Monday 3 February 2014

GLADSTONE'S LIBRARY - PICS & STUFF

View of St Deiniol's church and graveyard from my bedroom window
I'm enjoying my retreat in Wales though I'm not exactly writing. Well, I am am writing but it is all non-fictiony PR stuff for my forthcoming novel: articles about my time in Scotland 22 years ago (the novel was inspired by something that happened to me).
Sophia in the garden
When I am not writing, I am reading - then ripping up - my diaries from Scotland (therapeutic!), walking in the pretty village of Hawarden, or eating. The food here at Gladstone's Library is beautiful and abundant.

Entrance to Gladstone's Library
Hearth panel: Louisa Yates (library director) Tania Hershman, Adnan Mahmutovic,
Neil Griffiths, Melissa Harrison, Peter Francis
There was also the small matter of the Hearth Literary Festival here at the weekend, which I went to, so that sucked up some writing time. Very enjoyably. I took my friend Tania Hershman's flash fiction workshop and it was fast-paced and we had to work really hard. Great fun. So I wrote there!
The Glynne Arms, a lovely pub in the village
Hawarden village, house
Bilingual road sign, Hawarden
It's hard to believe I am half-way through my stay already. My room is so warm and comfortable that I am going around in a heat-and-food induced fug most of the time. I need to buck up and write more. Novel no. 4 is calling to me ('Write me! Write me!') and there are exciting developments with novel 3 and my agent, which I can't talk about yet, but which are adding to my distractedness while here. But it's all good :)

Tania and I went to Chester yesterday - a metropolis after Hawarden

4 comments:

Kar said...

It all looks fab! Your view from your bedroom is gorgeous. I'd like to be there if only to sleep ;-)

Ripping up the old diaries, are you re-reading passages at the same time? Well done, can't be an easy thing to do.

Very intrigued about novel no.3..oh the excitement! And had no idea there was a novel no.4 already scratching to get out, go you!

Look forward to chatting when you get back, enjoy the rest of your stay!
x

Group 8 said...

Hi Karen! Sadly many of us are not sleeping - ghosties keeping us awake, maybe?!
Food is fab - I'll be rolling out of here on Thursday.
Re. the diaries - I am mining them for info about my time in Scotland then destroying them. It is MAD reading them. What a dose I was!
N x

Unknown said...

Oh fantastic Nuala re Novel #3 and exciting things...also ripping up diaries, I did that in TGC, great fun and very liberating! Sounds like you had a great time, love the pics.

Group 8 said...

I am loving it here!! The diary destroying is fun!!