Cathy Le Feuvre

A Book Collection

Down the years, when people have found out that I'm a writer I've occasionally been asked 'Are you related to Amy Le Feuvre?'

 

Well I'm not, sadly, but probably around 25 years ago I was in Cambridge doing a TV story (as a TV producer and reporter) & visited a publishers which I discovered had links to Amy. That day I also dropped into a book sale in the city & found a copy of one of her books!

 

It was like a Sign!

 

Down the years, every time I see old books for sale I check for an Amy.... and so started a sort of collection which I've added to spasmodically over the years!

 

So, imagine my delight today, while browsing in a local charity shop in Jersey, to discover this one ... a new title for my little collection!

 

For those who are unaware, Amy wrote Christian books for children from the end of the 19th century and in the early decades of the 20th! She wasn't from Jersey but had, I believe, Guernsey roots and lived in England ... and she wrote more than 65 books and for several magazines!

 

Although the stories are rather 'dated' now, I do love their innocence and her writing! I think she was a bit of a pioneer & certainly given the number of times I'm asked if we're related, she's obviously remembered by a certain generation! I believe her books were often given as Sunday School prizes! Who remembers those?

 

I started to collect information about Amy at one point ... I must do more research!

Monday Blog Hop - Debbie Duncan writes

My second Monday Blog friend is Debbie Duncan. She's a brilliant friend to me, and as you'll find out when you read her blog we're about to have a book published which we have co-authored. It's been great fun but has nuggets of truth and reality which we hope people will find interesting, thought-provoking, real and even challenging ... as they laugh out loud while reading!

Debbie's own blog is called 'Debbie's Deeds' ... so here she is to tell us more about her writing...

 

What I am working on?

 

At the moment I am writing a commissioned article for a nursing journal due in on the 18th June. The skeleton is in place ! 

 

I have just written a book with Cathy Le Feuvre. It is a novel about two women who are best of friends. They email and text each other about their everyday 'walking around' lives : family , singleness, work and life and faith. Some of the issues they discuss are sensitive issues we all deal within church life. It is sensitive, serious and silly at times.

It was a joy to write and there are loose threads for a possible Book Two! Watch Cathy's and my communications over the next couple of months for more information!  

 

Why do I write what I do?

 

I believe we all communicate in different ways to pass on what it is at our core. I am an educationist - I lecture in nursing at Kings College in London. I do communicate facts but I am also passionate about my faith. Writing is a medium I believe I can use to communicate that passion. 

 

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

 

I write with two hats on. One is as a nurse - I have had over 40 articles published in the nursing and medical press. I take the knowledge I have from my 20+ years as a nurse and blend it with my 20+ years as a Christian, wife and mother.  

How does my writing process work?

 

I usually think of the title before it becomes a book or an article. I agree it is a strange concept, much like a painter naming a painting before it is finished. But then you know what you want to invent before you have a working model. I then spend several months thinking about the idea. In my mind it grows arms and legs. When it is fully formed then I sit down to write. In a way I feel I live the book before it is fully formed. 

 

Articles are similar but obviously much quicker in their birthing. If they are for nursing journals then I also have to digest the context of recent research and use them to help form the body of the text. 

 

That's my contribution to the Monday Blog Hop. Now I am passing the baton to a brilliant writer and blogger ... it's your turn Dave Criddle ...

Dave writes a brilliant blog - 'Limping into Truth' - and he may not tell you this, so I will,  last year Dave was voted Young Blogger of the Year at the Christian New Media conference.

 

 

D-Day 70 - We Will Remember Them

We often hear just a snatch of Laurence Binyon's 'Ode of Remembrance' which is just part of his very moving longer poem 'For the Fallen'.

It's recorded that Binyon was moved to write the poem in 1914 after becoming aware of the heavy casualties of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front during the opening days of the Great War - later to become known as the First World War, the outbreak of which we will commemorate later this year.

Binyon wrote the lines while visiting the north coast of Cornwall, looking out across the ocean. 'For the Fallen' was published by The Times newspaper (London) in September of that year and has become synonymous with days of remembrance such as today.

So here, to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, is that Ode of Remembrance. It might have been written thirty years before that day on the Normandy beaches - June 6 1944 - but it is so fitting for this day of commemoration as we remember all those who gave their lives so that we might live in freedom.

#LestWeForget

#DDay70                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                  (image by Cathy Le Feuvre)

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If 'Tis Love

On this St Valentine's Day we celebrate and give thanks for love ... not just romantic love, but also the love of family and friends and, of course, God's love for us.

To mark this day I share with you a beautifully thoughtful poem which William Booth wrote to his beloved Catherine in 1872 ... it shows the depth of their love which still endured 20 years after their first meeting and after nearly 17 years of marriage.

When I researched the couple for my book ('William and Catherine' - the love story of the founders of The Salvation Army told through their letters, Monarch books  2013)I couldn't find any letters/notes which specifically said 'Happy Valentine's Day', but when you write stuff like this and you love like this...who needs a special day to say it?

William and Catherine's First Christmas

Christmas 1852

For a certain young couple it was their first Christmas together - or it would have been if it had not been for work committments.

William Booth had only met Catherine Mumford earlier that year, but within weeks they had become engaged to be married. They were head-over-heels in love, but although Catherine had dreams of an imminent marriage - she secretly hoped that she might soon become a wife and had already privately decided that her next birthday on January 17 in the New Year might be a good moment - they were still some years away from a wedding date.

William, who for years had longed to become a Christian evangelist travelling the country spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, had at last secured a job. Which meant that at Christmas the young couple were separated. Catherine at home in London and William north in Lincolnshire, where he had recently begun work as a Reformed Methodist regional preacher.

Later, of course, the couple would go on to start the international Christian movement, church and charity which is The Salvation Army and which today has church members and charitable work in more than 125 countries across the world.

Today their legacy is a Christian movement which benefits millions of people every day but at Christmas 1852 they were just two young people, missing each other desperately and communicating in the only way which was possible at the time - through letters.

In my book -   'William and Catherine - the love story of the founders of The Salvation Army told through their letters'  (Monarch Books Sept 2013) - there's a brief  glimpse of a Victorian Christmas through Catherine's own words, penned to her beloved. The letter shows us her heart, as well as a little of the minutiae of everyday life. But, as with all the correspondence which the couple exchanged over 40 years, this not just a love letter. As deeply committed Christian individuals, who each put God even above the other, their words of love were naturally interspersed with spiritual thoughts and ambitions.

 

                                       Monday December 27th /52

My dearest William,

As I did not feel in writing tune either yesterday or on Xmas day, I will this evening give you a sketch of our Christmas enjoyments. Father dined at home & tho’ our number was so small we enjoyed ourselves very well.

Your representative on the wall seemed to look down on our sensual gratification with awful gravity, manifesting an indifference to the good things of this life, not at all characteristic of the original. I thought about you very, very much through the day. I could not but contrast my feelings with those of last year. Then my anxieties & affections were centered in objects whose love & care I have experienced through many changing years. Then I knew no love but that of a child, a sister, a friend, and I thought that love deep, sincere, fervent; perhaps it was; nay, I know it was. 

But since then a stranger, unknown, unseen, till within the last short year, has strangely drawn around himself the finest tendrils of my heart & awakened a new absorbing affection which seems, as it were, to eclipse what I before deemed the intensity of love. Then my anxieties were almost confined to home; now this same stranger like a magnet draws them after him in all his wanderings, so that they are seldom at home. What a change in one short year! Can you solve the mystery? Can you find the reason? 

But I am forgetting to detail the day’s pleasures, etc. After dinner we all went on a walk, talked about you, my dear brother, the changes which have taken place in a few years, the changes which probably will take place in a few more, etc. My dear father seemed kinder and more comfortable than usual; he is still a teetotaller & is abstaining altogether from the pipe; there is a change for the better in many respects. Don’t forget him, my love, at a throne of grace. Help me & my dear mother to pray for him…  Oh, for a Christ-like sympathy for souls, such as I used to feel when I have sat up half the night to plead for them. My dearest love, this is the secret of success, the weapon before which the very strongholds of hell must give way. Oh, let us try to get it again; let us make up our minds to win souls, whatever else we leave undone. 

But to return again, we spent a very pleasant evening together. I lay on the sofa, working a little watch pocket for the use of that stranger I have been speaking of, which I hope he will use for my sake, even tho’ he may be provided with one already. I hope he will not consider it murdered time. It did not take me long. My dear mother & myself enjoyed a good season in prayer & then retired to rest. Yesterday we heard Mr T[homas] in the morn’g; liked him much. School in the afternoon; got on well; children gave signs of serious interest. The evening spent alone, thinking about & praying for your preaching, etc. Today have been practising music, short hand, reading, working, etc. 

Good night! I am very tired, or I would not send such scrawl. I long for a letter to hear you have enjoyed yourself and all particulars.

 

This is an extract from the correspondence of Catherine Mumford (later Booth) and William Booth held in the British Library (Booth Papers Vols 1-1v MS 64799 - 64802) which is included in Chapter 5 of 'William and Catherine - the love story of the Founders of The Salvation Army told through their letters' - published Sept 2013 by Monarch Books (Lion Hudson plc) by Cathy Le Feuvre

 

 

 

'William and Catherine' - book promotion continues!

 

At The Salvation Army Territorial (national) Congress held in Glasgow in Nov 2013 there were live webcasts of the three main 'meetings' or sessions, and wrapped around those were live programmes introducing themes for the weekend, including interviews of those taking part.
On Sunday morning (Nov 3) presenter Major Martin Hill interviewed me about my first book whose central characters are the founders of The Salvation Army - William  and Catherine Booth. I was at Congress signing copies of her book and talking to people about it!
'William and Catherine - the love story of the founders of The Salvation Army told through their letters' is published by Lion Hudson and is a Monarch book 
The letters of William and Catherine are held in trust for the Booth family at the British Library in London and for the book I edited the letters and included some other personal and public writings and memoirs of these remarkable people. I also included historical narrative and created short stories which further bring to life this passionate, spiritual and loving couple.

'William and Catherine' - the Book Launch

My new, and first, book was launched at The Salvation Army UK in London on Wednesday September 25 2013.  The launch was hosted by Salvationist Publishing and Supplies and was held in their shop. We had a busy day, sold lots of books and raised nearly £200 through a 'coffee morning' for the excellent Macmillan Cancer Support charity.

The book is called 'William and Catherine' - the love story of the founders of The Salvation Army, told through their letters and is published by Monarch, an imprint of Lion Hudson.  The book features some of the loving and spiritual letters which William and Catherine Booth wrote to each other throughout their lives, historical narrative and creative stories. 

The book can be bought through SP&S, LionHudson and Amazon - including for Kindle!

On launch day the media team from The Salvation Army took photos and a short video...here is the film, in which I explain some of the 'lesser known' facts about William and Catherine Booth which are featured in the book....just a quirky little insight but certainly not the whole story!

 

  

Passion for the Impossible

'God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the impossible.'

What an amazing thought!!!

This is a quote attributed to William Booth who, with his wife Catherine, founded The Salvation Army, the worldwide church and charity organisation. The couple had a passion for God, a passion for sharing their Christian faith with the 'whosoever', and as the years progressed they developed a passion for bringing the Gospel alive and helping the disadvantaged and the poor.

The Booths didn't start out to found a new 'church' but rather created a Christian 'movement' which emphasised that Christians could have a 'personal relationship' with God through Jesus Christ, could achieve a 'holy life' through the power of the Holy Spirit and then could live that life helping others less fortunate. It was a slow process towards the international organisation we have today, but as it says in the Bible (actually in the New Testament in the book of Luke Chapter 1 verse 37 if you're one of those who likes to know these things)....'For nothing is impossible with God.'

Why am I posting this quote from William Booth today - April 10 2013?

Well, it was on April 10 1829 that William Booth was born, in Nottingham in England.

And William and Catherine Booth are the subjects of my new book - to be published later this year!

At one point in my life becoming an author was a dream which I just thought would be impossible...or at least unreachable. I doubted if there would ever come a day when I would be on the verge of being published. 

It just goes to show...it's true...NOTHING is impossible!!!!

 

 

 

Related articles

Birth of a Book

Birth of a Book

If you wonder why I haven't been around for a bit, please keep reading and all will become clear.

The past months have been largely spent in my kitchen bent over a computer, in a research library and/or pouring over books, documents, websites and more. For about a year now I've been researching and writing my first ever book, and today I sent the work to the editor/publisher!

I've written all my life, including a long career as a journalist. But to complete a whole book is a completely new experience. It's like giving birth!

First there was the anticipation - would my book proposal / draft chapter be acceptable?

Then there was the confirmation - getting the greenlight and subsequently receiving and signing a big girl's book contract.

Then the gestation period - nearly a year actually of research which stepped up as time progressed and then, in the past four months, began to show some real  fruit.

Hope you're still with me....and are still getting the 'pregnancy/birth/parenthood' analogies!

Now, today, I've produced my first script (with bibliography/notes/etc attached) and I feel utterly relieved, exhilarated and ... relieved. I just didn't do it with gas and air. That would have been weird.

Yet, as with all young parents, there's now more to come....this is just the start of the journey.

An editor has taken my book and will work his magic. It is my first, so there's probably going to be lots of comments/notes/changes/additions. Unlike other 'first time moms' I'm under no illusion that my little offspring might not be absolutely perfect. I need no more sleepless nights, early morning risings and screaming tantrums (all mine by the way) to tell me that.

If you're wondering, the book will hopefully be on sale in Autumn / Fall 2013 and I'm sure I'll bore you rigid with that news as I proudly show to the world the fruits of my labour. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, I'm just going to have a little lie down now before it's time to start thinking about, and producing, the next book. Yes, like most enthusiastic parents once the agony is over ... I don't think I'm inclined to stop at one!

 

 

You've heard of the Borrowers? What about 'Tomorrowers'?

I'm sure most home-workers, freelancers working from home or home-based consultants will agree that one of the most difficult challenges (apart from actually getting work) is discipline. It's very easy, when you work most days in your little office in your spare bedroom or from the shed in the bottom of your garden, to let things slip. I've heard of home-workers who find it's lunchtime and they are still in their PJs. Not that that's happened to me (!) and I've also never found myself sitting endlessly at the computer only to suddenly realise that it's midafternoon and I've forgotten to take a lunch break. Not me! No!

Working alone and at home means the word 'distraction' takes on a whole new meaning. If you're not careful, that little piece of internet research you planned this morning can turn into a half day of web surfing while the jobs you had planned - the ones you've written on your whiteboard, or pinned to your cork noticeboard - are left undone. There's always the 'have another cup of tea' distraction and knowing that the TV is in the room next door, or downstairs, is also a temptation. If you're not careful 'I'll just catch the news while I have this cup of coffee' becomes several hours of mind-numbingly tedious Daytime TV - all, of course, in the name of 'research'. 

However, not all 'distractions' turn out to be unworthy. Yesterday I tuned into the BBC 1 TV quiz show 'Pointless' - it's on at 5.15pm so I don't feel quite so bad if I catch it as theoretically the working day IS nearly over (!) for most normal human beings.

If you don't know the show... the blurb says it's a 'Quiz in which contestants try to score as few points as possible by plumbing the depths of their general knowledge to come up with the answers no-one else can think of...' Basically the winner is the duo who gets the LEAST amount of points ... fantastic!

Back to yesterday - and one category in the quiz ...."name words which end in '...ower'...."

I leave you to draw up your list. One guy (a cool vicar) came up with 'overpower' and that was 'pointless'. At the end of the round, co-host Richard Osman (the main host is comedian Alexander Armstrong) then gave examples of other 'pointless' answers the guests COULD have given.

And one was .....

'TOMORROWER'

I'd never heard of it,  but it is in the dictionary. I checked - Mariam Webster!

'Tomorrower' means 'putting off to tomorrow things that you should do today'. It's another word for 'Procrastinator' - which means 'to put off intentionally and habitually' and 'to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done'.

Note the important words in the definition - 'intentionally' and 'habitually'. To be a 'tomorrower' it appears you have to KNOW that you're procrastinating and do it often.

So ... no excuses.... if you're juggling several contracts and jobs, and are inclined to flitter and flutter between different tasks and subjects on any particular day, and as a result are not getting anything completed, it might not be because you have a low boredom threshold. You might be a Tomorrower.

So the question is - Am I a 'tomorrower?' Well, I hope not. But it is easy as a home-worker, especially if you're not working to any deadlines or timelines and you haven't set yourself specific targets, to become something resembling a 'tomorrower'. It's certainly worth reminding yourself from time to time, to ensure you DON'T get off track. I've stuck a little note on my cork noticeboard (which sits alongside my whiteboard work planner). I look up and the bright orange notelet asks me the question 'Are YOU a Tomorrower'?

However,  if I am - if you are - then we're in good company. In my research into the word this morning I noted, from the Oxford English Dictionary, that the word 'tomorrower' comes up in letter from the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge to his wife. In 1810 he wrote: 

'He is as great a to-morrower to the full as your poor husband.'

Now where's that cup of tea?