lighthouse

Gone Home, Please Leave A Message With The Doorman

/ Jim / Leave a comment

Well these past 2 months have certainly been eventful.

What began as a little 3 week holiday to visit family and friends has become me moving back to my old stomping grounds.  That’s right folks, I have left the good old USA and returned to my little island home of Guernsey.

Why? You ask.  To be honest there is no single reason for it, rather it was a decision made after considering a lot of factors.  Not least of which was the health of family members. 
I have to admit that it is a little odd being back in my childhood room as so many years.  But then at the same time I have found that this move has invigorated my passion for writing.  This is, after all, where it all began those many years ago.  I can still remember being sixteen and making my first tentative steps into this tumultuous world we call writing.  Sitting for hours at my old electric typewriter during the school holidays as I labored over The Lighthouse.
Regular viewers will have heard me mention this story before.  And you may also remember how the original manuscript had been found recently.  Well I’ve had a chance to look over it and although my style has certainly changed and improved over the years, there is still a lot of potential in the basic concepts.  So I’m happy to announce for all those who were there in the beginning, that the story is going to be re-written.  Hopefully it will be even more spine chilling.
By the way, this is the particular lighthouse that gave me the original idea.

That’s the Hanois lighthouse off the south coast of Guernsey.

So here’s to the next chapter in the grand novel we call life.  Turn the page and expect the unexpected.

A Blast From The Past

/ Jim / 2 Comments

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

Why am I seemingly jumping for joy?

Well, dear reader, it all started with a recent phone call from the family back in Guernsey.  Things were going as normal; Discuss the weather (we are British after all), speak about how fast my niece is growing, you know, the regular stuff that long distance families discuss.  This call was to be different however.  They had found the manuscript to ‘The Lighthouse’

You may have heard me mention ‘The Lighthouse’ in previous posts and on the Facebook page.  This was the story that started it all, my first foray into the world of writing.  It feels like just yesterday that a young, naive 17 year old JB was sitting outside the Coppercraft, cup of tea in one hand sticky bun in the other, staring out across the ocean at the Hanois lighthouse off Guernsey’s west coast.  I had no idea that at any moment a fleeting idea would enter my head that would change my life and start me on my journey as a writer.  Looking out at that lone tower in the ocean, I felt my first real flash of inspiration.  That magical “AHA” moment that I know we all secretly crave.

So why is the discovery of the manuscript so important?

Aside from the warm fuzzies it gives me, this is the only copy of the story in existence.  I wrote it old school(ish) using an electronic typewriter.  It was a few years before I had my first PC and had been lost long before I ever heard the term OCR.

It’s also going to be a good reminder of how far things have come since those early, care free days.  The general concept was good but I know that what is written is not going to be any kind of masterpiece.  Who knows, one day I might get around to a re-write.  Until then I’m going to enjoy this little trip down memory lane.

Now where is that mail lady with the package……