Beginnings are hard…

But taking the first step is always the hardest

So here we are…

Welcome to my very first post. It’s a new beginning for me and perhaps for you too – shall we journey together? (I’ll bring the biscuits)

So why am I here, and why now? Well, quite simply, I need a place that isn’t Facebook, or Instagram or what used to be Twitter. I should explain…

I’m a writer. I write full time and make my living from it, so, as you can imagine, it’s a big part of my life. I’ve written over twenty books and for the last few years that has involved writing perhaps three new titles a year, and I love it. I write pretty quickly and work best when I’m just outside of my comfort zone, when I’m chasing a deadline, fuelled by the rush to get the story from my head to the page. And that was working really well, until it wasn’t.

Last year my family suffered a devastating loss. I was right in the middle of edits for my latest book and although my publisher was amazing and gave me all the time I needed to finish them, writing was suddenly the last thing I wanted to do. But I did it, on autopilot, because I just wanted the book off my desk. Sounds terrible doesn’t it? And, as the weeks went by and I began to start thinking how my new future might look, I realised that I was burnt out. That the spark I tended inside of me which grew into each and every book, needed to go into hibernation. I’d been writing through some difficult circumstances over the last few years and the keeping going was what was keeping me going. As soon as I stopped, I started thinking.

A friend of mine always describes the period between one book and the next as the time when I fill myself back up again. When I replenish all the creative pots, ready to begin again. But somewhere along the line, those pots hadn’t been refilling, instead I’d been scraping them out and I knew that was no way to go on.

I’m changed by what’s happened. How could I not be? And to ignore this change would be disastrous. But I also knew that it could bring into being something new, something different, and something vital, and I was determined to give it a chance to grow. I’d been thinking about joining substack for well over a year, but hadn’t quite got my head around it, or indeed had the time to explore what it offers. So once I started writing again – I knew my spark would rekindle, I just didn’t know when – I knew it was time to set another new thread of my life in motion.

I’ve been absent from social media for some time now, partly through circumstance; I didn’t really know what to say for one thing, but also I didn’t feel comfortable sharing things that were really personal, not only to me, but other members of my family also. There was another reason though, and that’s because it’s not somewhere I really like to be. Social media, particularly Facebook and the former Twitter, have changed enormously since I first joined them. Then, there was a sense of community and the posts you saw were things you had chosen to view. Posts were chronological too, but now my feeds are packed with fake AI imagery, irrelevant content and advertising, all manipulated by the mighty algorithm. In short, far too much noise.

Being absent made me realise how much time I was spending trying to keep up with it all, time I felt I could better use elsewhere. And I didn’t really miss it, in fact, I felt relieved – relieved that I didn’t have to pretend any longer. Some people love it, and that’s great, it’s whatever works for you, but I hear so many others saying the constant posting feels like a duty and that’s not what I want either. This might change, who knows, but after so many months away, wading back in feels wrong – I’m not the person I was before, does that make sense?

Which is where Substack comes in… Although I’ll still maintain my other social media accounts, I needed the focus to shift to somewhere I could share the things I love, perhaps in more depth, or in a way which doesn’t fit the usual channels. Substack feels as if it’s the natural way to go. It cuts through the noise for one, but also lets you read what you want to read.

So, as I said, here I am, with one of my very favourite things; a blank sheet of paper.

So why At the Still Point?

T. S. Eliot put it far better than I ever could:

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is…

So the still point is where you'll find me. That's where the dance is. Just me and the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. It's where I write, where I read, and where I dream. In a world where much feels chaotic, the still point is about centring yourself in the maze of all the goings on of modern life and finding that sweet spot where only the present exists and your soul feels at home. It’s also the place where creativity (the dance) flows. In my case that’s more likely to be writing, but it’s not only words which help me find the still point, either by writing them or reading them, it’s also all those other things which make my heart sing: freshly hatched conkers, the tang of salty sea air on my skin, long, achingly beautiful notes of a violin, or a dizzyingly fast jig, human voices soaring in song, or colours so skilfully woven together in textiles or painted into being. Anything, in fact, which fills me with awe and wonder. There’s really not enough of those things in the world.

So what can you expect to find here?

All of the above. All the things which make my heart sing but, I’ll be honest, it’s mostly about words. That might include news about my writing, its process and progress, but also about writing in general and what I’ve learned along the way from my very first book to my twentieth. I’ll also include the odd book review, because so many I read really do need to be shouted about. In short, I’ll be sharing the view from my still point – the pure alchemy of those twenty six letters and the joy of words, but also other musings and awe filled moments from my time here on the third rock from the sun.

It’s also about finding your tribe

The wonderful poet and author, David Whyte, urged us to give up all the other worlds except the one to which we belong, so having found mine, I hope you’ll join me. You might be a reader – someone who has already read my books or someone who is new to my writing. You might be a writer, either established, fledgling or hopeful. Or, you might just be a wanderer and a wonderer. Either way, you’re very welcome, it’s lovely to meet you.

I can’t say how often I’ll come across things to share. It simply doesn’t work like that, nor would I want it to. And I absolutely will not spend time trawling for ‘content’ so that I can post at regular times – for me, that road leads nowhere. But I will post when something inspires me to share it, I promise. And as so often happens to me, perhaps my musings will drop into your inbox at exactly the right time they need to. I’m a huge fan of synchronicities!

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