Perth Words… exploring possibilities.

My daughter and I ate pancakes and drank tea at The Blue Duck on iconic Cottesloe Beach today – she needed a special treat.  Although the breeze was strong, we enjoyed listening to the very small waves kissing the beach.

It’s the same beach where Heather Locklear married the good-looking one from Kiss, quite a few years ago now.

Also more recently stars from all over the world formed a circle in the surf at sunset, to say goodbye to WA actor Heath Ledger, following his wake at the famous Indiana Tea House.

The Blue Duck

Three container ships

queue on Fremantle’s

horizon; Gage roads.

Two lifeguards in

red and yellow patrol

Cottesloe beach.

One blue writer

drinks inspiration from

white cup and rolling surf.

Frances Macaulay Forde © 2005

@FrancesMForde  #FrancesMacForde  #TheBlueDuck  #CottesloeBeachWA  #IndianaTeaHouse  #HeathLedger  #HeatherLocklear   (Weird they have the same initials…)

Being introduced at the Avon Valley Writers Festival, 2012.

Talk about booking well in advance: the West Australian branch of the Society of Women Writersasked me at the beginning of the year, to run a workshop ‘Writing for the Screen’in October.

I’m told they expect around 60 people to attend the General Meeting and stay for my presentation – so I’m looking forward to the challenge.  🙂

Well used to presenting to an audience either in person, on a stage or on screen, I’m not really worried about showing a short film made from my script then talking about my experience.

Some of the audience for my Avon Valley Writers Festival workshop having a go at a one pager, 2012.

The intention is to also get them to have a go at a one pager, then pick a couple to read out and critique. A similar workshop during the inaugural Avon…

One of the best things that ever happened in Ireland was the introduction of the plastic bag ‘tax’ a few years ago.  I’m writing about this now as a similar tax has come into operation in England this week.

Here in Ireland, we’ve pretty much got rid of the blight of plastic bags being blown all over the countryside and finding themselves knotted around branches, stuck in stone walls, floating down rivers and being washed up all along our lovely coastline.

Plastic bags have a value now and having a value is something that is hugely important in all walks of life.

Lost and Lovely

I’m not sure why but I can’t seem to see old boots that are washed up on the beach as eyesores like those flapping white plastic bags. Old boots have a style all of their own. They also pose questions about the feet they once…

Rosa ‘Remember Me.’

Some of the most precious memories I have relate to first meetings with people who have been incredibly significant in my life. It always seems like an added bonus to have vivid recall of the very first moment of meeting the eyes of such a person, seeing their smile or feeling their touch.

How can we ever know that a person will go on to play a key role in our lives? I don’t have any scientific answers for this but I’ve certainly had some first meetings that have pierced my soul and have seemed determined to carve themselves on my memory.

Because of my fascination with first moments, I’ve long loved this poem:

I Wish I Could Remember that First Day

Christina Rossetti