I love a beautiful notebook to jot my ideas in. There is something luxurious about it and I know creativity flows much more easily when you can use tools that look and feel good and are enjoyable to use.
Being lucky enough to live in Norfolk, I often get to enjoy the scenery but I can’t always get to the coast or countryside so it’s lovely to use notebooks that show me a stunning Norfolk view wherever I am.
MyriadLifePhotoArt has produced a collection of Norfolk notebooks with cover images of the city, coast and countryside that I am sure you will love too. You don’t have to be an author to enjoy them, they are great for writing everyday notes, lists, experiences, memories or whatever it is you want to notate.
In addition to scenic views you can enjoy the wit of Gavin the Gull, his book covers feature an image of him with one of his legendary quotes such as ‘Your ice cream looks nice…’ or ‘Did somebody say chips?’ There are many other Gavin quotes to choose from. He might even encourage your children to do their homework…
There are more generic covers too, ideal for surfers/sailors and/or nature lovers.
All perfect gift ideas!
The luxury matte covers are very tactile and while most of the notebooks have lined interior pages, more designs are on the way.
If you happen to be visiting the north Norfolk coast, drop into Studio-Line Designs at Wells & Walsingham Railway who stock a variety of MyriadLifePhotoArt notebooks as well as lots of other lovely locally made items.
Norfolk UK is my home, I live in Norwich by the River Wensum where everyday there is something different to see and learn.
I feel a big affinity with the river as I grew up in Cambridge, another great river city. My childhood and teens involved many walks along the Cam where we would watch 'The Bumps,' raft races and as we grew older we enjoyed adventures on our punting pub crawls.
Growing up in a multi cultural university city definitely influenced my reading choices, I am a big fan of Japanese fiction, love French literature and enjoy Shakespeare. As a young teen I entertained myself with Jilly Cooper and Dick Francis and then became quite obsessed with Henri Charriere's Papillon. At school all I cared about was English, Art and French, in that exact order. When I finished with school I went to live and work in Greece for a wonderful year before returning to study English Literature and Sociology. At this point I read more classics like the Wyf of Bath, Wuthering Heights and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man plus poets such as Wilfred Owen.
My first UK full time job was with Heffer's Paperbacks where I devoured several books at a time, excited by the fact I could borrow what I liked. Bizarrely for me I remember reading The Zurich Axioms, I have no interest in the stock markets but it had me gripped. I can't remember why I picked it up but I have never forgotten it. Heffers introduced me to so many authors, via their books and sometimes in person. It was here I learned about all the genres, it fascinated me that science fiction and horror were so popular, I tried reading it all.
Aside from writing letters, it didn't really ever occur to me to write anything myself for many years as I worked my way through a variety of interesting and varied jobs. Then on a visit to the London Aquarium I became struck by an idea so powerful I sat down and wrote my first novel. It went nowhere as really I wrote it because I wanted to. I wrote another novel and again, didn't have the persistance or determination to take it further, I simply enjoyed the process of writing and my characters.
Then years later another idea struck me and during a severe bout of Pleurisy where I couldn't do anything physical for months, I wrote the Eight of Swords and The Putsi. This time I published them as ebooks and they became pretty popular. When I fully recovered, I had to concentrate on my business and looking after my mother who has various health issues and the writing went adrift again for many years until 2020 when the Coronavirus pandemic hit the world.
March 2020 I moved to my apartment alongside the Wensum to live alone for the first time ever. During the first lockdown I began to write a diary and then the idea for a new set of short stories came to me and in February 2021 they will be published. The Covid-19 Pandemic is not simply a scary virus, it is a historical time and here we are trying to live through it. To many it will feel like a punishment but to me as a writer, in some ways, it came as a gift.
Please stay as safe and as well as you can. I hope to entertain you with my stories as we all try to get through this together, even though we are apart.
Petra
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Petra Kidd Writes... 