Today I’m joined by
Loretta Livingstone. Loretta has published three poetry collections.
“I wrote my 1st poem at school when I was ten - the teacher asked us to write a poem about a haunted house. I scared myself to death at bedtime for weeks with that one! I never took further education, although my teachers were rather miffed about that. Notwithstanding, I never found myself out of a job until I came down with M.E. some years later.”
I started writing poetry at school, when we were set it for English lessons, and found I was rather good at it. Then a few years later my sister, a friend, and I started making up silly rhymes to go on the Christmas cards at Church. They more or less stopped, but I continued, and the Pastors enjoyed reading them out. It turned out people loved it when I wrote them poems. And of course most teenagers write reams of teen angst - yup! Been there, done that! I eased up a bit from time to time, in fact for 10 years or so I hardly wrote any, but in the last few years it's all started pouring out again!
Do you write on a daily
basis?
No, not at all. I can go
several weeks without writing, then write 4 or 5 in a day. For Hopes, Dreams
and Medals I did write quite a lot each week though. Normally, when I have
enough, I start to think about my next book. Hopes, Dreams and Medals is
probably the only book I will write to a schedule.
Do poems come to you when
you’re doing other things, like shopping?
Sometimes! That's often how I get my inspiration. But sometimes situations
just pop into my head. Also when I'm chatting away to God I tend to get my more
inspirational verses.
What are the reasons
behind your themes for your books? And what made you decide to publish your
poetry?
 The first one, Fire and Ice, is a little bit
of a mish mash. I hadn't written poems for a few years, but they were becoming
much more frequent, and I found that people liked them, it seemed a shame to
shove them in a drawer somewhere, but I didn't have a clue how to go about
publishing, so I prayed about it and a few months later I discovered a way to
do it. The rest is history. My latest two books are much more structured, but
of course that comes with experience.
The M.E. had a devastating
effect on my life. It almost came to a standstill. Even now I can do so much
less than people with normal health. I have to rest a great deal, which is
incredibly boring! I am improving somewhat now, but still have to rest loads
more than I'd like. I can at least write lying down!
You recently did a book
signing. Were you nervous?
Incredibly, as it was a
reading as well, although I did used to sing with various (not terribly good)
groups when I was younger, so I was at least used to having to get people's
attention. I'm not sure I could have done it without that previous experience.
And I was completely wrung out at the end of it.
Are you working on any
more poetry collections?
Well I am still writing, though with somewhat less frequency at
the moment. When I have enough work I will doubtless start putting it together
into another book. But I have written 3 books within the last year, so I think
I need a bit of a break now.
What is the most exciting thing
happened to you since your books have been published?
Yes. 'Hopes, Dreams and
Medals' and 'Jumping in the Puddles of Life' are both also available from Apple
iBookstore from £1.99
Paperbacks are available in the U.K. From my own website http://www.treasurechestbooks.co.uk and hardbacks and overseas
sales are available from http://www.blurb.co.uk/user/store/poetloretta
Thank you to Loretta for visiting me today. Please go to her Twitter or Facebook page for more information.
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