 Red Room Writer Profile
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Fiona Robyn's Blog
February 24, 2010
- "Thaw made me feel as though there are others just as broken as me, maybe many others, and that gave me hope and comfort even as it made me cry."Nicole from Books and BardsI write for many reasons.I write because my characters turn up in my head and ask me to write their story.I write because it helps me to pay attention to the world, and there is nothing more important than paying ...
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February 14, 2010
- It's snowing outside.On Friday, it will be two whole months since I moved in to my new little place, my new life.Earlier, I ate sweet mango and drank strong coffee in bed, accompanied by Silver's purring and Radio 6. Later, I will cook myself potatoes Dauphinoise, and tuck into the huge box of Hotel Chocolat chocolates I bought myself last week. Much later, I'll go out into the world to dance ...
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January 18, 2010
- In my last place, the TV was always on.Even when I was on my own, when I got home I'd automatically turn on some music (if I was very chilled), the radio (if I was a bit chilled) or the TV (if I'd had One Of Those Days).Even when I was listening to music, I'd turn on the TV to accompany me whilst I ate. As Galway Kinnell was aware, there are certain foods you shouldn't eat alone, and TVs provide ...
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January 13, 2010
- In this poem by James Wright, something very ordinary is happening. The poet is visiting two ponies. He tells us how they stand, and what he can see in their eyes. He brings our attention to the feeling of their long ears as they brush against his skin. This is all. Although, when I read this poem, it brings me to tears every time. The loneliness of the ponies. The tenderness with which Wright ...
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January 10, 2010
- Just outside my window, a fat mistle thrush has been spending his days in the snow-lined branches of the big tree all week. He is fat like a Buddha, and his belly is generously speckled with dark spots. As I watch, a slender great spotted woodpecker swoops in close, trying to brave it down to my feeders to peck at the tasty peanuts. I never tire of his monochrome feather patterns, his flashes of ...
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January 7, 2010
- I’m not very good at doing nothing. Or, more accurately, I’m very good at getting a lot done. I’m so good, I suspect that I create more work as soon as I start to run out.Today has been a snow day. Rosie took one look at the snow and refused to budge. I cancelled my clients, and stayed at home.I’ve got lots of things done. They’re all things that needed doing – cleaning, dealing with ...
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January 5, 2010
- I have a terrible habit.Sometimes I want cats to do something. I want them to sit next to me, or to use the new cat basket I bought at great expense.I lift them unceremoniously from where they are, innocently fast asleep, and plonk them where I want them to sleep instead.I don’t think they’ve ever actually stayed in the place I’ve plonked them. They put their ears back (the cat equivalent ...
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January 5, 2010
- * Rosie HATES the snow (her front wheels spin and spin) although I think she looks quite cute in her snow-suit.* Silver has a penetrating hatred of bath mats. She used to attack the one in the last house, and after an early-morning commotion in the bathroom I went in to find my new bath mat twisted up and dying in one corner.* Sometimes the solution comes from where you least expect it. I’ve ...
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December 17, 2009
- Tomorrow I am moving.I am leaving behind the cottage I've loved for the past three years. I'm leaving my vegetable patch, with the leeks still in the ground. I'm leaving the robin who follows me around, and the log burner that has warmed us through the winters.I am also leaving behind the partner I've loved for the past thirteen years. I'm leaving the thousands of conversations we've had, the ...
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December 7, 2009
- What does it mean to be a writer?Selima Hill, an English poet who writes marvellous and crazy poems, once said to me that poems are simply a by-product of being a poet. I love that image. They are like glittering sloughed-off skins, they are a result of a particular way of living in the world. In a similar way, my novels are the by-product of the characters that turn up in my head and ask to be ...
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November 30, 2009
- When I was first learning about Buddhism, I travelled to Thailand with several of my friends and teachers and went to the forest monastery of a renowned meditation master named Achaan Chah. Gathering round him after our arrival, we asked him to explain the Buddha's teachings. He motioned to a glass sitting to one side of him. "Do you see this glass?" he asked us. "I love this ...
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November 25, 2009
- Sometimes, it's easy to be grateful.It's easy when I bounce someone else's baby on my knee and he grins back at me.It's easy when I pull a jar of blackcurrant jam from the back of the cupboard in the depth of winter, and spoon condensed summer onto my toasted teacake.It's easy when I receive an email from a reader telling me that Leonard, the kindly gardener from my book 'A Blue Handbag', ...
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November 19, 2009
- I attend a group regularly - I can't tell you what kind, because that bit needs to be anonymous. But it is a group of regular people (I'm going all American - 'regular'!) and we meet to share our experiences and listen to each other and learn and love each other.When it was my turn to speak, my theme was how truly messed up we all are. There's a saying - 'we are all very sick people - it's just ...
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November 19, 2009
- I had a strange and wonderful night last night. I was meeting a friend for dinner in Worcester - a city I've never been to before.After circling the one way system a few times, I parked Rosie in a random car park and struck out into the city. After a few seconds a young homeless man with no front teeth approached me and started his spiel - he needed £8.80 for...I interrupted with a pound, and ...
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November 19, 2009
- I'm living through difficult times right now. Don't worry, I'm OK. But I've been thinking about how we can approach the stuff that life throws at us that we'd rather not catch. Duck! Run away!I'm thinking about three things this morning. The obstacle is the path. Today is a good day. And what comes is a gift.Ezra Bayda reminds us in his books that we often get frustrated by the things that 'get ...
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