Confessions of an Author

The Tale of a Portmeirion Mug 1 I found a packet of microwave salted caramel pudding in James’ bedroom. Becky gave it to him, and I have absolutely no idea why his bedroom was an ideal place to keep it, so I moved it to the kitchen. It sat there, in the cupboard, tempting me to eat it, while I waited several weeks for him to return from uni. When James eventually came home, I mentioned the pudding, and asked what his plan was. He said he’d forgotten all about it, but as I’d reminded him, perhaps I would like to share it. This seemed an excellent idea, so we read the instructions, and found it could all be made in a mug, it simply needed us to add some melted butter. I have some very nice mugs, bought ages ago, with flowers on, so we used those and followed the instructions. It wasn’t particularly difficult, and within moments I had a mug of delicious salted caramel pudding. However, when James lifted his own pudding from the microwave, the mug was full of cracks on the ...

When you are useless… 4 Do you ever feel that everyone else is more capable than you are? They seem to have more friends, more purpose, to achieve more—and you feel as if you’re playing ‘catch-up’ the whole time? I think we’ve all felt like that at some time. The trouble is, we tend to evaluate ourselves in comparison to everyone else, we see what they’re achieving, and we feel less able, less capable; a bit useless really. In 2014, I really was, utterly useless. Let me explain. In 2009, I was a working Mum, teaching in the local school, preaching occasionally in local churches. We had returned from a few years in New Jersey, the husband’s career was developing nicely, and all seemed good. It wasn’t, but it seemed good. But then things started to unravel for me. I started waking each morning with headaches that lasted all day. I was forgetting things, and I felt, very slightly, as if I wasn’t quite coping. Teaching seemed more about politics and pleasing parents, and ...