This is not about me setting off on an epic walking adventure, although I used to walk lots, and always thought I'd walk many pathways, but I found a wonderful man to share my life with and we cycle instead, and I love it.

No, this blog was from looking t writing from writing courses I have attended, and being sparked to pick this one up and explore more.

It was fun, and I like the character, I hope you do too. It's not a complete story, just a taste.

Enjoy however you travel the world,

Jenni Clarke

If you enjoy this pop over to my website or say hi on social media.

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

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thanks for listening. I hope you can notice a difference in the sound quality as I have been learning all about what is needed for making better audio. It looked complicated but the program I use has great tools. I've loved learning this new bunch of skills.

Anyhow, today's blog is about cycling in the Haut Jura national Park on a beautiful Sunday. We are so lucky to live near natural beauty, but it can be found everywhere, even in a city.

I hope you find a peaceful place to wander through.

Take care

Jenni Clarke

Oh, and if you want to see the photos then pop over to my website and find the blog.

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

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Thanks for popping in for a listen.

This week I am talking about my Instagram journey as a fifty something, socially inept, technology challenged indie author.

Take care

Jenni Clarke

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https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

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thanks for popping into my podcast.

This week we have experienced welcoming strangers into our garden for a night or two. It was interesting and enjoyable for our guests and for us.

A simple gentle way to help others.

Whatever your journey is, take care,

Jenni Clarke

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Hope today is a good day.

I am trying to be positive as I look at my parched edible forest garden and search for life. It's surprising what I find.

There is also a poem from last week's blog - Dreaming of a cycle Tour.

I hope you have dreams you are working towards or achieving.

Take care,

Jenni Clarke

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If you'd like to read the blog please visit my website. If you have a question or juts want to connect, please leave a message.

Take care

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

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This cathartic ramble explains why I've not posted a podcast for a few weeks. I had such ambitions to continue writing when away from home, and was so disappointed with myself for failing.

I'm sure many of you will understand some of my issues but I'm glad to say this ramble has rekindled my love of writing and podcasting as has sitting in my writing hut in my beautiful garden.

Take care of yourself,

Jenni Clarke

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https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

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How are you?

I am not at home, but have been watching a different pond and enjoying the peace and calm with my parents.

I hope you enjoy the poem and experience a sense of the magic.

Thank you for listening.

Jenni Clarke

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https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

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Thanks for listening again and my apologies if the sound is quieter than normal. I do not have my microphone with me.

I have a very active brain full of questions and occasionally I allow myself to muse and ramble on one. I hope you enjoy this reading and maybe you can add your thoughts and comments or another question to the comments section, social media or send me an email.

Take some time this week to observe a little wildness.

Jenni Clarke

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Thanks for listening, today's blogcast is all about Magpies. A poem and some information.

I hope you enjoy it.

Jenni Clarke

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Jenni Clarke

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If you'd like to see the photos please visit my website and go to the blog page

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

If you'd like to walk around my garden with me please visit my youtube channel

Enjoy your garden or a little piece of wildness near your home.

Jenni Clarke

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Thanks for listening.

This week is all about writing competitions, benefits, downfalls, and my experience.

This is the link to the anthology -

Take care wonderful listeners

Jenni Clarke

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https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

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thanks for coming back to listen to my blog reading. This week is about the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, which I didn't know existed until I saw one in my garden.

Please enjoy the poem and story of my discovery.

My apologies for the enthusiastic birds in my garden who punctuate my reading with their song, it is too nice to have the door shut.

If you want to see some photos or find other blogs, podcasts, and my books pop over to my website.

If you wish to link up with me on social media there are links below.

Thanks again for listening,

Take care,

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

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Join me on our first cycle tour of the year, in the UK, for three days. A short but gorgeous ride. Photos are on the blog page of my website.

Enjoy whatever you are doing,

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

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thanks for listening.

This is the story of how our wildlife pond came into being, and how in a short time it was teeming with life.

If you want to see some photos, please visit my blog on my website and I often post photos on my personal facebook page too.

Take care

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

https://www.pinterest.fr/jenniclarke56/

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

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this weeks podcast comes from personal experience of supporting a variety of family members as they deal with different problems in their lives. Writing my experiences helps me to understand my reactions and feeling and those of others and I hope it may be food for thought for those who listen to this podcast and read my blog.

Take care

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

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It is time for a bird post, and this months bird is the Blue Tit.

If you'd like to see some photos please visit my blog page on my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Take care

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

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thanks for joining me and my husband on a short cycle ride on the somerset levels. If you'd like to see the photos please visit my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Enjoy

Jenni Clarke

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Jenni Clarke

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This has become a world of worry and I wanted to explore and express my thoughts on this. There is a poem to start and then my ramblings and some examples of techniques to lessen worry at the end.

If you'd like to read this blog then please visit my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Take care

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

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Today is all about the house sparrow, there is a poem, my feelings about this small social bird, and my thoughts from gathered information.

If you'd like to see some photos of the sparrows in my garden please pop over to my blog on my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Take care

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

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I've been battling with the first novel I wrote, trying to decide whether to dump it of fix it. It's been a long road.

Thanks for listening

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

https://www.pinterest.fr/jenniclarke56/

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Rewilding, recognising nature's importance in our lives is something I feel strongly about. This podcast I read a poem expressing my optimism and hope.

If you enjoy my poems there are more on my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Thanks for listening

Jenni Clarke

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

https://www.pinterest.fr/jenniclarke56/

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today I am reading a blog about a cycle ride in the UK last year. It wasn't long but it was peaceful.

If you'd like to see the photos then pop over to my website where you'll find the blog.

Take care

Jenni

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this month's bird is the blackbird, I have been watching four of them foraging in my garden and they are beautiful.

If you enjoy my podcasts maybe you'd like my writing too. Check out the links below.

Take care,

Jenni Clarke

hhtps://www.jenniclarke.com

https://www.facebook.com/J-Clarke-Author-481692291932908

https://twitter.com/JenniClarke2

https://www.instagram.com/jenniclarke64/

https://www.pinterest.fr/jenniclarke56/

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Enjoy your writing and do share your tips.

Jenni Clarke

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Recently nature yet again inspired me to write a poem, Winter's Diamonds, but one poem does not make a good podcast so I have gathered a few more of my nature inspired poems to share with you today.

I hope you enjoy them.

They are scattered among my blogs if you wish to read them, and will be easier to find once the new format is completed.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Take care and be inspired by nature

Jenni Clarke

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There are so many books being published everyday it's an uphill struggle to get your book in front of a reader so what is the point in spending so much effort time and money on publishing a book?

This is what I think...

Jenni Clarke

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I haven't managed to work out how to add bird songs to the podcast but here is a link.

https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/european-robin/

Please pop over to my website if you'd like to see some photos of robins in my garden.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Happy new year

Jenni clarke

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yes I know the world spins all the time, but this was a personal world spin, and as you and I are finding out through these blogs and podcasts, I like to understand why things happen.

I also found some great words for fantasy stories.

Enjoy

Jenni Clarke

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Take care and thanks for listening,

Jenni Clarke

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This weeks podcast is all about The Wren, my namesake. If you want to read the blog, see the photos and listen to a clip of a wren singing, sorry I've not managed how to do this on the podcast, then please pop over to my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

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Jenni Clarke

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Jenni Clarke

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If you would like to read it please go to my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Thank you for listening.

Jenni Clarke

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I hope you enjoy listening to the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Take care

Jenni Clarke

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thanks for tuning in again. This week my blog was all about publishing on amazon so not appropriate for a pod cast. If you want to read the blog please visit my website. It will be there soon.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

The Finder is my newly published YA paranormal novel. I hope you enjoy the first few pages. If you want to continue then please visit amazon for a paperback or kindle copy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09HHVBVTY

If you do purchase one please think about leaving a review.

Thanks

Jenni Clarke

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Thank you for listening. In this episode I explain my 7 week absence and read my wonderful experience when walking a snippet of the South West Coastal Path in the UK.

If you'd like to see the photos which accompany the blog please visit my website and go to the blog page, although wait until after the 9th October 2021 as this podcast is being broadcast before the blog is published. A sneak preview if you like.

If you have any questions please do contact me on the website.

Jenni clarke

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I mention a blog post from last year -

https://www.jenniclarke.com/Writersshattering

and my facebook author page

https://www.facebook.com/jenniclarkewrites

Thanks for listening and I look forward to making more podcasts in the Autumn.

Take care,

Jenni Clarke

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please do share this blog with anyone you think might enjoy listening to the ramblings of an authors's weekly progress and her blog.

If you'd like to read the poem please do pop over to my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

The link to the virtual Literary Festival is here -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtBdhrSyGCs&ab_channel=Elstree%26BorehamwoodTownCouncil

I hope you enjoy the videos.

Speak again soon,

Jenni Clarke

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I am so sorry for my pronunciation of the Latin names in this podcast, what a giggle, I just couldn't say them fluently. Poor red and black insects, your names have been mangled. But are these insects friends or fiends?

If you want to read the blog and see the photos please visit my website after the weekend and find the blog.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

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I thought it was time to read a short story to you, so here it is. Second Chance.

If you'd like to read the story it will be available soon on my website - https://www.jenniclarke.com/

If you enjoy my podcast please do share it with others.

Thanks

Jenni Clarke

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thanks for listening

If you'd like to read this please pop over to my website and look at the blogs section.

If you'd like to take advantage of the free eBook offer click on the link below from Tuesday 20th July 2021 – Friday 24th July 2021

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098TWD9C5

If you'd like to buy the paperback version click on the link below

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B099BZQQNQ

Take care and enjoy your week

Jenni Clarke

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I am going to sprinkle some Writer's Tips into the blogcast podcast. I hope you find them useful. This week the tips are about turning off your Inner Editor. Please do let me know of any other tricks you have when first drafting.

If you wish to read the episode please visit my website and go to the blog section -https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Take care

Jenni Clarke

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This week is all about The Stubborn Light of Things , a podcast by Melissa Harrison.

https://melissaharrison.co.uk/podcast/

Brilliant podacst if you want to relax in nature.

Jenni Clarke

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this week I am musing on my impatient nature and how slow trees grow.

If you'd like to see the photos or read this please visit my website and look on the blog section

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Thank you for listening.

Jenni Clarke

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Thank you for listening to this scene from Myra's world.

If you'd like to read it please pop over to my website https://www.jenniclarke.com/

I mention a cycling site - https://www.velotouring.fun/ if you'd like to read about our cycling adventures.

If you enjoy my podcast please share it or tell others about it.

Take care

Jenni Clarke

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thank you so much for listening, I do hope you enjoyed cycling with us on this glorious ride.

If you'd like to read the blog or look at some photos then please pop over to my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

If you are a cycling fan then do visit

https://www.velotouring.fun/

for more cycling adventures, a touring kit list, a bike tool list, videos and photos.

You can subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode.

Jenni Clarke

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thanks for listening to my podcast blogcast.

Today it's not about canoeing down the Amazon river, sadly, but about a try and fail.

There is mention of another blog which you can find here -

https://www.jenniclarke.com/newpagecf36bcca

and if you'd like to read this blog after listening you can find it on my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Take care wonderful listeners,

Jenni Clarke

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If you wish to read the blog and see some examples of author artwork please visit

https://www.jenniclarke.com

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Thank you for popping in.

This week I'm musing about marketing - again - but this time I think I've found my comfortable marketing strategy. Slow but steady.

I mention the first blog I wrote

https://www.jenniclarke.com/blog-marketing-is-not-my-thing

If you want to read this or any of my blogs please do look at my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com

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Today I am reading you a poem and the inspiration behind it.

If you wish to read it please visit my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com

Enjoy,

Jenni Clarke

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thanks for listening to my thought process while writing Colours of Rain, a middle grade book of fairy tales, adventure, magic, and friendship as well as being a journey through grief.

This book is available on Amazon-

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BDDP3B1

and several eBook sites -

https://books2read.com/u/b6Z6M0

If you wish to read the blog please visit my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com

Take care listeners,

Jenni Clarke

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This week is a flash fiction story and how I became a flash fiction writer.

Here are some links I was unable to read aloud for you

https://www.wattpad.com/story/234984010-the-weekend-write-in

https://www.jenniclarke.com/my-books

https://weekendwritein.wordpress.com/?fbclid=IwAR1dB0c2DqJvKcBMmASOrwsSiCUxqthn6cF_WL_Jk1yK4OOno_NtGi6xIJw

I hope you like the story. If you want to read the blog then head over to my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com

Stay safe and happy,

Jenni Clarke

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this podcast was inspired by my husband who has just uploaded out kitlist for cycle touring on

https://www.velotouring.fun/kit-list

and he suggested I wrote a kitlist for fiction authors so I have and here it is.

If you'd like to see the photos and links to more information which accompany the blog please visit my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

The blog should be available in the next two days.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/blog-19-a-place-to-write

https://www.jenniclarke.com/blog-5---catching-stories

Thank you for listening.

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thanks for listening

Please do share this podcast with friends.

This week my blog is about birds and whether the fact that I feed them and can identify so many means I am getting older.

If you'd like to read the blog, please visit my website https://www.jenniclarke.com/

If you'd like to leave a comment please do. I'd love to know what feathery visitors you have to your garden.

Stay happy and healthy

Jenni Clarke

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Happy Worm Moon to you all.

This weeks podcast includes a poem and chat about the moon.

If you'd like to read the blog then please visit my website -https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Thanks for listening,

Stay happy and healthy,

Jenni Clarke

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This week I'm chatting about answers to questions I have posed to other authors. Fun.

If you want to read the blog please visit my website - https://www.jenniclarke.com/

If you are an author who'd like to be interviewed by me, please send me a message via the contact page on my website.

Stay happy and healthy.

Jenni Clarke

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thanks for listening to the first Madge and Poppy story which I wrote for a flash fiction group on wattpad a couple of years ago.

Thank fully, I didn't blow away during the recording but I had to several takes before the weather didn't interfere with the recording. I also tried to do 'voices' but it didn't work. Some thing to work on for future story reading, maybe.

If you'd like to read the story please visit my blog on my website - https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Stay happy and healthy

Jenni Clarke

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This week I am talking about why I am turning my garden into a forest.

Here are the links mentioned in the podcast

Martin Crawford's Forest Garden video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa9FHKx6sdM&t=915s&ab_channel=Treeswoods%26forestgardens-agroforestryarboriculture

And My Forest Garden Project videos - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3e7kxvtiuqPIBzys4i2uEg

You can read my blog on my website - https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Stay happy and healthy,

Jenni Clarke

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Losing word weight and toning plot muscles is about my love hate relationship with rewriting a first draft.

If you wish to read this blog please visit my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

And if you wish to read the fabulous review on Intimate Lines please visit

https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/intimate-lines-jenni-clarke#review

Thank you for listening

Stay happy and healthy

Jenni Clarke

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this weeks podcast is the story of one of our wondrous cycle rides up Swiss mountains last year.

If you want to see the photos then please visit my website - https://www.jenniclarke.com/

or visit our cycling blog - https://www.velotouring.fun/

Thanks for listening.

If you subscribe to my secret library on my website there are some free eBooks to download.

Jenni Clarke

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This week I share a story I wrote many years ago as well as giving you an update on my writing life.

If you wish to read the story please visit my website -https://www.jenniclarke.com/

My subscribers only Secret Library with it's free eBooks is up and running with no reported problems and the new email system's technical issue has been resolved so if you are interested in a free book sign up on my website.

Thanks for listening

Jenni Clarke

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In this episode I give you a short writing update and then read this weeks blog in which I explore how writing has helped me understand myself better.

If you'd like to read the blog please visit my website.

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

and if you would like to visit my secret library for exclusive eBooks then please use the sign up form on my website.

Thank you for listening.

Jenni Clarke

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episode five is about my families adventures at a local natural wonder, if you wish to see the photos you will need to visit my website https://www.jenniclarke.com/

There is a short update on my writing progress too.

Soon I will have a new automated email system and will be able to give subscribers a way into my secret library of exclusive freebies.

Thank you for listening to me reading my blog post.

Jenni Clarke

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

thank you for tuning in.

This week there is a short writing update before I read my blog post 'Playing with Waves' which has nothing to do with summer holidays at the beach but everything to do with the overwhelming ocean of marketing a book.

If you wish to read the blog please visit my website

https://www.jenniclarke.com/

Here are the mentioned links

https://www.velotouring.fun/

https://reedsy.com/discovery

https://jessicathiefels.com/blog/mailerlite-vs-mailchimp/

https://www.janefriedman.com/convert-readers-to-email-subscribers/

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/

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A little update on a writing struggle and then a competition winning story.

If you'd like to read the story please visit my website https://www.jenniclarke.com/

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Then I reveal the revelation that teleportation is possible.

'Beam me up, Scotty. Several times a day.'

P.S. I am a bit of a Star Trek fan.

For a written version please visit my website https://www.jenniclarke.com/

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Some people live and let go and others look back and analyse, question, and search for deeper meanings. I am the latter and I wonder how many other authors are the same, forever asking why and what if? What if I had started writing when I was younger? What if I had persisted when a publisher rejected my stories? What if’s can be a spiral into black despair so I no longer go there, but I will analyse my journey.

‘I can’t’ has been my constant companion since childhood. Why? Maybe being the youngest of three girls, always wanting to do what my sisters could, and failing. However hard I tried, my knowledge, understanding, and skills were never as good as theirs. I was painfully shy and always worried about doing or saying the wrong thing. Was this where my desire to be perfect came from too? Such an impossible task for a young child so I retreated into stories. My imagination was my best friend, my comfort zone, my safe place.

Written down this feels sad, but it wasn’t. I had a wonderful childhood full of magic and adventure in a loving family. Every night my mother would read us a story and I would continue the tale in my head as I drifted off to sleep.

‘The Folk of the Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton was one of these. I loved to imagine a new land arriving and being able to explore it. I was world building even then, and if I fell asleep before the story ended, I clung tight to where I was in my adventure and continued it the next night. This may be why I can think about a story problem and remember my ideas the next morning. A blessing, as many writers lament the loss of a great almost-asleep idea.

Other stories such as Narnia and The Hobbit wove their essence into my life. I took an invisible Aslan to school with me when we moved to a new town. He shrunk and sat under my table, protecting me from the strangeness of a new environment. I dreamt of dragons and wrote stories of fantastic adventures.

I applied to read ‘English’ at Loughborough university (there were no creative writing courses then) and was devastated when I didn’t get the grades I needed. I remember tears pouring down my face but no sobbing, it was as if my soul was melting.

I liked being with children and became a teacher. This turned out to be a great profession for story creating.

The desire to be an author faded into the background as I married and enjoyed my own children’s imaginations. It was still there, but children and work absorbed me. Life flew past at a blur, whirling around until the stress was too much and we stepped off the well-paid career ladder and moved to a quiet corner of France.

Immersion in the beauty of waterfalls, forests, lakes, and mountains and the gentle quiet of a simple family life, nourished my neglected imagination and the desire blossomed into a need. Once more pushed aside with ‘I can’t’ as I helped my husband renovate the old building into our home, home-schooled my sons under the negative scrutiny of two French women, and tried to keep up with the social events in the village.

Then one of my sons found the Myers-Briggs Personality type test while researching for a project and my perception of me flipped.

I was an introvert and sensitive to other’s emotions. I was not an alien. It was like permission to be me, and I started to write.

Pleased with my story I posted the first few chapters for others to see. The pain of an honest comment sent me scurrying back to ‘I can’t’ for a few days until the value of the comment sunk in and I stepped onto the path of writing enlightenment at long last.

It’s not been an easy path, with it’s potholes of ‘imposter syndrome,’ mountains of ‘Yes I understand, oh no, there is a higher range of knowledge beyond,’ swamps of ‘I’m wasting my time,’ switchbacks of ‘unlearning bad habits’, and ponds of ‘putting an idea aside.’

I attended a writer’s festival and allowed agents to look at two of my stories. Mixed messages left me wallowing in ‘I’m not good enough to be an author.’ I tried rewriting but my heart wasn’t in it. I needed to learn more. Online courses, podcasts, webinars, and blogs absorbed my time and my brain ached with extra synapses and my shelves groaned with filled notebooks.

Then someone mentioned NaNoWriMo. My supressed imagination erupted into several first drafts of varying lengths. Messy, no chapters, terrible spelling, lots of telling and ‘Name A’ and ‘Describe this more’ first drafts. I loved the rush of words, but they needed polishing before I could approach agents.

Instead of ‘I can’t.’ I said, ‘I can learn.’

I still am.

I missed the heady rush of first drafting, so I found writer friends, wrote flash fiction, and entered short-story competitions. It scratched the itch and confirmed I could write as I won a competition and had three stories published in anthologies.

I’d come to a split in the road: Traditional publication or Indie publishing.

Soul-searching walks revealed I’d wanted traditional for the confirmation I was good enough and because ‘I can’t market my books.’

Of course, I can.

I chose the Indie path.

Perfectionism lingers but the mix of thrill and fear when clicking ‘publish’ followed by a hollow ache for the fully-fledged story flying out to readers, is strangely addictive.

With four books published, four books in rewrite or edit mode, and many more waiting to be polished or written I know I am an author.

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