Welcome to justthoughtsnstuff

I started posting to jtns on 20 February 2010 with just one word, 'Mosaic'. This seemed an appropriate introduction to a blog that would juxtapose fragments of memoir and life-writing. Since 1996, I'd been coming to terms with the consequences of emotional and economic abuse that had begun in childhood, and which, amongst other things, had sought to stifle self-expression. While I'd explored some aspects of my life through fiction and, to a lesser extent, journalism, it was only in 2010 that I felt confident enough to write openly about myself. I believed this was an important part of the healing process. Yet within weeks, the final scenes of my family's fifty-year nightmare started to play themselves out and the purpose of the blog became one of survival through writing. Although some posts are about my family's suffering - most explicitly, Life-Writing Talk, with Reference to Trust: A family story - the majority are about happier subjects (including, Bampton in rural west Oxfordshire, where I live, Oxford, where I work, the seasons and the countryside, walking and cycling) and I hope that these, together with their accompanying photos, are enjoyable and positive. Note: In February 2020, on jtns' tenth birthday, I stopped posting to this blog. It is now a contained work of life-writing about ten years of my life. Frank, 21 February 2020.

New blog: morethoughtsnstuff.com.

Sunday, 23 October 2016

autumn colours, last of the runner beans, sophia blackwell at kellogg college centre for creative writing, facing the strange pre-publication discount


























The autumn colours are coming into their own, although the relatively warm October means that many plants are still in flower.

The grass is certainly growing well on the allotment.

Today we had the last of the runner beans with Sunday lunch but there are plenty of courgettes left. Only a tiny handful of cherry tomatoes to go, though. Almost at the end of the summer veg.

On the plot there are leeks, spinach, turnips, beetroot and carrots.

Looking forward to attending a talk by Sophia Blackwell at the Kellogg College Centre for Creative Writing on Thursday. After which I'll be heading to the Society of Authors and Writers in Oxford party.

Meantime, Facing the Strange, SB Sweeney's superb debut novel, is now available from the StreetBooks website at a pre-publication discount - officially published on Thursday 9th February 2017.

'One great long drunken rambling guitar solo of a novel.' Tim Pears.
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