I was asked to talk about my writing journey as a guest speaker at a writing retreat.

Sussex Writing Retreat

Daisy White - author and host  had asked me to talk about being an Indie Author.

How and why did I take the ‘Indie’ author route and what were my experiences along the way?

‘David’s Bin Day’, was at this time ready to publish in January, I decided I wanted to set a live publication date. The ‘Sussex Writing Retreat’, was booked for the 2nd April, and I thought this would be a perfect time to publish the story book. It was also the day before David's blog tour with Rachels Random Resources. Here

It was good a good opportunity to talk to other writers about my experiences and why I ended up publishing independently. I was able to reflect on some of the good and bad points.

The venue was a marquee in a rural setting and despite the frosty start the sunshine and the location certainly was a place to inspire.

With lots of different talks and help over the weekend I’m sure the writers learnt a lot. They were certainly interested in the process.

One of the delegates sent me a model of a Wedding Bus which was a lovely surprise and a welcome addition to my collection of buses.

 Perhaps there will be a 'Platinum Jubilee Bus this year.

Or maybe children could design a bright and colourful bus for the Queen?

Thank you to Daisy White (aka Charlie Croker) and Lisa Brace for inviting me along to come and talk.

The Bus Zoom Call

My second talk was via ‘zoom’ to an Odd Fellows group.

The host, Paul Fitton, had been a contact for many years on Facebook, we shared a love of a holiday destination in Spain, I set up the ‘Memorable Moraira Page' (Facebook), which he followed.

We have both visited the little village many times and love the area, however, we had never met nor spoken in person.

Paul had asked if I might talk about my love of Play buses and how it led to my story writing.

I had two powerpoint presentations which I was able to send for the meeting.

The first powerpoint had examples of different brightly painted buses and their uses. It also referred to ‘the ‘Transport for London’ sculpture trail.

The buses were bright and colourful and certainly different. All of the buses were examples which were from the National Playbus archives. The photos, had been given, in the hope I might write a similar book to the one I had written for my project ‘Bewbush Playbus’. (Maybe one day?).

My second powerpoint was was about the  Playbus and the questions the children asked which led to my writing.

The powerpoint showed the beginning of the bus journey and what the real bus looked like both inside and outside as well as what the children could do on board.

The questions, asked by the children had led me to me telling the bus story and then writing the first story book ‘Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus,’

I was then able to say how this led to the rest of my books.

In both cases it was good to be able to talk about the real Playbus and its journey into fictional tales.

Whenever I do meet children or adults they are still interested to learn that there is a real life Playbus behind the stories and are always interested to hear about the bus connection.

With both the Writing Retreat and the Playbus talk it is good to know that the bus story appeals across many levels.

Whether you like a story, are interested in buses or want to know how to publish a book. there is always an interesting point of view.

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