Sweet dreams are made of this...

When I was a child I used to have incredibly vivid dreams, so vivid I can remember them now. Maybe one day I'll write them down. They were surreal, fantastical and so much like real life I used to wake up thinking it was all still happening. I haven't had a dream I remember for years and I miss them. I miss the colours and feel of them. The way they wrapped me in another world, a world I had created, not one in a book. Now I wake up unable to recall anything, if we all dream, then where have mine gone?

Start at the beginning....

I've been telling stories my whole life, to my sister when we were kids, to myself, to whoever would listen. I write them down, get distracted and abandon them. I need some guidance clearly. Someone to say, slow down, don't lose focus, get a grip on the plot and keep going. So there's this (and this), guidelines from some of the best writers around, including some of my favourites. This could be the year I finally crack the writer's block and produce something I don't abandon when I can't think anymore. Concentrate. And go!

The city called me so I came...

I am definitely a city girl. I do badly in the countryside (not least because of the geese issue, more of which another time). I like big cities, crowds, buildings, hustle, bustle, noise and chaos. I grew up in the North London suburbs, which lacks all of that, but does have good tube links to the heart of town. Partly it's the opportunity to do some serious people watching, but the museums, galleries, parks, markets and shops (oh the shops!) are all part of it. Each different part of London has a distinct character and flavour. Whether it's the eclecticism of Camden, the markets in Covent Garden, the theatres along Shaftesbury Avenue, the smells of Chinatown and Brick Lane, or the glorious architecture everywhere, London has no one particular defining trait. Perhaps its history, and the melting pot of different peoples and cultures, its particular blend of high and low, make it so hard to define, to categorise.
To me it's home, and there are days when I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Walk the streets of London, never be in the same place twice, an adventure on my doorstep.