes many times, but there are those downtimes. Through it all keep smiling, talking and most importantly of all, keep looking after yourself. Don't forget, you will always be a Royal Marine.

ENDS

Information Boxes/Sidebars

Useful Links

https://www.nhs.uk/

https://www.forces.net/news/new-military-mental-health-helpline-launched

https://www.ssafa.org.uk/

Mental health problems can expose a number of emotional symptoms of which some are:

·         Changes in mood

·         Erratic decision making

·         Chronic anxiety

·         Lack of self-worth

·         Impulsive actions

·         Increased drinking

Handy tips for self-help:

·         Talk – It is very important for your own wellbeing that you open up to your support network and talk openly about your thoughts and feelings. Don’t let them build up.

·         Exercise – Regular exercise can boost your self-esteem and is also good for your wellbeing and will help your sleep patterns.

·         Drink less – Stay within recommended daily alcohol limits, 3-4 units for men and 2-3 units for women. It is also helpful to have 2 or 3 days off alcohol per week.

·         Be mindful of others – Caring for others is often essential in maintaining relationships with the people you care about. It can help put your own problems into perspective.

 

A Bit of Fresh Air Whilst We Can!... More Covid Walk Updates

 

It has been a while since I last wrote for this blog, for that I apologise. 

 Covid-19 continues to be with us, unseen in the shadows of daily life. I remain well after my bout of the virus. However, there are times when I feel fatigued, and I still suffer from anosmia and ageusia. But, this is not all about me.

We are living the 'new normal'. Sadly, although some parts of society are starting to come back online, some are still unable to emerge from this coronavirus darkness.

Musicians, both professional and amateur, are finding it hard to be able to perform in public. Sports are back, albeit on television and behind closed doors in empty stadiums. It is also frustrating as local amateur Rugby is a long way off from being able to come back. There were early signs of optimism allowing touch rugby with 6 to 10 players.  That is some way from where they wish to be.  But with the government's 'Rule of Six' from 21^st September, that may well have put paid to that. We can only hope that the virus and the science with allow the game to be back soon.

My commercial writer's block continues, if it is writer's block at all. My mojo for the commercial world has taken a bit of time emerging from the Covid – 19 haze. But as we are now seemingly entering a second wave, it is strangely starting to make an appearance.

 My journal, however, has come on in leaps and bounds. I have finished my second book. I'm well into the third volume. I think that both completed books surmount to nearly 100k words since I started partway through March.

I started to read back the first book, and it struck me that it might well work up into a publishable book.  Amongst the many pages, there are several good writing ideas, well I would think that. Still, now with my notebook and these journals, I have plenty of good themes to work on.

I don't always carry my notebook with as I should, but I do make notes into it whenever I can. I have even got up in the middle of the night to write! That's another project to add to the list!

I am hoping that by writing this blog, it will spark me into action and get me flowing again. I still need to finish off my assignment. It is nearly finished, and I need to front up and get it edited and sent off to my tutor. This week, I promise!

Back in the August edition of the Ottery Gazette, I had an article published. Sadly I didn't get a copy of it, but it can be seen on the Ottery Writers Blog page (link in the sidebar). I had another article published in The Blue Band, The Journal of the Royal Marines Band Service. The article went down so well that I received a tweet asking me to do another one.   I have an idea for a letter to The Rugby Paper. I enjoy dreaming up ideas for them, and there is a personal motive for writing them too.

I am considering starting another blog. My first thoughts are one about our dog walks around beautiful East Devon?

We have quite a few walks where we have taken Murphy and plenty of photographs too.

Today we went for a walk up to Round Ball Hill. It was a first for me as Kathy and Murphy have been up there before. Well-armed with a backpack of water, a couple of bananas and the essential energy-giving chocolate, we strode out across a field of bullocks together with their relatively large fatherly Bull. Once across the field, we climbed into the wood at the foot of the hill. Murphy was able to be off his lead and mooch around for a good sniff.

It was very silent in the woods. Except for the sounds of the birds up in the trees and the scuttling of squirrels in the undergrowth.

We came out of the other side of the wood. We were then faced with the steep climb up to the summit of the hill. All the time, I was trying to get good photos as the views were truly stunning.  The panoramic view of East Devon from the top of the hill was amazing. To the west, you can see Dartmoor in the distance, and to the East, the Blackdown Hills were equally awe-inspiring.

You can see several Bronze Age era earthworks and forts. These have given me ideas to fit into my current story.  With a bit of research, a storyline for a novel too.

I certainly enjoyed our Sunday morning walk.  Murphy is curled up asleep in his bed. Kathy and I are off for a well-earned breakfast. Later Exeter Chiefs are on the TV in their European Champions Cup quarter-final against Northampton Saints. It's not going to be easy but have faith everyone.

Keep an eye out over the coming weeks for new blog posts on here and, all being well, the new blog too.

In the meantime, I'll see you all again very soon!

How has the COVID-19 been for you? Very busy for me as it turns out - Thankfully

You may or not be aware that since the beginning of the lockdown here in the UK, I have been writing a daily (ish) journal.

I have been journaling about what I have been doing, my bout of COVID-19, and my successes with writing. Also included alongside are my rants about the government. I like to keep my political feelings private. Hence, they are in the journal and not  scrawled across social media platforms.

Star Letter - Writing Magazine

I was successful in winning the Star Letter in last months Writing Magazine. I wrote how I considered that the lockdown period had not been very conducive to me as a writer. I had felt that my motivation for writing wasn't there.

I wouldn't say that I had 'writers' block' as I was fulfilling a daily post in my journal, which, was to amount to a substantial word count as it turns out.

Today my journal started with the words 'It's very nice to wake up and find that a piece you've written has been published'. I have another letter in The Rugby Paper this week. What is also really lovely to see, from a writer's perspective, it is published as written, no edits. My signature block on my emails now informs the recipient that I am a Freelance Writer and lists my blog and writing business Facebook page addresses. I am now confident to share that information with editors.

I then got to thinking about my writing output over the last few months.

I have a notebook and a half of daily journals, two letters in The Rugby Paper, Star Letter in Writing Magazine, and two pieces in the Ottery Gazette. I've two articles published in The Blue Band at either end of the three months. In the background, I have submitted one assignment and have another almost ready to go for my creative writing course. I have completed the first edit of my story. I worked that out to be about 30 thousand words! That works out to be roughly 360 words a day, rounded up. To put that into context, 350 words per day over six months is nearly 59,000 words, an excellent novella length and into the range for a novel too. Maybe the COVID-19 lockdown was more conducive to writing than I at first thought.

Three hundred fifty words are the length of this piece so far. I have also written about the same in my

The Rugby Paper - 28th June 2020

journal, with some more to come. I think that shows how easily I can keep the word count up. After all, you are not a writer unless you are writing.

My focus in the coming weeks is to finish off my next assignment for my course and then to spend a couple of weeks editing my story and planning further chapters and characters to take the story forward to novella length.

As I sit here penning this latest blog, I look back on the COVID-19 lockdown, so far, with a bit of a smile. We have packed up one home and moved to another. We have changed most of our furniture, and that has meant hours of building it too. I have moved my job back to Whipton Hospital and have my permanent role confirmed after six months of probation. And I have written 30 thousand words. Life is pretty good at the moment. The news today is that we have the opportunity to have a visit with my Father at his care home later next month. I am writing this also sitting here watching The Cure from last year's Glastonbury. Fantastic! There is a story to be written about my younger years that were taken away from me. I think that is for another book or short story. I'd like to make some money out of that tale; I think I deserve that.

A Covid Walk

We are nearly into two months of lockdown. Boris has made his statement about how he intends to get the country out of it.

 As for the rest of us, the most exciting thing that we’ve got to look forward is the daily Covid-19 walk. There are worse things to do during this time of pandemic madness.

 In East Devon, we have many beautiful walks and our particular favourite is right on our doorstep.

Black Aller Woods is a hidden delight at this time of the year. Strolling up the middle of this ancient wood you are surrounded by a sea of bluebells. Bluebells are really bright and strident in colour although the bluebells in this wood are a little subdued. The sun shining through the canopy of trees bringing these Bluebells to life. The dappling of the sun bursting through the bows of ash and beech trees brings the Bluebells to life and opens up the blue floor below.

The fragrance emanating from this ocean of blue could be captured as a perfume. The ground is much firmer to the boot now than in the weeks leading up to the start of the lockdown.

Apart from the seasonal change of colour from green to blue, the other major change in the wood is the silence. Not as silent as in really quiet of course. The natural sounds of the woodland are blackbirds, sparrows and songbirds of all kinds, the odd nuthatch and the scrabbling of the squirrels and rabbits in the undergrowth. What is silent is the unnatural noises from the nearby A30 trunk road. The sound emitted from the road and the travelling vehicles has been much quieter since the beginning of the lockdown. This is the sound that the good people of East Devon want to hear from the road every day.  A slight rumble in the distance is hardly noticeable. Sadly on a normal day or what was previously a normal day, it is extremely noisy. But these are days of change, what does the future hold and what is new normal is, no one can tell.

But back to our walk, there not many other people about at the moment. It is all very peaceful.

 Continuing onwards for another 100 metres or so, our walk opens out into another vista and a view across the Escot estate.

The little copse below obscures a view of the main house. Usually buzzing this time of year the house is an excellent venue for spring weddings, when will they be back?

Sheep can be seen up in the fields of the opposite side of the valley, grazing on the remarkably green

grass. Below the River Tale meanders through the valley, a path winds alongside it. The waters of the Tale are crystal clear and to paraphrase the American painter, Bob Ross, “It’s a happy little river”! It would be a cliché to say it’s a babbling brook, the water level is just about right for the water to make wondrously cheerful noise as it whooshes over the banks of East Devon pebbles. Last year we could see little fish in the clear waters, but not today. The reason could be that earlier in the year, we suffered a period of sustained rainfall. The waters run off the distant Blackdown Hills and by the time the waters reach the Tale at Escot, it can be very murky. This year it even broke the banks and spilt into the adjacent fields.

Continuing along the riverside path as it winds its way to the end, it meets a truly Heath Robinson bridge. The wooden bridge consists of a rustic plank of wood with a handrail on one side. The walking surface is covered with chicken wire to help with traction when wet and yes, it bounces as you walk over it! Murphy, our dog, loves to run across it and then waits at the metal gate at the far side for us to let him through. In truth, if he looked a bit closer there is a dog-sized hole in the fence which he could walk through and recommence his romp in the next field. The sign on the gate coming back the other way says that this is a permissive pathway; there is a sign at the other end too. We consider ourselves very fortunate to able to use this path on our lovely COVID walk.

This public pathway way takes us across the next field towards a wooden kissing gate. I always feel a bit self-conscious about walking across the middle of a field; however, this is where the signs instruct us to go.

Adjacent to the wooden kissing gate is the copse that we looked down on when we came out of the wood. Hidden in the copse, are pens for rearing pheasants for the hunting season. Empty now, they will shortly be full of chirping baby pheasants. This year there has been an albino pheasant running around and I didn’t fancy its chances at all up against the guns. Thankfully we have seen it about in the spring and even Murphy declined to chase after it one morning.

Going through the gate we have a choice to make. We can proceed across the field towards Escot Church and Fairmile beyond, our choice though is to turn left and climb the path that is not a path. This is a joke that we make about this path as when we first starting walking in Escott a few years ago there was a sign at the top of this path that stated that “This path is not a path”. It made us giggle.

At the top of the path that is not a path, there is another wooden kissing gate. As you go through this one you can either make the choice to walk back towards the big house or the walk back through Black Aller woods again. We choose the woods

The path back through the woods always looks somehow different on the way back. Warning of our approach, the blackbirds are still singing in the trees. The squirrels have taken advantage of a moment’s peace and scrabble about on the woodland floor for their hidden treasures. The rabbits stand statuesque in the field, with a wary eye on the approaching humans and their dog, anticipating a dash to the nearest burrow should the alarm be raised.

The only anticipation that we have is to look forward to a visit to the local shop for a pain au chocolate and a well-earned coffee after returning home, and of course, washing our hands before breakfast.

COVID walk completed and all social distancing and hand washing requirements are done, happy days. Enjoy your walks and stay safe and well.  

A walk in the East Devon countryside during lockdown

Bridge over the River Otter just
before Otter Nurseries

We are coming to the end of our third week of lockdown here in the UK. There is no sign of any change.

The daily figures make for very grim reading. The one light at the end of the tunnel is that the infection rates seem to be slowing. We need to see them dropping before we can even think about starting to get back to normal. 

The green shoots of spring may well be sprouting outside in our countryside; however, they are not showing for this Coronavirus crisis just yet.

Thankfully, on the whole, the message of staying at home seems to have been observed. That saying, there was a report that D&C Police had turned around 500 caravans at junction 27 of the M5, however, I am not sure of the validity of that report.

This morning, my wife and I took our dog Murphy for a long walk. We walked part of the old train track towards the River Otter. Usually, there is a constant drone of vehicles on the A30. It was quite remarkable as we crossed over a bridge, how silent it was today. 

An empty A30 on Easter Sunday 2020

When the road was first constructed, despite the environmental activists such a Swampy, the authorities also had to contend with complaints about the noise the surface made. Despite the ins and outs of court appeals and inquiries, nothing changed. There was a promise that at the end of life the surface would be replaced with a quieter one. Given that the surface will probably last for some considerable numbers years yet, I don’t think things will change very anytime soon.

Getting back to our walk, it was indeed very quiet. Blackbirds, woodpeckers, chaffinch, goldfinch, woodpigeons and ducks could all be heard calling out on this beautiful Easter Sunday morning. The sun was shining and the sky was a glorious blue. I would like to be able to tell you how it smelt. Unfortunately, I have no sense of smell or taste after a presumed case of COVID-19 three weeks ago.

Our countryside is certainly a different place after these three weeks of lockdown. I am convinced, along with others, that the general atmosphere is much healthier. It makes sense to think that it is without so many cars on the roads at the moment.

Walking through a column of trees atop an embankment, it was easy to imagine the time when this was a fully functioning railway. Sadly the Beeching report of 1963 saw the demise of the line from Sidmouth Junction to Sidmouth via Otter St Mary and other stations. Sidmouth Junction is now the site of Feniton station on the main west coastline to London Waterloo.

As we carry on into more days of the enforced and very much justified lockdown, we will come out of the other side, of that I am certain. Will everything be the same? Will we have the same values; will we have gone back in time?

I’m not about to make any predictions, I do think that for better or worse the world is going to be a different place after all this.

These last few weeks have not been very conducive to writing. I did manage to fire off a letter to a magazine and a pitch to an editor which has gone down very well. I will be writing that article this week. I then have to write my next assignment and there are still the short stories to finish.

COVID-19 has done nothing for my goals and aims this year. I’m certain there are many other writers have has the same problems and feelings. Having time off doesn’t always mean time for writing. For me, my time off was a period of illness. I felt so rough I didn’t feel like doing anything. But the fact that I've sat down and written this blog, I think, means I’m back on track for writing.

Please stay safe and at home everybody. These are very strange times for us all. We will come out of the other side. See you soon.