#WEP February Challenge Winner - Sally Stackhouse

 Hi everyone, Jemi here!

Sally Stackhouse won our February Challenge All You Need Is Love with her touching tale of Walter and Sarah. You can read it here. An abiding love in troubled times.

As our judge, Nick Wilford said, "This really hits hard given the current situation in Ukraine. Beautiful and heartbreaking."

Today Sally is going to share with us about life and writing!

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I was overwhelmed that my entry for ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE was the winner and so proud of achieving this commendation from my peers – thank you. 

I’ve always had a lot of words rumbling around in my brain but it is only in the last ten years or so that I’ve been able to put them down on paper.  There are a couple of reasons for this, the first one is time, i.e., my kids left home, I was working part-time and therefore gained more time for my own pursuits, reading, and writing. 

The other reason is that it is easier nowadays to type something out on a computer, save a word file (always back it up!) and change and edit it as often as you like.  Just think how much time it would take to write in long-hand, harking back to school days and homework, writing something quickly, and then copying it out in your ‘best handwriting’. 

I remember my lovely mum (sadly no longer here) remarking, ‘where do you get your ideas from, certainly you don’t get it from me!’  

I really don’t know. I think because I am an avid reader words make sense and flow, not always smoothly I must admit.  I also people/watch and people/listen, not so much nowadays because of Covid restrictions but I’ve spent a lot of time over the last 18 months hanging around hospitals, having treatment, and waiting for appointments.

Last year my brain couldn’t cope – chemo certainly addles your thought processes a bit but now, I am very pleased to say, most of my mojo is back.

When you were at school

Did you sometimes feel a fool?

Physics and maths weren’t my thing

Nor the choir ‘cos I can't sing.

Now history was interesting

But not kings and queens and their bling

The ordinary folk such as you and I

Who toiled the land and watched the sky

Gave me more to think about and learn

Not good times to be born.

Give me a book and I would lose time

Transported to other worlds, romance or crime

Thrillers and sci-fi and then the classic writers

People who are long dead with words that survive

With a heritage to revere and characters that come alive.

So, head out of the clouds and prepare for a career

Typing and shorthand were part of my future

To stand me in good stead for the next of life’s adventure

Loving the English language opened new frontiers.

So now I’m in my sixties and am able to indulge

This passion of mine that started at a young age

Some praise from family although they are biased

But I’ll take it and try not to be pious.

An opportunity has opened which I will embrace

Hoping I won’t get egg on my face.

My brain is in gear

Stamping down on my fear.

With encouragement and love

I’m going forward, onwards and above

To get it all out before it’s too late

Before all the brain cells dissipate.

      

 

Sally Stackhouse: wife, mother, step-mother, grandmother, step-grandmother and step-great-grandmother. Living in the Weald of Kent in South East England.

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Thanks so much, Sally and congrats again! We're all so very happy you have your mojo back!! You can find Sally at her blog Sally's Scribbles!

We'd love for you to tweet this post or share it to Facebook or your favorite social media site.

#WEP ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE #WEPwinner #guestpost  https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/03/wep-february-challenge-winner-sally.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim @jemifraser #amwriting #writingchallenge

#WEP ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE #WEPwinner #WALTER&SALLY  #guestpost https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/03/wep-february-challenge-winner-sally.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim @jemifraser #amwriting #writingchallenge

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Our next challenge will be here before we know it! We hope many of you will consider joining us for our April Challenge: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall.

See you in April!

Jemi for ...