Melissa Lawrence

Hi everyone. Along with the Northern Lights, the Rolling Stones live and a golden eagle, I never thought I would see the movie Die Hard . But now I have and although film buffs may throw down their copies of Barry Norman's biography in horror, I can confirm that in my opinion anyway, it absolutely is a Christmas movie. So what qualifies the vest-wearing, Beretta 92F-toting, man-of- few-words Bruce Willis epic to be a fully paid-up member of this Holy of Holies? After all, Home Alone , White Christmas or Love Actually , it most definitely is not. I can't believe you got me socks again. The most obvious answer is that the story takes place on Christmas Eve and continues into Christmas Day and what can be more "Christmassy" than that? The baddies, led by the late great and sweetly sinister Alan Rickman, arrive as an office Christmas party is in full swing and there are numerous references throughout the film to Christmas, including Santa jokes and Christmas music, not ...

Hi everyone. So if David Cameron (sorry, Lord Cameron) can make an unexpected return to politics having left it behind seven years ago, then I think it's OK for me to return to blogging after having left it behind seven months ago. Actually it was six months ago but then I've never let the truth get in the way of a good analogy. Go back into politics? I'd rather go back into the EU. Anyway, I'm back with a new look blog and u nlike my previous posts here, the future ones won't be covering art, design and crafting. I'm in the process of setting up a new place to blog about those, which leaves this one for "writing" related issues. So I'll be covering topics which I hope will be of interest to both new and established writers, as well as including more random things such as the occasional film or book review and opinion pieces (rants!) on subjects that are dear to my heart but which I hope will also appeal to a wider audience. When life gets you down...

Hi everyone. So the good news is that I have started writing again after not having written anything "commercial" for longer than I care to admit. It's taken a while to get going again but like riding a bike, I guess, you never really lose it although I think the days of me being a regular writer for national newspapers and magazines are definitely over. And as for books? Well, still not sure if that will happen but you never know! The bad news is that partly because of this, I have decided that this will be my last blog post here. I have really appreciated being able to write for a blog, even though the posts have been pretty sparse in recent times. It has kept my writing hand "in" as it were and has given me something to focus on when I couldn't manage to write much else. But now I want to write for other outlets again and not something that feels quite so "indulgent", if you know what I mean. I also feel that blogging in general may have had it...

Hi everyone. Happy New Year! If you read my previous post 10 Things I Hate About Christmas you can rest assured that this post is much more upbeat because yes, although my name is still Melissa...I love New Year! And here’s why 1. It’s A Blank Page Most people seem to hate January but it’s actually my favourite month. Maybe that’s because it’s my birth month but mainly I like it because it’s the start of a whole new year. Although as a writer, having to face the dreaded “blank page” can often feel scary, when it comes to the blank page of a new year, I’m all for it. 2. It’s A Fresh Start Whatever sort of year you’ve just had whether it was good, bad or frankly indifferent, New Year provides the perfect opportunity for a re-set. Although it might only signify a change in the calendar, there’s always something about this time of year that can allow you to feel more positive and more optimistic. It’s a chance to put the past behind you and start over, even if that only lasts until the...