BLOG FROM PAST TIMES!

I've been on the lookout for magazines and literary publications where I can start to submit pieces of my writing. Here's my starting list so far:

* Diabetes Voice

* Literary Mama

* CRAFT literary magazine

* Writers' Playground - Short Story contest

* The Master's Review - online and in print publication - New Voices

* School Management Plus - education-based articles

* The Washington Post Op-Eds

* Boulevard Magazine

* The Sun

* West Branch Magazine

* AGNI ?

* Colorado Review

* Mslexia

* Please See Me (health-related magazine)

* The Century (check website for themes)

* One Story - Literary fiction

* Gettysburg Review - Literary fiction

* Antioch Review - Literary fiction

* Escape Pod - alternate history, science and tech.

* Central Coast Journal - lighthearted, nostalgic, humour

* Writer's Weekly - 

* Freelance Mom

* The Barefoot Writer

* Alphabet Box - International literary magazine

* Sepia Quarterly - nostalgia, melancholy and sentimentality

* Family Fun

* Vibrant Life

* Healthy Living

* The Smart Set - art and culture

https://www.nichepursuits.com/magazines-that-accept-freelance-submissions/

"Read to, for, with each other. Read alone. Read together. Read for enjoyment, work and social. Read wisely."

I am over the moon to have reached 500 followers on my IG account for Books @francisgilbert_bookclub . Thank you if you are following me there as well as using this site. I really appreciate it!

This month has included some steps forwards with regards to my overall writing productivity. Since starting some freelance work with The Independent Schools Podcast and Juliet Corbett Consulting, I've made use of Trello, which has helped put tasks and processes into order. I have set up my own Trello board with channels through which I'm tracking my planning, writing, editing, submitting, reading and reviewing. I'm also due to start playing around with another version very similar to Trello, called ClickUp next month. What platforms do you use to hold you accountable and keep you tracking what needs to be done and achievements you've completed?

Speaking of accountability...! I am also excited to have made connections with three other writers, met through The Deep Dive Workshop Series #DeepDivews coordinated and managed by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and Cece Lyra ( @the_shit_about_writing ). This has been a fabulous experience and really worthwhile for me and my development. Each Tuesday, I've listened to great presentations about the writing craft and the publishing industry as well as a practical workshop and Q&A session at the end. Four of us have joined forces to help each other with beta-reading of excerpts of our WIPs (Works in Progress). I'm hoping that we can support each other and help encourage big leaps forwards with our writing goals.

My reading continues as a central focus and I'm finding review-writing and bookclub-chatting to be most useful in picking apart other author's writing and learning from their expertise. I have one novel left from my January BookPile which is a good one 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow' by Gabrielle Zevin. I see she will be touring Europe and the US in coming months, so I must get to this one soon. Plus, it was a Christmas present from one of my children! They like to see me using the gifts they've given me. From my February BookPile, I do still need to finish Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark by Jane Fletcher Geniesse, though I'm working with this biography text to help prepare online BookClub sessions to be offered as part of a Wine, Women and Words Retreat in Italy this coming September. Finally, Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Time Castaways: The Mona Lisa Key by Liesl Shurtliff are also on that pile. 

Our International Festival at my children's Elementary school was a great success and we ran a United Kingdom stall with a plethora of flags, bunting, balloons, Cadburys chocs, Earl Grey tea, scones, jam and cream! 

Much love from,

Chrissy Francis-Gilbert

@francisgilbert_bookclub

francisgilbertbookclub@gmail.com 

Answers:

1. “Love is a great beautifier.” Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

2. “Love seeketh not itself to please, Nor for itself hath any care; But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.”

The Clod And The Pebble by William Blake

3. “He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest.”

Stop All The Clocks by W.H. Auden

4. "Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all."

Beloved by Toni Morrison

5. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

“Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.”

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

6. "Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

7. “Sudden he view'd, in spite of all her Art, / An Earthly Lover lurking at her Heart.”  The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope

8. “It is better to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.”

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

9. “Love doesn't grow at a steady rate, but advances in surges, bolts, wild leaps, and this was one of those.“

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

10. “Love blurs your vision; but after it recedes, you can see more clearly than ever. It's like the tide going out, revealing whatever's been thrown away and sunk: broken bottles, old gloves, rusting pop cans, nibbled fishbodies, bones.

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

11. “The key to staying lost was to never love anything.’ The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Here's to a prosperous and productive 2023. Cheers. There, I've said it and so it will happen, right? 

For me, the period from the end of October through to about now in January tends to diminish into a downward eddy of mayhem and thus counter-productivity, so I'm eager to reach the turning point so I can start scrambling back upwards. 

Resolutions? I heard @Biancamarais on theshit podcast say that she and her husband call them revolutions, which sounds about right. My own ikigai pause includes a bullet point list, hastily concocted on the Notes app on my phone. It's a list of how my daily habits and routines are going to fit together so I can achieve all that I set out to do each day. No more procrastination in January 2023! Are you with me?

I do have a number of authors I am keen to read in the new year: Lily King, Claire Fuller, Paul Harding, Mai Nguyen, Elizabeth Berg, Marilynne Robinson, Gabrielle Zevin, Ann Napolitano, and of course I'll continue with some of my favourites including Elizabeth Strout, Ian McEwan, Emma Donoghue, Elena Ferrante, Dani Shapiro, Karen Joy Fowler and oh, the list is so long! 

How are you coordinating your reads for this year? Do you use Goodreads? Are you taking inspiration from me and curating your own TBR Bookpile each month/couple of months. Perhaps you have a number of newly received gifts, which I think is a great place to start. Please do follow along and see if any I am reading or have read are of interest to you @francisgilbert_bookclub or send me an email to join my 2023 monthly Checkpoint Bookclub (It's a project in progress, so stay with me and I'll keep you informed).

My Instagram account, which I set up as a business account in October has now reached a 401 following of which I am very proud. Since I'm still gauging the market and working out in what followers are interested and from what they might benefit, I feel my reach of audience is a good one. I am happy to say I have friends and family, small craft businesses, libraries small and large, second-hand bookstores, book coaches, editors and proofreaders, fellow book reviewers, teachers, parents, authors and writers and more. It's exciting.

Finally, it's worth mentioning how my writing is coming along. Having completed almost a full first draft of my novel WIP during the November NanoWriMo, I have taken a month's break and hope to return to finish that draft by the end of February. In the meantime, over the holiday period, whilst the children have been at home and we've had visitors, I've been focusing on short stories. I managed to plan, draft, edit and submit a submission to The Writers Playground Challenge @writers_pg. This is a paid entry and a competition and I LOVE it! This is my second round and the way it works is that on a particular planned date, they offer some prompts for character, setting, central object and set their entrants off on a 10-day challenge to create a short story based on the chosen prompts. It's been a great experience for me both times. I'm now awaiting feedback and results which come out in February. I've also written and submitted a few more stories and am enthusiastic to see how this process of writing stories helps me in my bigger drafting.

Non-fiction is still pulling at me, meaning I am tentatively writing out an outline for a non-fiction text, which I hope to share or may consider querying. More to follow with this project. Are you like me and find the more projects you have, the more productive you tend to be? Actually, let me take that back! I need to rethink that one? 

If you're a parent and your children are back in school-mode, have you enjoyed working on their Reading Journey skills? Have they read more or less since school has re-started?

Thank you for your interest and contact. I look forward to being more consistent with my blog entries in 2023! Now that I'm a little more settled in my new location (Katy, TX) having moved from Dubai, U.A.E. last year, my roots are helping me to stabilise a little more.

Much love from,

Chrissy Francis-Gilbert

@francisgilbert_bookclub

francisgilbertbookclub@gmail.com   

October is a busy month! Phew... Blog on its way soon with a nod to Halloween.

Intertextuality. What is that, you may ask? Intertextuality defines those moments when you're reading a new book and suddenly remember why the story seems familiar. Those connections you make between characters in various novels you have read. When the description of a location feels familiar but you've never been there. 

We are constantly told of how important it is to read from a young age and that if we read our children a picture book each evening, by the time they are five they will have read 1825 books. Well, think about how many books you, the adult reader has read in your lifetime: picture books, comics, cartoons, chapter books, fictional novels of all genres, not to mention the episodes and screen texts you have consumed.  Whenever you notice any sort of connection or overlap between those texts is when this wondrous intertextuality I'm talking about takes place. It's illuminating. Illustrious. Ignitable.

Enjoying the new authentic tastes of non-alcoholic drinks.

I appreciate that there are alternative thoughts and bigger problems surrounding alcohol and all it represents, but listen into my views! 

Drinking alcohol is for the most part all about the enjoyment it gives to social occasions and how it adds sparkle to a meal or an event. For many, it builds confidence and provides a barrier between our reality and the identity we like to show others. A wandering thought is whether something else could shift our mind and feelings into that euphoria we seek when "having a drink"? Wonder why that issue of seeking or needing confidence through alcohol, and no other alternative non-alcoholic means being good enough, doesn't receive more attention in our social media feeds? 

I found it interesting that only 3 people liked my photo post on the 1st July showing this beautiful bottle of non-alcoholic rhubarb and ginger. Do people really dislike rhubarb and ginger flavours that much not to appreciate my post or was it because it wasn't a glamorous, debatably more exciting alcoholic beverage?! 41 people liked my wine post a few days later...just saying!

Currently staying in Alvechurch with my sister and enjoying our outdoor glass of wine after she gets home from work, which I have to admit probably can't be replaced. Wine is a difficult and acquired taste to replicate, so probably best left alone. 

However, a cocktail, good old gin and tonic or similar, which is all about the bitter, fruity or mixer tastes could be interchanged fairly easily with these new products on the market, couldn't they? Perhaps once in a while?! 

Similarly, I'm very impressed by the non-alcoholic beers my husband has been finding, which are also low in calories and taste pretty similar to the light beers I would previously have chosen to drink.

Therefore, I will be continuing to enjoy my glasses of wine; dry white wine being a better option to avoid messing with my blood sugars. I propose trying a mixed timetable of non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks with mixers plus non-alcoholic beers every now and again. 

Hypocritically, I have been the most hungover I've been in the last twenty years (It was a great reunion and worth it), so my counterfeit tipple of choice for the last few days has been a tasty sparkling water in a wine glass! Perfect.

This morning, my children and I skipped along to school for 7:45am to attend a Library Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast. It felt ironic to be on the receiving end of so much thanks and gratitude from the wonderful librarians and staff at my children's elementary school since I LOVE our weekly support shifts in the library and we owe them thanks! Speaking to the other parents who volunteer, they said the same.

I have done a Tuesday and sometimes Thursday morning shift this year and the library is a hive of book-loving activity every week. Some of the tasks I enjoy are: scanning in returned books, reshelving books, organising holds, choosing book examples for display, helping children find their genre or a book of interest, enabling students to learn the routines of the library space, scanning out books, checking the catalogue for titles, setting up for class library visits, helping with preparations for events like book fairs and anything else of help for the inspirational librarians at school.

A school that values spaces like these and puts so much into encouraging reading, writing and enthusiasm for books and literacy knows what it's doing!

I've found the numerous book collections, such as prizewinners or recommended book lists which have been promoted throughout the year to be a great initiative. I expect it is a regular thing in libraries, however the collections in Texas and the States have been of great interest to me this year. For example, the Caldecott Medal Winners, 2x2 Reading List, Texas Bluebonnet Award and many others. I look forward to seeing which books are on the lists next year and sharing them with my children. 

In my past, as a teacher I always made time for library visits and time for liaising and communicating with the expertise of the librarians. I have been lucky in each of the schools where I have worked to have had magnificent, inspirational professionals on hand to augment and support literacy, research and reading in my lessons. If you find this entry, you know who you are: Judith, Isabella, Sandra, Catherine, Jessica, Cristina! I have the fondest memories of working with you all.

As a parent, the library space in school is such a welcome one. I continue to find joy in the exclamations you hear from our youngest children when they realise that you can take the book away and borrow it for free and then swap it for a new unread book the next time. How amazing is that? It's simply the best idea and using a library is worthwhile for all of us, at every stage of our reading lives. 

As mentioned in a previous post, I had a gap from visiting public libraries whilst we were living in the U.A.E., so being able to register at our local library in Katy, TX has also been a positive experience for me. You may have seen my book piles and reviews, to which I am slowly but surely adding some fantastic titles. Take a look if you're looking for your next read and welcome recommendations.

Our eldest son moves onto Junior High next year. He's come on leaps and bounds in his reading over the years and in particular this year, he has found some authors who appeal to his interests, which has pleased me. I hope that he will continue to enjoy popping to the library for exchanging his reading material and I look forward to seeing him develop further with his research skills and use of more textual references to back up his writing. 

I'm signing off now. 

I may sneak in some reading of a few chapters of my current book. 

Do come back soon!

There are enough of us to make a good party and since our Christmas plans to return to see family in the UK were scuppered by COVID, yet again, we found the energy to grin and celebrate our first US Christmas and New Year 2022 with great fun and festivities. 

We ate, we exchanged gifts, we shared calls with family and we danced!

Houston, USA, November 4th 2021

I'm pretty proud to admit that I ran my first half marathon last weekend and I loved it! It's interesting to ponder whether our recent move and shift in perspectives has been the catalyst to motivate me towards attempting this? Of course, there is always a re-evaluation of life that occurs alongside any sort of journey; holidays, relocation, moving house, changing jobs. I truly believe that I've hit a positive upturn in my disjointed, busy little life though.

Since moving from Dubai to Texas in July, we've become much closer as a family and we're all becoming much more of a jigsaw puzzle that fits, rather than one with broken, torn or screwed pieces.

Having joined a local running group, finding that the regular longer runs were quite enjoyable, as well as being inspired by a university best friend who ran the Great North Run AND the Yorkshire Marathon, I found myself motivated to sign up for this Houston Half Marathon 2021! Not only did it allow me to run a beautiful route through downtown with the sun on my face on the way back to the Finish Line, but in training I have also been able to chat slowly with new running colleagues, listen to stories, hear and give advice, learn how to pace myself and most importantly to breathe!

From a parent's perspective, showing your children that you can jump into your new lifestyle and location and grasp hold of all the new opportunities available to you has to be a positive. My own children have joined Cub Scouts, Triathlon team, Jazz Dance class, Chess club, Library Book Club, Healthy Kids Mile Running, soccer and I've probably forgotten others. The chance to join a team or community of any kind is really so important when you hit the ground running (excuse the pun!) after a relocation.

I've been lucky enough to have some free time (away from work since I need to wait for employment authorisation), so I've also found great comfort in establishing weekly volunteering routines myself, helping out in the school library, supervising the lunchroom and helping with the Eureka Science experiments programme. I know that the children have liked seeing me every now and again. In previous schools, I've always worked in the same building, but not often seen them ensconced in their own learning, which has been a frustration.

From a teacher's perspective, when I've found time to chat with my own students and learn of all the wonderful extra-curricular activities they are involved in and the achievements they have had in their short lifetimes, I have been warmed and over-awed by their accolades and enthusiasm for life! Those students who then went on to mention how proud they were of their parents' choices, family achievements and siblings' accomplishments have been the ones who I've looked at with proud teacher eyes. Amazing.

To finish for today, whichever stage you're at in considering or accepting an inevitable move, relocating, settling into a new location or simply feeling glad that you don't have to go anywhere at all, go slow, enjoy what you see around you and flourish.

Our first American Thanksgiving and we took the opportunity to visit San Antonio, TX. Very different from Houston, with its sprawling metropolis, and the 4th largest city in the USA, San Antonio is in fact the 7th largest city in the USA. It doesn't seem it though since its lively and friendly, cosy and central waterways offer visitors from afar, like us a certain familiarity, which we found so warming.

San Antonio's wonderful cosmopolitan atmosphere, its canals, cafes and vibrant welcome for tourists, not to mention its fascinating history makes it a place we will enjoy visiting many times, I'm sure. 

There's something about the colours of the sky that always offers me a pivot on which to place my thoughts and emotions. 

It's strange how a sunny day seems to have the connotations of happiness and a "good day", isn't it? That's not to say that everybody loves the heat and intensity of the sun in many parts of the world. Sometimes, it's just too hot for comfort! Take, for instance places like West Asia, where during the months of July and August in particular, the outside heat is intensely volcano-like. It can become so hot that you simply can't touch the exterior of buildings like metal doors for risk of burning yourself. My sons have found the numerous YouTube videos of eggs being fried on the pavements in Dubai hilarious. In Europe, the hotter summer seasonal months make living conditions a lot brighter and more holiday-like, though at the same time those conditions often make habitations (built to withstand cooler weather) uncomfortable for many. Yet, that blue of a clear sky is still yearned for, isn't it! 

We consider ourselves lucky for being able to replace the blue of the Arabian desert sky in Dubai, U.A.E., West Asia with the awesome colourful range of skies in Katy, Texas, North America. We're not going to be missing out on any blue. We did move in the months of summer though; as in the hottest months of the year on both sides of the move!

Another reason I decided to write about the sky today is because of its ability to basically give you a big hug and make everything in the world seem possible. Believe me. Go on, head outside right now and just stand looking up at the sky. It doesn't matter if it's the bluest of blue, a dun cloudy grey, mottled blue and white, even the black of night, I promise just a few minutes of absorbing that expanse of beautiful sky will energise you and give you that emotional support or boost you needed. 

When you travel or live overseas and away from your home base of family and friends, it really can be tough working out where your base is. Many of course say that wherever your own little family (I mean your closest family members like children and partners) lives is where your home is. It's taken me a few moves to accept that, especially in relation to living in rental or temporary accommodation. Is it worth putting up pictures, adding household features of your choice and making the space your own style? Yes. Yes, it truly is. My point here though is that your house, apartment, habitation space is good to customise so as to warm your heart in times of need, the family you live with surround you and offer you a "home" from home, but actually most people need even a little more than that. 

That's where the sky comes in! The same way my son and daughter love that the moon moves with you, the sky is very much the constant, whichever weather-worn clothes it may be wearing.

Therefore, let's encourage appreciation of the sky and its myriad tones and depths of cloud. If you're moving from one part of the world to the other, why not take a few pictures of that sky, rather than the buildings and favourite playgrounds (though perhaps you may wish to do that too?) that you'll be leaving behind. Then if you're flying somewhere new, you'll have a whole flight to admire and talk about the expanse of blue surrounding you before arriving in your new location, where that sky is waiting to welcome you. Let that sky help you acclimatise. Compare and contrast and enjoy!

Christina Francis-Gilbert

#skies #relocating #skyscenes #helpingchildrenmove

Days after arriving, we headed to Austin, TX.

I love this city! Its vibe, mix of nature and city, its people, colours, architecture and charisma and history helped us begin our residency and travels in America with excitement. 

Leaving Dubai was difficult. After three years, we felt we weren't ready to leave. But my husband works for a company where these things happen. You get a call and several months later you're rebuilding your life on the other side of the world. This was made especially hard this time due to the fact we hadn't seen our families in two years due to COVID. It's funny how you somehow become numb to these emotions. 

Getting to the airport that day was a drama. We had so many bags that we needed three taxis to take us, and once we arrived at Dubai International, it was chaos. Lots of expats heading home for the summer. The drop-off was full of taxis, all looking the same. Where were our bags? Where were two of our children?! 

Looking back now, I don't really know how we got through this period. Dubai experienced a tough lockdown. We were stuck home, applying for police permits twice a week to leave for shopping or essentials only. For three months!  

There is so much more I could write about our experiences during this period, however we were lucky and perhaps my stories will be usefully shared elsewhere!

Look at that view from the top of the Burj Khalifa. We were definitely spoilt with our experiences there.

I am currently able to observe the immense benefits a younger child can gain from coming into close contact with older siblings and "mentors". I have two older boys who are aged 9 and 7 and who would usually be attending the same school together; they have an incredibly strong bond and are in constant competition with each other. Our two younger children, born within 9 minutes of each other, are now spending every day in close proximity to their older brothers and they are learning and imitating so much. Of course, I have to admit that a lot of what they are imitating is not necessarily what I had hoped for at their age, prior to starting their own schooling in September since there is a lot of Minecraft, TV, Star Wars and iPad use, which is heavily affecting their choice of words and conversations. However, the vocabulary and communication skills my children are developing as a result of interacting with their older and younger siblings is impressive to me as a mother and also as a teacher.

From a mother's perspective, it is beautiful to see siblings sharing and playing together, as well as conversing with their own little dialects! I do wonder which of my sons or daughter is benefiting the most from the extended exposure to each other. I expect it is my younger children, yet the chance to have admiration from your younger siblings throughout the day must be good for my eldest's ego!

From a teacher's perspective, I strongly believe that what we see at home with younger-aged learning from older-aged children can, should and eventually must be replicated within school settings. The chance to vertically collaborate would be highly beneficial to students, for example in primary who could develop role models in their older peers. Older students, both in upper primary and lower secondary would be able to practice and develop excellent skills through "teaching" to their younger peers. I am interested to explore this further. Watch this space!

Christina Francis-Gilbert

#siblings #lockdownlearning