Puff Pant the Columbia Community Association is powering towards the light which is flickering ever brighter at the end of the tunnel

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Great news came early last week: hip hip hooray –  the dancers from Aimee Green’s dance group had a fantastically successful day in Glasgow: winner, runner-up and 3 finalists. Marion told Frost Magazine that they are the CCA’s pride and joy.


Multiply were well into the menus during the week, creating wonderful aromas with  sweet potato and coconut curry. Several must have had a  scrumptious, nutritional meal that evening.

                               
Above you can see the results of the Cultural Creations group, who made Japanese knot bags, Frost Magazine thinks these are snazzy, and Marion is totally in awe.

Marion, Margaret adds, is looking pretty snazzy herself, with her newly ‘done’ nails, which practically match her keyboard, not to mention Bob’s Red Shoes. What a twosome. Whatever will they get up to next? Between us, I have to tell you that Marion reminded me, extremely sternly, that: ‘These nails do not do dishes.‘ No point in telling us, Marion. Direct your instructions to Bob.

It seems to have been a manic week with one thing and another for Marion, what with COVID Spring jabs, Dudley at the groomers, meetings, bookings, making hampers.  Not to mention submitting the order for the Friday coffee morning: pies, quiches, sausage rolls, cakes, scones with cream and plenty of nibbles. Marion explained ‘We all look forward to our Friday laugh -a- long.’ Having been to a couple, I can quite understand.

Richard

Richard, the CCA’s alluring surveyor, along with Simon, the Council’s Building Officer called in to have a look at the refurb progress. Simon collated a list of items still to be addressed and sent it to the appropriate personnel to deal with. The light at the end of the tunnel is flickering, and the team’s morale is high.  They now have dates for various contractors to do specific jobs but they know things can change so the team is philosophical and take it as it comes. ‘We have plenty to keep us busy no matter what happens elsewhere,‘ is the rallying cry. ‘Positivity is the name of the game and that’s what keeps us going. The Brady bunch are made of stern stuff,’ says Marion. Frost Magazine says, ‘Thank heavens for the community spirit which roars within the team, and the community. Bravo everyone.’ 

Andy popped in to collect the toiletries so kindly donated for the Seafarers, and the Forever Young ladies were in for Bingo and delicious homemade cake. A favourite time for Marion, and guess who else gets spoilt rotten, yep, it’s him with the red shoes, a special slice always seems to come his way.

The Food Hamper was won by one of the CCA’s lovely ladies, Evelyn, a worthy winner, who has promised to bring the basket back to be replenished.

So, that’s the week put to to bed, but in case we relax (!) still more happening over the weekend: the Councillors’ monthly meeting, dancing, Wargamers and last but not least the fabulous Redeemed Christian Church of Christ.

Before this catch up ends, Marion wanted to remind everyone to wish Danni good luck in the finals this week end at the “National Childrens Activities Awards” for most loved Activities Leader in the North. ‘No matter what the outcome, Danni will always be our winner.’ says Marion, a thought supported by everyone, including Frost Magazine.

Information: Columbia Community Association  Columbia uk Community Forum

Memories of Brady Square

MY BACK PAGES An Undeniably Personal History of Publishing: 1972-2022 by Richard Charkin with Tom Campbell – does it work?

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Imagine, if you will, sitting in a pub with a couple of blokes, a bottle of wine or two being shared between you, time is not an issue and out tumble the fragments of memory. You know the sort: ‘Hell’s bells, do you remember the time…?’ ‘Well, what about that bloke, what’s his name, the one who …?’ ‘Oh, come on, monster he might have been, but he changed things…’ ‘Yes, but  was it for the better…?’

On you all go, laughing, listening, butting in. Pub talk, friends at play, names dropped, an Insiders’ Club.

Well, this Insiders’ Club is called  MY BACK PAGES and it is into the last fifty years of publishing that we  enter, and become fascinated as we follow Charkin’s career path and sharp eye on things as they were.  By heavens, he was over everything like a rash navigating the publishing world as it changed profoundly from a Gentleman’s Club into a corporate entity, with a pretty tough bottom line and on, into the digital age.

We meet Maxwell, indeed we do. Oh, and what about Madona, perhaps the first example of the hugely successful Celebrity publishing? What about the bad behaviour in the roaring 80s…? Oh yes, as a new writer I came in towards the end of that, but Lord above it was fun for a mother of four, totally out of my depth and smelling faintly of fish fingers.  Hey, what about Harry Potter? Yep, you’ll find it in the Insiders’ Club of MY BACK PAGES. Then there’s Macmillan India: an Imperial Legacy. Then there’s … Enough, I’m just scratching the surface, you need to read it.

So, back to the original question: does it work? Undoubtedly. I loved it and clearly so does the Frost Magazine team, as it has disappeared. I had thought its subject matter might be a bit stuffy and initially approached it from the right flank without making eye contact. How absurd when it’s Charkin’s personal eye view of the social, technological, commercial and geographical developments of the publishing industry. The man’s a force of nature, a character,  someone who has made a significant contribution to the profession over the last fifty years, and knows his onions.

So grab a coffee, or a glass of wine, sit down and join the Insiders’ Club whether you be a reader, librarian, publishers, literary agent… Well you get the picture, just get in there,  and enjoy – hugely.

MY BACK PAGES by Richard Charkin with Tom Campbell. Published by Marble Hill London. Available here

 

PUBLICATION DAY SPECIAL: THE SECRET SHORE BY LIZ FENWICK

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I’ll say up front that for me, this is Liz Fenwick’s best book yet. It is just so very rich in everything; the sense of the era, the superbly described settings, the characters that refuse to leave your side.

The Secret Shore is also Liz’s first fully historical novel and her research is impeccable. Not only that, it is used so sparingly in both tiny period details and sweeping events, it whisks you back the Second World War in an entirely credible and unsentimental fashion that never gets in the way of the story.

The entire narrative is carried by the main character, Merry, an Oxford geography lecturer recruited to help the war effort. Merry is an expert in maps and they stretch into every corner of her world; her vital work, her hobbies, and even her personal life. If there is something she cannot map she is deeply uncomfortable. Liz uses the metaphor well and it never seems overdone.

War, however, throws up the unforeseen; the unmappable, the unfathomable, the tragic, the moments of laughter and intense joy. But it is also a time of transit, impermanence, the last time of all that career-minded Merry would want to listen to her heart.

Set mainly around Liz’s beloved Helford River, this book is a treat not to be missed.

When Liz told me in passing she had read forty books in the name of research, I had to ask more about how she set about that gargantuan task:

If I had known beforehand that it would require me to read forty books and multiple academic papers in order to write The Secret Shore, would I have done it? Yes. This story was one I had to write because I love the Helford River so much. The story of the secret flotillas in WW2 is part of the history of the river and I have wanted to write about them for ages. But I struggled to find a way until the character of Meredith Tremayne, a cartographer, came to me.

The starting point for my research was the book The Secret Flotillas by Brooks Richards. In the course of writing The Secret Shore, I reread his book three times just to keep straight the different operations running the routes from Devon and Cornwall to Brittany. After learning of the teams’ immense bravery, I made the decision to use the names of the real people in my novel and this led to more books to research… from general history, to biography, to memoirs, and finally to obscure titles to find the small details. Some I had also read previously while researching for The Returning Tide, such as the personal memoir of the woman who managed the Ferryboat Inn during the war.

In all this fascinating background work the key thing for me was to digest the information and then to step away. It’s far too easy to want to squeeze in all the riveting facts, but that would have dragged the story down. By the end of my research, I may have done the equivalent of a Geography A level, but more akin to the study of geography as taught in the 1930s.

For The Secret Shore I stuck to my tried and tested method of doing my research in chunks. To begin with, only enough to write the first draft, then as the story develops I commence the deep dive for the right information. I can if I’m not careful become easily led astray down the many rabbit holes of research. Through the ensuing drafts I keep seeing the need for further information and will keep reading more to add subtle layers, without overloading it, hopefully bringing the story alive for my readers.

Now the big question is where to put all the books?

 

 

 

EVA GLYN’S HIDDEN CROATIA: THE MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS

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“A museum about you, about us, about the ways we love and lose”

We stumbled upon it one warm September afternoon in Zagreb’s Upper Town, a sign so intriguing we crossed the road to take a closer look. A museum? For broken relationships? One where the artefacts are contributed not by historians or professional artists, by those involved; the heartbroken, the newly released, the despairing and the ever hopeful.

Zagreb may be the museum’s permanent home but it also has a virtual presence and outreach exhibitions. And anyone can contribute, either by sending their item to the museum or one of the exhibitions, or by filing their story online. Indeed you can upload a story that no-one else will see; it can remain your personal testimony until you are ready to share it, or timelocked until a date of your choosing.

The idea behind donating is this: “Recently ended a relationship? Wish to unburden the emotional load by erasing everything that reminds you of that painful experience? Don’t – one day you may regret it. Instead, send your item to our museum and take part in the creation of a collective emotional history!”

Photo credit: Museum of Broken Relationships/Sanja Bistiric

And which of us has not been there? The decision to part with (or not part with) a possession so intrinsically wrapped into a relationship that is broken beyond repair is one of the toughest. We have lost the person (for better or for worse). Would it be cathartic or even more heart wrenching to lose that birthday card, that pair of boots, that book, that kitten… Please don’t sent the museum the kitten – a photograph will do very nicely.

So what sort of things does the museum receive? The answer is anything and everything and the collection is growing so fast that only around a tenth of it is ever displayed. But it is all carefully curated and kept, seeing the light of day for themed exhibitions and when new space becomes free. Online contributions, in the form of pictures and stories, are published to the museum’s website within a few days.

The Museum of Broken Relationships began in 2006 as creative art project conceived by Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić. Even now the fundamental idea behind it is to pull creativity, rather than destruction, from grief by giving something to the museum. The idea is a sound one. I remember many years ago hearing a rabbi on the radio say that if you make a mistake, rather than fret about it you should wrap it up in a beautiful parcel and make a gift of it to your god. Unlikely as it sounds, it worked for me.

Photo credit: Museum of Broken Relationships/Sanja Bistricic

If you visit the museum or one of its exhibitions you could be confronted by anything so do so with an open mind. Everything is displayed anonymously, with the dates and place the break up happened. A drawing, a doll, a dildo… a piece of belly button lint. Everything has a place here and a story. But one of my absolute favourites is a toaster. The toaster of vindication it’s called, the label pithy and brief: “That’ll show you. How are you going to toast anything now?”

To visit, contribute, browse, or support the museum by buying something quirky or hilarious from its shop, check out its website at https://brokenships.com/

The Scent Of Summer – Perfume Direct, Inspire Us Please – by Dr Kathleen Thompson

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With Mr Sun making guest appearances between the rain clouds, perhaps summer is lurking in the wings at last? And as we dream of floaty summer frocks and strappy sandals, is it time to think about a fresh new fragrance too?

Of course it is, but what to choose? Did you know you should wear different scents in the warmer weather? Indeed – so thank goodness for Perfume Direct and their expert advice.

Perfume Direct are a UK company with genuine low prices for premium products and, importantly for an on-line perfume company, they provide oodles of useful advice on their website to help you choose. So what does their expert, John Webber tell us about summer fragrances?

Well, summer scents tend to be fruity, lighter and ‘less volatile’, meaning they last longer. A perfume contains aromatic molecules which work with heat, giving off a fragrance as they evaporate, and perfumers measure the volatility of these molecules to control the nature and evolution of the scent. In warm weather, perfumes evaporate quicker. So, citrus and crisp green scents are perfect, as are florals. White flowers in particular – jasmine, tuberose, frangipani ‘bloom’ in hot weather. In contrast, winter perfumes tend to be heavier and can be overwhelming if they evaporate too quickly in the summer warmth.

With this in mind, Perfume Direct have suggestions for various summer activities, for instance a wedding, where your perfume should not be overwhelming, and yet must last all day. And for this they’ve chosen the iconic Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb (also available in a mini 20ml bottle for top-ups); Tiffany & Love Eau de Parfum for Her with floral neroli and a woody blend of blue sequoia, vetiver and cedarwood, creating a faceted and feminine scent, and finally Lancome Idole Intense, with notes of bitter orange, rose, jasmine and musk.

My personal choice is  My Way Intense by Giorgio Armani from their Race Days group. Lovely floral fragances merging with sandalwood and vanilla – perfect for summer. Perfume Direct describe My Way Intense as a floral, amber fragrance type, with top notes (initial fragrance) of orange blossom and bitter orange, followed by Indian tuberose and finally the later, longer lasting notes of Madagascar vanilla and sandalwood. It really is summer in a bottle, with the seductive scent of tuberose and the lingering sandalwood providing true depth for those summer evenings. I just love it. The Eau de Parfum is on special offer at the moment from Perfume Direct at £59.99 for 30 ml and is refillable, so you can unscrew and refill the bottle without wasting any of the precious contents, making it a particularly good investment.

And don’t forget their aftershaves range too – check out the Frost Magazine feature on Perfume Direct’s great range of aftershaves.

So leave those heavy scents for the cold dark nights – now’s the time to head to Perfume Direct, to celebrate summer. Treat yourself.

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

ANGELA PETCH ON THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY OF RESEARCH

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I felt a weight of responsibility to get my research right for The Girl who Escaped. A main male protagonist is based on my Italian grandfather-in-law and I wanted to respect Luigi’s courage, as well as accurately represent the plight of Jews in Italy.

The first book I consulted was: It happened in Italy, written by an Italo-American lady. Elizabeth Bettina wrote of an internment camp for Jews near her grandparents’ village of Campagna. They’d been treated with kindness and respect. This was a revelation. I had only come across stories of gruesome concentration camps. Did camps like Campagna exist in Tuscany?

I found a camp called Villa Oliveto where archives for internment camps were stored. Brilliant! The hunt was on! I found accounts and photos of this place in the 1940s.

We travelled to the picturesque location set in olive groves near Civitella in Val di Chiana, but the villa, a former orphanage, was closed and archives no longer stored there.

All was not lost, however. I wandered around the building, taking photographs and notes. Then, I came across a puzzling, fading plaque, which told me the villa had once housed British Jews. Extremely puzzled, I asked a local woman who was walking past. But she had no idea. I speak fluent Italian and this helps when researching.

I enjoy a research puzzle and when I discovered the explanation later, it inspired a new character. Bear with me…

A young woman called Shira is a Cyreneican Jew from eastern Libya. (A former Italian colony). After Italy joined the Germans in 1940, many Libyan Jews were sent to concentration camps where they were treated abominably.  Jews lost trust in the Italian government, and began to support the British. The British had first conquered Cyrenaica in December 1940 and abolished Mussolini’s racial laws. Many Jewish men joined the British army and were granted British citizenship. Here was the link I needed.

On April 3rd 1941, Italian and German forces pushed British forces from Benghazi. Jews were arrested by the Italians, especially those who had allied themselves with the enemy, and were sent to the notorious Giado camp. Some Libyan Jews, however, were sent back to Italian camps. I’ve never found the exact reason, but have allowed myself artistic license through detective work. In a brilliant Italian book covering the persecution of Jews in Italy I found possible explanations of why Shira and other Libyan Jews might have landed in Italy, instead of elsewhere.

The Italian government knew about extermination of Jews already by the second half of 1942 – when they’d heard of massacres of Jews in Russia, from word sent home by Italian officers operating on the Eastern front. And foreign Jews who had arrived in Italy, including Hersz Kawa from Siedlce, Poland, had also talked of atrocious treatment too. He and two others had managed to escape in an empty wagon of a train bound for Italy. They spoke to Italian guards who made sure they were sent to an Italian camp, rather than German.  Similar events happened in Vichy France, when French Jews escaped to Italy because they felt they would be better treated.

I’m hoping that the same thing might have happened to those British Libyan Jews mentioned on the plaque. Saved by Italian soldiers acting with conscience.

 

The Girl Who Escaped:  https://geni.us/B0BYC1V9NHcover

 

 

 

 

Heart and Hustle by Patricia Bright Giveaway

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Frost is all about aspiration and becoming who we want to be, so we’re delighted to have five copies of Heart and Hustle by Patricia Bright to giveaway. A brilliant book on how to control your own future. Comment below or RT the Tweet of the competition on our Twitter @frostmag, or our editors @balavage. Good luck!

I’m going to show you how to hustle like I do, using your head and heart. All it takes is three steps…

YOUR BRAND: how you can use who you are to smash it online

YOUR BUSINESS: how to run your side hustle like a total boss

YOUR BELIEFS: ditch the thinking that s holding you back

From the early lessons she learned growing up in South London, to the moment she gave up the 9 to 5 to do what she loved, Patricia Bright s story will revolutionise how you think about work, life, and what it means to succeed.

Packed with her trademark attitude, style and sense of fun, Heart & Hustle is an inspirational guide to taking control of your own future.

‘NEVER NEVER’ by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

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The powerhouse couple of Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher was always going to be an event and my, my, what a book this is. The first in a trilogy about a teenager couple who’s memory vanishes. It’s hard to place the genre initially, but the ride is there in the characterisation and whip-smart dialogue. It made me laugh, smile and kept my guessing all of the way.

A good starter to what I reckon is going to be a belter of a trilogy. Loved it.

Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning… they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love… every memory has vanished.

Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be… the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.

Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.

The Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of The Wives for a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery unlike any other.

 

Never Never

By Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

About the author:

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times and international bestselling author of multiple novels and novellas. She lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. She is the founder of The Bookworm Box, a non-profit book subscription service and bookstore in Sulphur Springs, Texas.

 

Tarryn Fisher is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of nine novels. Born a sun hater, she currently makes her home in Seattle, Washington, with her children, husband, and psychotic husky. She loves connecting with her readers on Instagram.