Before I change my Mind

I stumbled across this film purely by accident and was instantlyu knocked out by it. Before I Change My Mind is a Canadian coming-of-age film. Set in the 1980s, the film stars Vaughan Murrae as Robin, a non-binary teenager who moves with their family to small town ALberta, where they navigate the challenges of fitting into a new environment. They befrend Carter (Dominic Lippa), the school bully. The depiction of the relartionship between these two is a revelation, Carter turns from bully to friend (a bit spiky at times) and they get up to typical teen mischief together. Are they or are they not an 'item' is not clear, although I would like to think they are by the end of the film. Do watch this if you can, I found it an uplifting experience of how otherness can be more than doom and gloom.

Close (2022

I watched this on BBC4 last night and loved it but as always, I was left wondering, what if events had taken another turn? I will try not to give too much away. Close is about two 13 year old Belgian boys who have a very close friendship, but changing schools threatens this relationship as their new school mates sense their closeness might be more than meets the eye. This bit of the story is handled well (or rather how I would like it to be handled had it happened to me). Three female class mates question them about their friendship and whether in fact they are gay. The truth is out there. These films are always painful if you have been through a similar experience at a tender age. Leo (Eden Dambrine) and Remi (Gustav De Waele) are both perfectly cast. They are both sensitive boys at a crucial period when they change schools, form new friendships and start to grow up (although fortunately the casting means they are absolutely right for the 13 year olds they portray). Close went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival omn release and was nominated for the 2023 Academy Awards. Apart from the story, the depiction of the rural area where they live is startling although (spoiler alert) it was filmed in the Netherlands not Belgium. Give it a try, in the UK it is available on iplayer until August 2024.

Another year

It is a year since I was last hear, retirement has kept me busy with other things. As time goes by I realise that my writing career is over. I have looked on as two friends my age have both written books, very different, one is academic the other is all about 'him' even if he does not realise it himself. Writing is a drug! IAC

Post Lockdown

Like many, the last two or so years has been a bit grim. However. like most I survived and am still here. I thought I might end up returning to the realms of writing during this period but I have not in any form. Meanwhile a friend has written his first fiction book and another is in the final throws of editing his book which is destined to become a standard reference book I suspect. Over the years I have helped both in terms of the basic reasearch work and also in terms of acting as one editor on one. Scarily the fiction author tells me there are potentially five books in the series. He is off now doing research in the place where it is set, always an exciting part of any book writing exercise. Scholarship continues to sell, modestly! Ian

Sigh, another year under full or partial lockdown, I am not the only one, and as you can see, I have not been around much. I have had to delete one 'miracle cure' marketing 'comment' and will continue to do so if I come across them. Fortunately it does not happen too often. Each time I come to the blog, I do have to decide whether to keep the blog or not. Well, since a few people pop in ever so often, it serves its purpose I assume, so here is stays for now. I can be contacted, the information is here and 'Scholarship' will remain available, I hope, for now. Ian

Well here we are under lock down and I realise that I have been somewhat negligent in checking the state of 'Scholarship' through various sources. It is still available is the key message. lulu.com has changed the site but Scholarship is still available there (for a moment I thought not but all they have done is change the site layout). If any problems search under my name as author. The same goes for amazon and otherbook sellers. Lockdown I thought might inspie me if anything would, but actually I seem to be averagely busy with 'other stuff' so I cannnot say there will be a follow up. More and more it looks like Scholarship was a one off, the one book that every person is supposed to have inside them! Well mine has been out for several years now and I am glad to see that many have read it, that was my aim, no more. Ian

Another period of time passes

To my consternation I note that it is about 18 months since I last wrote anything on this blog. Frankly I have been involved in other things such as moving home and settling, finally, into an existence as a 'retired' person. Being retired has not as I thought it would, led me to revisit some old writing projects. I seem to be too busy doing other 'stuff'. One such activity has been to revisit Cornwall last month. Whilst down there I travelled the North Coast route between St Ives and Lands End, which almost passes through Zennor, which is close to the setting for 'The Rocks'. That area is protected fortunately, so nothing can mar the landscape or the setting other than the increasing industrialisation of farming. The weather was not suitable for walking, so I did not walk the North Coast footpath or its inland equivalent (The Coffin Path). Anyway, for now Scholarship remains available and indeed continues to sell, I thank those who have downloaded it, or indeed purchased the paper back version. I intend for it to remain available for as long as the likes of Amazon continue to keep it 'live' Ian