A magic moment at 8.07 a.m.

Today, while enjoying afternoon tea with a good friend, we chatted about 'magic moments.' What are magic moments? They are those special, uplifting things that happen, often each and every day. Unless you make a conscious effort to do otherwise, they more often than not slip away from your mind and are forgotten and lost. The importance of capturing and treasuring them, and how and why we should do that, I shall discuss in an upcoming post. For now I wanted to introduce the concept with an example (originally written in November 2009)...........

Here is a true story that happened to me, and which taught me the importance of magic moments in life and of making genuine, friendly connections with strangers or people you meet for a few seconds each day - in this case a Starbucks coffee shop counter server.

I was staying at the JW Marriot Hotel outside Orlando, Florida, where I was attending Tony Robbins' Date With Destiny seminar. Now strange things can happen at Tony Robbins events, but I still had a little bit of scepticism after he had told the 3,000 or so attendees to expect something unusual to happen at 8.07 a.m. the following day.

The next day - the final one of the six-day event - and shortly before 8 a.m. I took the elevator to the lobby and made my way to the Starbucks outlet inside the hotel.

Unlike on previous days when I arrived freshly showered and neatly dressed, on this day I was unshaven, had messy hair and did not have my name tag around my neck. Why? Well, there were still quite a few hours to go before the start of the seminar's final session and I figured I'd wait to shower and dress properly once my washing was finished in the hotel launderette on the third floor.

Unkempt and without any identity tag, that was me. So how did the Starbucks server 'Leigh' recognise me and address me by name? Not only that, she even remembered what my usual coffee order was. During the week thousands of delegates had used that small coffee shop every day. I visited once each morning. Yet here was the counter server remembering me on sight, by name, after only a few days and addressing me like an old friend. On all the other days when I had been wearing my name tag I had not been addressed by name as far as I could remember.

I was taken aback. Now, you're going to have to take my word here, but I swear that this is true. The exchange at the Starbucks counter happened at 8.07 a.m.

How had Tony Robbins been able to predict that a magic moment that would happen at 8.07 a.m.? Perhaps because my mind was unconsciously on the lookout for something to happen at that precise moment in time my senses were fully alert taking in every single thing that was happening around me.

Whatever it was, this was my magic moment.

I chatted briefly with 'Leigh' and took a mental note of her name tag for the first time, that is why I can remember her now as I write, and why I returned the compliment and addressed her by name the following day before I departed.

In an unexpected but quite beautiful way I had been taught the power of making a connection with a stranger - a real, genuine connection, addressing them by name and showing that they matter in your life enough to acknowledge them in a friendly and direct manner.

Look out for those magic moments in your own life, and learn the name of the person who serves you coffee in the morning, or drives your bus to work, and use it to make that magic moment connection.

Book writing with index cards

Index cards are a feature of my daily routine at the moment. Each day I fill out two more with writing for my next book. In theory, once I have many hundreds of these index cards completed they can be shuffled and arranged and put to use as the blueprint to allow an unbroken 'run' at the first draft.

On the cards I write a basic sketch of a scene, or a section of dialogue, a character description, or occasionally a condensed precise of the overall story. There is a great freedom from this approach as I can write ideas and mini scenes and not get caught up with internal doubts or debates about whether or not this is the right place for this piece of action, or if it is even worth including, etc.

The sifting comes later. At the end of the index carding process all the component parts can be reassessed and then moved around - or discarded - to form a cohesive and natural rhythm to the story.

Another great beauty of this approach is making each card 'eventful' and having an identifiable part to play in moving the story forward. They are like mini episodes of action. Having these at my fingertips when I reach the point of slotting all the pieces together in the first draft should ensure a flowing storyline without much (or any) drag.

For now it is a couple of index cards each day. The 'done' pile is still relatively small, but as I warm up the speed at which I can fill out the cards should increase. The aim is to end up with between 500 and 1,000 good cards (having sifted out the naff ones) before heading into the first draft. In the picture above is my current pile and, for reference, an unopened pack of 100 index cards. There is a fair bit of work still ahead.

A last jog for two friends

(Pictured: Chris, Sean and myself)

On the last Wednesday of October two runners jogged side-by-side around the stadium track, chatting as they made their way gently around the circuit in the evening darkness. The stadium floodlights cast areas of brightness and shadow across the scene.

I was one of the two. The other was Chris, who was there to say goodbye to his running friends and to the weekly track training sessions that he has been a part of for the past decade.

I've known Chris since I arrived on the island, both as a runner and as a friend. Only a year or so separates us in age, and our ability as runners meant we have remained very closely matched across the past eight years. So much so that on any given race day it was always tricky to predict which of us would cross the finish line first.

As we jogged around the track we chatted about life and running, and Chris reflected that as he has become older he now treats running more as a lifestyle - a chance to enjoy being in the company of others and sharing the experience, rather than focusing on personal bests or high-ranking results.

He's right. The greatest joy running gives is the camaraderie and friendship that builds through the years. A bond is created with people who become an integral and welcome part of your life.

So there we were, two figures jogging in the distance under the light and shadows of the stadium's illumination. To an outsider that's all we would have been, just two men jogging a lap side-by-side on a dark night.

But for Chris and I it was the sharing a last few minutes together, a last jog, thinking about our race day exploits and the years that have gone by since we first met. Chris is starting a new job half-the-world away. Someday he will surely return to the island for a visit - and a run. I hope I am here to join him or, if not here, then someplace else where we get to run a race together.

Yoko Ono's 'Walking On Thin Ice' tops dance chart

"I think you just cut your first number one, Yoko," John Lennon remarked at the end of a recording of Yoko Ono's 'Walking On Thin Ice.'

Thirty-three years later a remix of the song has just topped the US Billboard hot dance song chart - giving Ono her 11th number one in that particular hit parade in recent years. A different remix of the song, also by New York-based DJ Danny Tenaglia, topped the dance chart in 2003.

The original recording was the last Lennon ever worked on. The night he was shot in December 1980 he and Ono had been in the studio putting the finishing touches to the track. Lennon added lead guitar to the track that evening.

While the current remix by Tenaglia has brought fresh prominence to the song - and introduced it to a new dance/club audience - a look back at the original shows what a striking track it was, and how Lennon and Ono were switching up creative gears.

A haunting quality permeates the song. The lyrics deal with life, death, and fate - and the edginess of the backing track accentuates the deep mood. As well as Lennon, some of the finest studio musicians of the time played on the track, including Hugh McCracken, Tony Levin, Earl Slick and Bermuda's Andy Newmark.

Ono directed a simple video (see above) for the song when it was released in early 1981. It includes home video of herself and Lennon relaxing by the waterside at their Long Island holiday home in early 1980. It was there, in Cold Harbor, that Lennon learned to sail shortly before venturing out on a 650-mile ocean crossing to Bermuda where he worked on, and refined, what became his final songs during a two-month vacation that summer.

The contemplative video also shows Ono wandering alone in New York and sitting on a bench in Central Park, which she and Lennon regularly visited. Ghostly, rapid-cut repeat image of mountains and an inland lake linger in the mind's eye long after the video ends.

Ono's track has stood the test of time. More than three decades after it was made, the original sounds fresh and contemporaneous. As a dance track, Tenaglia's club mix is good and has brought the track to the attention of a new audience. But the true beauty of 'Walking On Thin Ice' is found in the stark moodiness and majesty of the original.

Living in a world less busy

(Photo by Klaus/Wikimedia Commons)

There can’t be many writers who publish their first book aged 80. That is what Mary J MacLeod has done with ‘The Island Nurse’, a book I have been reading for the past few weeks. Her memories of living life as a nurse on a remote Scottish island more than 40 years ago made for a fascinating read.

In 1969 Mrs MacLeod and her husband George lived in the south of England. But they had become disillusioned with their way life and all its pressures. They wanted to live a life less cluttered and frantic.

They followed their dream and relocated with their young family to one of the remotest parts of the British Isles — the Hebridean islands off of Scotland’s northwest coast. It was a world apart from the life they knew. On the island Papavray (the island’s true identity is concealed to protect the privacy of those mentioned in the book) indoor toilets were still a luxury, while television was viewed with suspicion and even terror by some of the older residents.

Nurse Mrs MacLeod soon became entwined in the lives of the island people, getting to know their stories, their troubles, their joys — and a few secrets — as she and her family found themselves increasingly touched by the warmth of the remote community.

By the end of the book, the author refers to the many characters she met half-a-lifetime ago as ‘the dear, unique people who still live on that remote, rocky island’.

In ‘The Island Nurse’ (published in the US as ‘Call the Nurse’) Mrs MacLeod takes us on a journey that captures the nuances of island life. It is a touching memoir that traces many stories across the seasons of a year, from births and marriages, to tragedies and deaths. Keeping chapters short and fast-moving, Mrs MacLeod crams a remarkable number of vignettes and incidents into 300-odd pages.

In one chapter a window has to be removed to allow a bed-bound patient to be transported to a hospital, while there is a sinister reason behind a mysterious night-time rendezvous at a remote section of shore.

There are intricate portraits of her neighbours, and description of the hardships of island life. The author herself experiences some of those trials, including having the steering column of her car break on a remote mountain pass. She returns to her abandoned vehicle hours later to find a concerned islander has fashioned a temporary repair using sticky plasters that holds together until she gets her car home.

She joins the crofters one day sheep shearing high on the hillsides, where chatter, stories and jokes are shared, and sandwiches and Thermos drinks are consumed. As the bright afternoon turns to early evening Mrs MacLeod dallies, ensuring she is the last to leave the high vantage point. It gives her the opportunity to observe the village and the crofts far below. She writes: “Gradually, as the peace of the evening settled over the glen, I began to see little plumes of blue smoke rise from the chimneys as folk lit their fires. I listened — even distant voices had stilled, the hill was quiet once more, and I was left in the silent clamour of remembered noise.”

The author writes in a style that makes you feel you are right there, listening to the conversations as they happen and seeing the events unfold. When Mrs MacLeod turns her thoughts to her surroundings, she shows a talent for descriptive and evocative turns of phrase. The sea is “silver in owl-haunted moonlight”, while later in the year, as the evenings draw in, she drives along the island’s narrow, uneven roads “between small lochans with the brown peaty water winking at us in the failing light”.

A dozen or so islanders meet at a tiny croft for a ceilidh of drinking, unsophisticated entertainment, poems, songs, stories, jokes and reminiscing about “times gone by and people long dead’. Mrs MacLeod notes that once the small croft is full of people, and with a big peat fire generating heat in the fireplace, it soon becomes unbearably hot. “It seemed to me that ceilidhs were not ceilidhs unless everyone was perspiring freely by the end of the evening,” she writes.

Filled with stories that reflect the day-to-day lives of people far removed from the bustle of mainland towns and cities, Mrs MacLeod has impressively reflected the humour, warmth and culture that holds together these distant communities.

  The Island Nurse is published by Mainstream Publishing in the UK and Random House in the USA. 

Stormy morning in the middle of summer

A large storm system rolled across the Island yesterday, and for many hours it became stationary above this speck in the North Atlantic.

Having risen for breakfast I was aware of the gathering gloom outside - an unusual thing in summertime in Bermuda. Then the distant thunder began to boom, getting closer as it did.

Flashes of lightning soon danced behind the closed venetian blinds (I keep them closed in most rooms in the summer to deflect the sun's hot rays). As rain pitter-pattered against the windows I finished breakfast and looked outside. From horizon to horizon grey clouds filled the sky.

My daily run would have to wait. I returned to the bedroom to read a chapter or two of my current favourite read, Mary J MacLeod's 'The Island Nurse'. However, the dark clouds so successfully shut out the brightness of day that, even at 9am, I needed to switch on the room light to read my book.

For an hour or so I lay on the bed reading the book and listening to the storm battering away outside. But for the heat it could easily have been a winter's night in mid-summer.

The storm lasted all morning and stretched beyond midday before the rain finally switched itself off. I was then able to venture outside in the fresh, though mightily humid air - thankful for a pleasant piece of metrological variety to break up these long days of summer. And who doesn't like the experience of being comfortable at home, reading a book with a thunderstorm soundtrack beyond the walls and windows?

'Elysium' adds a new sci-fi peak to 2013

This year is turning out to be a particularly good one for sci-fi films that are more than just shoot-'em-up soap operas in space.

After the surprise of 'Oblivion' earlier in the year, the latest release 'Elysium' is another intelligent addition to the genre. It is well filmed, has some stunning special effects and carries an underlying social message.

Throw into the mix a well delivered menacing performance by Jodie Foster, and the equally menacing Sharlto Copley, and you have a movie treasure.

On a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon in Bermuda I ventured to the Southside Cinema to catch the just-released picture. I wasn't alone. The matinee showing was well attended, which is a good sign because I've often seen very sparse audiences at the 'way out east' cinema.

'Elysium' was directed by Neill Blomkamp, whose previous endeavour 'District 9' (2009) was also a much hailed sci-fi.

In 'Elysium' he creates a dystopian future where the inhabitants of Earth live in terrible poverty, in a polluted and overcrowded world, while the rich have fled to an orbiting space station filled with mansions, manicured lawns, swimming pools, and a healthcare system that eradicates illnesses and injuries.

The pace of the swirling story never drops, and cleverly builds to a climactic finale with plot twists to keep the viewer on edge.

There are some things that could have been done better. The hand-to-hand fighting scenes are confusingly filmed, and there are a few unlikely scenarios - such as the prevalence of USB technology in the year 2154. Also, lead actor Matt Damon could have done more to add a deeper dimension to his character Max. He gives a solid performance, but there was a real opportunity to humanise Max in the manner Carlton Heston achieved in 'Omega Man' (1971). Those who are familiar with 'Omega Man' will see shades of the Heston character arc shadowed in 'Elysium'

As I left the cinema I noticed many in the audience, like myself, appeared somewhat shell-shocked by the energetic two-hour movie ride that 'Elysium' had taken them on.

Both 'Elysium' and 'Oblivion' are strong contenders for best sci-fi film of the year.

Escaping from the digital haze

There was a time when we were not tied to computers for our daily newsfeeds, entertainment etc. When we did not carry cell phones or smartphones around in order to constantly check our emails and texts.

There was a time when switching off the television and walking out the front door meant, in most instances, disconnecting from the 'buzz' of modern life. Away from the landline telephone you became uncontactable. As weird as that sounds today, that was once the norm.

Nostalgia and rose-tinted glasses can play tricks, but I'm sure that is not the case when I state that the relatively unwired world of the recent past - and we are talking only 20 to 25 years ago at most - was a pleasant place to be.

At the time there was a freedom I took for granted. That freedom was being able to enjoy downtime from work, from social networks (a term that has come into its own in these internet days). 'Your time' could be appreciated and spent doing any number of activities, or even no activity.

Long walks or runs. Sitting and reading a newspaper from cover to cover, or a chapter of a book. Watching a sunrise or sunset.

Of course, all of the above can still be done. But if you are carrying a cell phone, as most of us do these days, you are forever aware of that portal to the electronic world being close at hand and demanding attention and checking.

Only on vacations do I manage to successfully break away from the digital world's umbilical cord. Although I have a cell phone, I switch it off and ignore it unless an emergency calls. I avoid computer terminals and the temptation to check emails.

It feels invigorating. It feels like reconnecting with a life - hearing birds chirping again, taking in my surroundings and appreciating just 'being'.

Day-to-day, away from vacation time, it is harder. Work life impinges on downtime much more, even if only through the habit of checking emails or missed calls.

But I still make time when I can to leave my cell phone at home and go wander for an hour or so, or sit in the great outdoors and feel the sun, or the breeze, against my skin and enjoy the freedom of escaping from the 21st century's digital haze. Those moments are a small window back to a less frantic existence, a small window that I aspire to expand.

Yoko Ono tops the US dance chart

Yoko Ono at 80 scored a number one hit on the US Dance Chart with 'Hold Me' - a new song written in collaboration with producer Dave Aude.

Yoko's energy is impressive and life-affirming. This song also shows that she continues to treasure her love for John Lennon.

When I first heard this track I was stunned by its vibrancy, but also by the words and the touching message they convey, all the more poignant for anyone who knows the John and Yoko backstory. In the video there is the image of the word 'yes', although it is not part of the lyric. The 'yes' is surely a nod in the direction of the first meeting between Yoko and Lennon at a London art gallery when Lennon climbed a stepladder to look through a magnifying glass at a word written on the ceiling which said 'yes'. The piece of installation art was Yoko's, and the fact that it was a 'positive' message pleased Lennon and led to the couple connecting and living their lives together.

Lennon believed that Yoko's musical output was ahead of its time. In 1980, when he heard The B52's 'Rock Lobster' playing inside a Bermuda nightclub he was struck by the similarities it had to Yoko's earlier recordings. He called her in New York to tell her the world had caught up and was ready for her music.

Well, it may have taken a further 30 years, but there is no doubt that Yoko's music is gaining the popular acclaim that Lennon foresaw. In the past five years a total of 10 Yoko tracks have hit the top of the US Dance Chart. They were reworked/mixed versions of older songs recorded by Yoko, until this year's 'Hold Me' which was specifically written as a dance track.

The thumping dance beat treatment blends well with Yoko's stark vocal delivery. At 80, Yoko recently said in an interview that she feels she is starting a new life. If she continues producing songs like this (and check out her involvement in son Sean's recent 'Don't Frack Me' environmental protest track), then long may this new musical lease of life continue.

Fond adieus Neal Butterworth

Neal Butterworth was a remarkable man. He was the editor of the Daily Echo in Bournemouth for 13 years, the first seven years of which I had the privilege of working with him.

A man of tremendous grace, wit, charisma and intelligence, Neal embodied all the finest qualities of journalism. Knowing that Neal was there, in charge, made it an actual pleasure to go to work each day. He had a way of making people feel wanted and appreciated and his good nature was infectious.

He was a leader and mentor of the highest calibre who valued his staff and created a sense of family within the entire newspaper team.

In all my years in the profession I have not known another individual with such genuine charisma, presence, insightful journalistic judgement and passion.

He gave me my break into daily newspapers, only a few months after he took over as editor of the Echo. In the years that followed I marveled at the way he led his team, showing he believed in them and their abilities and in doing so strengthening the bounds of friendship and loyalty.

With Neal there was a time for work and a time for play. At least once a year, and often twice a year, he would treat the staff to some 'downtime' outside the office where all departments were able to mingle, chat and let off steam in a congenial, friendly setting. That small gesture alone made Neal a special type of boss.

In all my time working with Neal, and in the few e-mail exchanges we had in the years after I had moved on from the Echo, I felt a true bond with a remarkable gentlemen. In positive ways I grew as a journalist, and more importantly as a person, from sharing so many years as a work colleague and friend of Neal. I learned much from simply observing him and the way he carried himself through life.

As he told me in the last communication we shared: "I've always been at pains to tell people that you only live once but if you do it right, once is enough."

When Neal died at 55 last month it was far too soon for someone who made the world a better place for so many. For me the great mentor is no longer there to speak to personally, however the magic of his life lives on in the memories and thoughts I hold for one of the finest boss-leader-mentor and friend I will likely come across.

Fond adieus Neal. You lived life right.

Movie 'Oblivion' sets out a great premise

Today I went to the cinema to watch 'Oblivion'. The science fiction movie stars Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman, among others, and has been generating some interesting reviews for a Sci-fi feature.

It was a day off from work, so I had the luxury of settling in to watch an afternoon matinee. There was just me and about four other people in the 162-seat cinema. That wasn't a problem as I actually prefer to have a quiet space to soak up a movie and really get involved in what is on the screen, rather than be distracted by chattering or noise.

'Oblivion' is a well-made science fiction, beautifully filmed with breathtaking scenes and high production standards. The acting of the main characters, of which there were four, was also of a high standard. But best of all was the quirky story and its twists and turns. The premise set up during the first hour was thought-provoking and engrossing. For that first hour alone I give this film the thumbs up. The second part of the movie varied in enjoyment level due to the pacing going a little astray and the story descending into somewhat predictable territory. However, there was enough interest to carry 'Oblivion' through to the finale.

The movie drew inspiration from other Sci-fi classics, with elements of 'The Planet of the Apes', 'Star Wars', 'Blade Runner', 'Wall-E' and even 'Buck Rogers' (the 70s remake) evident. On the plus side, the fact that it was an all-new story as opposed to a long-running franchise, such as 'Star Trek' or one of the many super hero films being made these days, separates 'Oblivion' from the rest of the pack. The slow set-up of the premise and the revealing of the initial plot twists in the film's first half was skillfully done.

There is a point in the movie where 'Oblivion' could have capitalised on its intriguing foundations and headed into even deeper territory of the mind and the human condition, and that is what I would have loved to have seen. In the end it takes a more traditional route to a climax that felt somewhat hurried.

'Oblivion' is not a bad movie. It has plenty of haunting imagery and thought-provoking ideas to satisfy, and it may well be the best Sci-fi outing of this year.

But it is the latest in a string of big budget movies that I feel could have been true classics if they had either pulled back when they hit a natural high point, or continued pushing their more quirky story-telling path. 'Super 8' and 'Django Unchained' are two striking examples that built up superb first halves only to wrap up in predictable "Hollywood expects" fashion.

'Oblivion' trails off in a similar way, although not badly enough to undo its stunning first hour of story-telling. The focus on a handful of key characters, and the human story that links them, is given major screen time - refreshingly, as often a film of this genre can overshadow such character-play with special effects. If the invention of the film's opening half had continued as strongly to the end, then 'Oblivion' would have been a true classic.

For me, seeing this film teaches the importance of having a structured roadmap for a story that carries its intrigue and surprises all the way to the end, rather than end up rushing something and ending up with a rather predictable finale.

As it is, 'Oblivion' is a great Sci-fi outing, visually gripping, well acted and with a novel premise. Worth seeing? Yes, especially on a big screen.

Another UK newspaper review of book

Another positive review for Lennon Bermuda, taken from the UK newspaper 'The Sport'. Pleasingly, the reviewer has given the book and CD four stars and indicates they enjoyed the box set.

UK newspaper mentions 'Lennon Bermuda'

Review: mentioned in The Mail on Sunday (UK)

This is an image from the April 28 edition of the 'Mail on Sunday' newspaper in the UK, giving a promotional mention of the Lennon Bermuda box set. Tomorrow was due to be the UK launch, however this has been pushed back a little to May 20.

However, there has been a bit of coverage of the box set and CD on two UK radio stations (Express FM in Portsmouth, courtesy of the Geoff and Andy Show, and also a track played on Bob Harris' BBC Radio Two show), and there was a passing mention of the book in the United Arab Emirates-based English newspaper 'The National', which all helps to spread the word. Tony Brannon has been doing a sterling job working to promote the book, CD and the next Peace Day Concert in Bermuda - which as last year is on September 21.

In the meantime, I have embarked upon a new writing project, which is still being formulated with the help of a piece of electronic software which I have been intrigued by. Whether it helps or not remains to be seen. But I shall write more on this new project in the coming months. It is my intention to make this a much speedier writing endeavour once all the groundwork is laid. Having said that, I got a taste of speedy writing doing Lennon Bermuda book in around three weeks. Which is proof, if ever I needed it, that a task with a pointblank deadline focuses the writer's mind like nothing else.

'Inspired' the book - 26 years on

Back in 1987, as a 21-year-old, I made my first foray into the world of book writing with Inspired. It was a paperback collection of short stories and poems by five young writers. I initiated the independent venture and brought together the writers, who submitted their work. My brother Gordon illustrated the front cover, and 100 copies of the book were printed and distributed (a few made it into the local public library).

More than a quarter of a century later it was but a distant memory and then I caught sight of a photograph of the front and back cover, reproduced here, and it reminded me of life's journey from way back then to where I am today.

Inspired was an outlet for my creative writing, as it was for the other contributers. Within its pages I was able to pour out a lot of the ideas and imagination that filled my late teenage years. Included in the collection was the short poem 'Faeries of Green Lochan', which went on to become firstly a song that I played regularly at open mic nights, and then a stage play performed by myself and a fellow drama student, Yvonne, at the Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts, in England, in 2003. That stage play, together with the song (the poem, put to guitar music and sung) evolved into the short live-action/animation film 'Faeries of Green Lochan', featuring myself and Heather, that was created between 2010 and 2011 and premiered at the First Bermuda Bakatown Film Festival in January 2012 - some 25 years after the original poem had first appeared within the pages of Inspired. The film can be viewed on YouTube.

Inspired was never likely to make money, but it did provide a creative outlet for a group of young writers. For me it is now also a historical record of where I was as a young writer and something I can compare to my later collection Eating Clouds (2008).

One message that early book represents is that, no matter if no one else is going to give you a break in the world of literature, you can always find a way to share your work with others - even if only to 100 potential book buyers. It also acts as a measure of your belief in yourself as a writer and your desire to work towards your writing dreams.

I'm particularly pleased that I was able to take one of my early works, 'Faeries of Green Lochan', which was actually written in early 1985, and develop it in a number of artistic forms. And there is another strange coincidence. As my most recent work Lennon Bermuda prepares to be given a worldwide launch in the UK later this month, I note that Inspired opened with a quotation from John Lennon's Aunt Mimi, her words to a 17-year-old Lennon that "Playing the guitar is all right as a hobby John, but you'll never make a living at it". I wrote to Mimi Smith for permission to use her quote, which she granted in her letter of reply. A loop that stretches 26 years can therefore be traced between Inspired and Lennon Bermuda.

A new short play

Although I haven't been blogging regularly of late, I have been productive elsewhere. Namely writing a new short play titled FAE.

The short work has been entered in Bermuda's annual 'Famous For Fifteen Minutes' competition, where six plays will be chosen from the entries to be staged during a mini-festival with one of those six ultimately being judged the winner.

It has been some time since I have written a creative piece to a deadline. I had around one month to come up with the idea and get it down in a stage play format.

For me, the preferred way of writing is to do a draft in story format, I just write out my short story as a piece of prose. Once that is complete I go back and type it out in stage play format.

The criteria stipulated that it had to be a simplified play (a 'box set') with no more than four characters and 'NO helicopters!'

Well, it was hard, but I managed to keep helicopters out of the story line.

FAE is set in a remote cottage in the mountains, with a husband and wife and their poorly teenage daughter. The fourth character is a rather mysterious woman who is taken into the shelter of the cottage one stormy night.

Without going into further detail at this point, I would say that FAE could well be a companion story to my previous short stage play Faeries of Green Lochan, which was turned into an animation-live action short film a few years ago, and can be viewed on YouTube. In time I may end up with a small compendium of faerie story vignettes - who knows. The magic of the faery world of celtic tradition tugs at my imagination from time to time.

The disciplined task of writing again, to deadline and within the constraints of a 15-minute maximum play with a limited number of players, was a fun workout. It has given me an added impetus to wrap up the almost complete final chapter of Dolphin Girl.

The runner who ran across Death Valley - twice

While on vacation at the end of last year I came across a new running book by Scott Jurek, the famed US ultramarathon man who appeared in Christopher McDougall's 'Born to Run' bestseller. It was a great read, and I so I have posted my thoughts on the book, in the form of a review, here:

BOOK REVIEW: 'EAT & RUN' By Scott Jurek and Steve Friedman

Some runners do 5K races, others attempt half-marathons and marathons, but there is another breed of runner who go further much further.

How much more?

Six-and-a-half full marathons, back to back, in a single day. That’s what ultrarunner Scott Jurek did, running a staggering 165 miles in 24 hours to set a US record. And if you’ve ever wondered what it takes to run 135 miles across Death Valley in tempartures that don’t drop below 100F even in the middle of the night, then Jurek would be a good person to ask. He’s done it twice. Jurek is one of the world’s best known ultra-runners, due in a large part to his appearance in the best-selling 2009 running book ‘Born to Run’.

But he had made a name for himself long before his ‘Born to Run’ fame, being an established champion in the ultra-marathon scene and regarded as the best in the US. That in turn led to an invitation to pit himself against the long distance prowess of the legendary Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyon, as chronicled in Christopher McDougall’s ‘Born to Run’.

Jurek has now written his own book about his unlikely path to ultrarunning greatness. In ‘Eat & Run’ he traces his route from his youth, where he originally competed as a skier, to his emergence as one of the greatest ultra-distance runners of the 1990s and 2000s.

“I ran, and kept running, because I had learned that once you started something you didn’t quit, because in life, much like in an ultra-marathon, you have to keep pressing forward,” writes Jurek.

The 135-mile race across California’s Death Valley, the Badwater UltraMarathon, has been labelled ‘the world’s toughest foot race’. When Jurek took up the challenge in 2005 he was already a darling of ultra distance running. But even his impressive string of victories in 100-mile races across mountains and canyons had not tested him to the limit the way Death Valley would.

Jurek’s experience in the Badwater race is a major hook for ‘Eat & Run’, however there is much more. It traces the Minnesota-born runner’s life in fascinating detail, from his childhood troubles to his immersion into the oft overlooked world of ultrarunning and his celebrated races with the Tarahumaru runners and beyond.

Along the way Jurek became a committed vegan. The ‘eat’ in the book’s title refers to the vegan recipes that tail each chapter. Throughout the book Jurek often refers to the meals, and how he discovered them and used them as a competitor.

‘Eat & Run’ is a fascinating read that moves along quickly and reveals what makes an ultra-runner tick, and what drives them to keep running far beyond the limits of most others.

It also contains many tips for runners, whatever their standard, interested in learning how to improve style and form, how to run faster and longer, and how to stay healthy — whether they want to become vegans or not.

Jurek and his co-writer Steve Friedman have done a fine job in making ‘Eat & Run’ an easy to read, compelling page-turner that is likely to appeal to seasoned runners, beginners and even non-runners.