A book review by That Little Outfit!

“I don’t think I have cried as much reading any other book, as I did when reading ‘The Way Home’. From the first chapters, dealing with grief to further on down the line, broaching difficult subjects such as postnatal depression, Wane knows how to write from the heart, to the heart. The story is told…

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Why are Audiobooks better than Books?

A pair of headphones on top of an open book with electrical soundwaves around it

A Celebration of audiobooks in audiobook month Introduction As we near the end of audiobook month I thought it might be fun to consider the ways in which the audiobook is better than a book.  I am a lifelong book lover and an audiobook narrator.  I love to listen to audiobooks, also it’s part of…

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My First Audiobook

Remembering my first audiobook in audiobook month. Summer of 1978 When I was five I went into hospital for the summer, a warm August in 1978. I had been born with a hole in my heart that had left me officially failing to thrive. I was small, sickly and struggled to breathe with a fairly…

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We are in this together

Stories unite us and help us recognise our common humanity Mental Health Awareness Last week was Mental Health Awareness week. One of the memes used to promote it says “You are Not Alone.” During that week I suffered a bout of insomnia. I found myself awake at four o’clock in the morning, the summer sunlight…

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Storytellers are Emotional Athletes

Emotional Athletes, Storytellers,

Athletes need a support team. Being a storyteller Al Pacino said that actors become emotional athletes. I would extend his description to all storytellers, whether writers, film makers, musicians, theatre directors or actors. He describes this as a painful process that caused his personal life to suffer. But does that have to be the case?…

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How Meditation Helps Creatives

Meditation Helps Creatives

Noise is everywhere. Noise wakes us from our rest. Noise accompanies us on our journeys to and from work. Noise bombards us on social media. It is everywhere. We take in the opinions of others constantly. There are those close to us who have ideas about what we “should” do. Then there are those further…

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How Mindfulness Boosts Creativity

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”  So said Albert Einstein, one of history’s most creative thinkers who also seemed to really enjoy his explorations and discoveries.  But sometimes when I’m trying to figure out a problem or staring at an empty page wondering what to write I don’t feel like it is a lot of fun.…

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Hope for a Better Tomorrow

A boy reading

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela I grew up surrounded by books. I was reading by the age of three and devoured whatever I could manage. I was not well as a child but as a reader I could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone.…

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World Poetry Day 2019

A stack of books

As a way to commemorate World Poetry Day I have been trying to think of a list of my favourite poems but I’m struggling. It may be tiredness, I’ve been narrating a really long book this week. It may be indecision, I am often to be found staring at shop shelves unable to pick what…

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