Rae of Light

Tucked away in the village of Hassocks, near Brighton is my ideal writing retreat. you won't find it in the ads at the back of any writing magazines you won't find it online you won't hear about it at a writing group It's top secret and only open on specific holidays to a limited clientèle. To find your way on to this exclusive list mainly involves being friends with the owner of the property and the owner's cousin. Luckily I fall into both these categories. I then create various cock-a-maymy excuses for visiting this idyll as often as possible. I think the owner sees through my plot but as yet has not objected too much. And why exactly do I love this spot so much? Firstly It involves spending time with one of my favourite people, Bev Cross , who I met on a writing holiday in Greece. Her fabulousness is so vast it cannot be contained in one blog post.  As with all things wonderful, she's particularly shy so I'm only authori

My blogging benefactress , Sydnee Blake is about to publish her first collection of short stories, Finding Words in Whitechapel and start blogging herself. The blog, due to commence on 23 rd July, will give you tantalising snippets of the short stories in her anthology. I first met Sydnee in a splendid writing group which runs in the members bar of the Royal Festival Hall. Our initial contact was through email as we were setting up the dates and times of meeting up and I assumed (because of her name) that she would be a man- a rare beast in most writing groups unless you live near Telegraph Hill.  I was thrilled to discover that not only was she a woman but also one with a wealth of experience and good sense. I am delighted that a member of our writing group is about to publish and can't wait to see Sydnee's book in print. I am proud to announce that I am a Sydnee Groupie and I know my other writing buddy Emma (RFH writing group member and collabora

This hastily put together blog comes to you because of a Doubting Thomas. It has been made known to me that certain people, namely my good friend Sydnee , disbelieve the existence of the wondrous  Neasden Temple's location smack bang in the middle of a council and industrial estate in the wilds of North London. Sydnee is convinced that I was having one of my moments.  In her defense, I do have several of these and frequently, more than one a day. But the blame for her doubt of course lies with me, as I failed to put in the crappy photos I took of that amazing edifice and opted instead to use more professional ones from the internet. In light of this I'm forced to rectify the matter and show off my poor camera skills and insert several of my own "holiday snaps" for all to see. So here for those doubters and disbelievers.      As photographed by Rae...           Badly....                Please remember Sydnee - you forced me to do t