Helen …
… is a collector of life experiences, good and bad. Now retired from a life at the chalk face she is reinventing herself for the nth time. She is a qualified judge for dog agility competitions and a qualified teacher of quilting, printing, dyeing and patchwork – but not at the same time.
Being too old to help others through lockdown she is thoroughly enjoying the hedonistic nature of her current life although procrastination seems to be another personal aspect of being locked down.
Jane …
Jane Diane Hanford – Born 21st May 1959 Nottingham.
Attended St Mary’s C of E primary, passed 11+ Grammar school
Degree in Applied Biology at Trent in 1981
Married Kevin 1983 – 3 children, Matthew 1985, Abigail 1987 & Nathan 1997
Biomedical Scientist (NHS) 1982-2012
Retired early (Health reasons) 2013
Hobbies – Reading (thrillers, mystery, historical), Art (watercolour painting). Web surfing (family history)
Joined this group to explore different types of writing projects.
My favourite medium – Poetry, which began as therapy after mental breakdown (2013) but I always loved descriptive writing.
Won East Midlands Creative Writing competition, through ‘Parker’ pens company, in junior school.
Karen …
… has been writing in ‘dribs and drabs’ since she was a girl but only began taking the inclination seriously over the last few years. Her work is influenced by the core aspects of her identity and her life experiences of the last half century – from her roots, within a working class mining family, to her branches extending through involvement in community activism, LGBTQ and women’s movement politics within Nottingham, Derby and the East Midlands and more formal political involvement in the trade union/labour movement.
Throughout her career Karen has worked alongside people living life in all its diversity. She hopes that this broad spectrum will continue to be reflected in both current and future writing. Although a spare-time writer through financial necessity, writing features in a variety of creative ways within all areas of her life, in joining the ZWAB project, the COVID pandemic has become both an unexpected and extremely variable influence on her writing and a strong influence on current ideas. Writing continues to feature throughout Karen’s future ambitions, hopes, and dreams whatever the context.
Rae …
… was born in 1946, under the balance of Libra’s scales.
A giddy ambitious teenager. Misspent most nights Jiving at the Palais de danse.
Joined the Army. Married the soldier I ‘won’ in a raffle (true – but not advisable!)
Had two children. Then everything went belly-up. Mansfield saw distress; beckoned me home; a safe space.
Many years later, at a Halloween dance, I met Fred, an Irishman. We just clicked. Been bewitched ever since. We’ve just had our 40th Ruby Wedding anniversary.
He turned life from black to gray, emerald to ruby.
The future – golden of course.
Barry …
I was born in Derbyshire, where I now live. Before I knew what was happening my family moved to Sheffield where I spent all my days until moving back into Derbyshire 8 years ago. Save for a short spell in Milnrow, Lancashire, six weeks.
I have been married twice and am still married to my second wife. I have two daughters, one from my first marriage and one from this. I also have a granddaughter; believe me one is enough.
I worked around from the age of 15 after leaving school with minimal qualifications. I was lucky enough to pass Sheffield’s Central Fire Station one day and popped in to see if they were hiring; they were. I applied to join, and they let me in. I stayed there for 28 years and enjoyed every minute of it.
When I joined my cousin said “Buy a nice suit a nice overcoat and a good camera”; advice I took. I have kept my interest in photography all these years and even shot professionally for a while; weddings and other social gatherings.
My cousin is no longer around to advise me, and I am retired from the Fire Brigade, but I have wonderful memories of both.
So that’s me, ordinary as hell and happy as hell too.
Janet …
I’ve worked hard for big corporates; I’ve worked hard for small clients. I’m now working hard at not working!
Becoming a publisher of on-line ski content will, hopefully, allow me to use one thing I know about to facilitate doing two things I love. I know about Search Engine Optimisation; I love skiing and writing.
Cindy …
A successful Hucknall business woman for nearly thirty years. Cindy re-started writing ten years ago, having loved poetry as a child. She now has several poems of her own etched on artwork in the Hucknall area and various pieces of poetry and prose in local books and anthologies.
Joan …
She Came, She Saw, She Conquered…
After far too long a career trying to teach teenagers, this crafty Lancashire Lass (though a Derbyshire resident for over 36 years) has taken a leap into the modern world of Word online whilst negotiating a new laptop, to start writing again in these Strange Times. No stranger to living life on the edge as a teacher, wife and mother, I would say I have a wry sense of humour and finely honed bullshit detector… but sometimes even I am surprised by what ends up on the page.
Kirsty …
I was born and brought up in London but escaped to the Peak District some 25 years ago, where I live in a slightly shabby grade 2 listed house with inadequate heating and a resident ghost. I love Derbyshire, the people made me welcome on my first day and I feel I have come home.
I work with Primary school children variously teaching music and the nuts and bolts of education. I keep trying to make it more part time, to allow more time for writing and my own music but I aren’t very good at saying no. I have been writing off and on for 20 years, with 2 practise novels under my belt proving to myself how difficult a process is writing, and much of my output is report writing.
Covid-19 has given me the head space to organise my thoughts in a more creative way.
Kim …
I am a sixty something nurse that has retired a few times but keeps going back for more. I enjoy writing but have a busy life so don’t do as much as I should. I didn’t begin writing until I was about forty but was going strong until something happened in my life and I came to a stop. I have worked in some areas that are very rich in inspiration, such as intensive care, prison and drug and alcohol services, so I need to get my act together and get writing!
Andy …
… is a Nottingham based writer and theatre maker whose company Excavate has been working with communities across the East Midlands for twenty years to make shows about their histories, stories, hopes and fears. Having spent the summer sending texts to the writers above he is currently making a variety of work in partnership with a hospice in Leicester, a theatre company in Kerala, and an erhu player in Nottingham.
Lucy ...
… is primarily a writer of short fiction. She enjoys working with other writers aged 3 to 103. Her words can be found in many anthologies and publications including Mslexia, EllipsisZine, Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology, Dusk Solstice Shorts, Reflex Fiction and Writers & Artists Yearbook. Currently she is supposed to be editing her first novel but is mostly writing exciting short stories instead. You can stalk her on Twitter @lgracewriter
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