About Hayes House

My husband, Stig, and I live in the north-west of England with our 4 children, aged between 2 and 10, my 15-year-old step-daughter, and our mouse Ruby, who I’m pretty sure rues the day she ever wandered down our driveway in search of fairy cake crumbs. Life in Hayes House is chaotic but fun-filled. I have recently found the time (by threatening to leave home) to take a home study course in creative writing, and am gathering experience in the hope that I can one day write something competent.

After ten years of changing nappies and dealing with pre-adolescent angst, my brain has shrivelled to the capacity of an out-of-date walnut. So I feel it's time to try to breathe life back into it, preferably with knowledge that hasn't been sourced from cbeebies. Home study is perfect as I can fit it around the madness of our family, and also because I don't have to speak to another human being (I'm not quite ready to part with my status as resident recluse).

I discovered recently that there's a whole creative arts movement right on my doorstep, which includes all sorts of interesting things for would-be writers. An upcoming workshop with Jane Bidder aka Sophie King caught my attention. She is an experienced journalist and novelist of both fiction and non fiction books. Perfect! I thought...

There followed about a week of dithering self-doubt. Was I qualified enough to attend something like this? Clearly not! Could I bare to leave the house and be with other people, strangers no less, who were obviously going to be far more creative and intelligent than me? The prospect filled me with dread. Stig merely rolled his eyes and told me to go for it. He was right; opportunities of this kind didn't come up very often, so I signed up and spent the next fortnight cacking myself.

It was very interesting listening to Jane / Sophie speak. I was already familiar with some of the things she was saying from my home study course. At one point I even felt a little smug because everyone else was furiously writing notes, glancing at me and wondering why I wasn't doing the same. The smug feeling wasn't to last though, funny how it never does.

We were talking about specialist subjects i.e., anything you know a lot about or have experience of in everyday life; hobbies, interests, etc. She then asked us to write an impromptu few lines about our specialist subject. Simple enough, you'd think, but I froze (NB: does not perform well when nervous). In my dreadful handwriting I scrawled something utterly inept about autism, as two of my children are autistic.

Ms King worked her way around the room reading catchy titles out-loud and offering practical advice on how each person could capitalise on their "specialist subject", then she came to me...

You know that awful feeling when all eyes in the room are on you? Or even gazing generally in your direction, because the Fountain of Knowledge was standing right next to me, so close that I could smell her perfume.

"Yeeessss" she said, scrutinising my pathetic little paragraph
"A bit of an old chestnut I'm afraid" Bugger!
"But still always of interest to people" she added charitably
"Have you considered blogging?"

As I suspected; no fast-track to publishing glory for me. Blogging it is then. So welcome to the exploits of Hayes' House, and if you don't like it; blame Sophie King, it was her bloody idea!