Good luck with the adventure! My son (who was 8 at the time) and I moved to a village outside Manchester for three years in 2005 when I got a job at a small university there. I survived the experience with lots of email rants to friends back at home, but I wish I’d had a blog to capture the best and worst of times! Really looking forward to reading more of yours. Enjoy! (Keep calm!)
Hi Allison,
Welcome!
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog after following the link from the Cambridge News article. We did something very similar a few years ago – moved from Cambridge to live in Portland, Oregon for a year, with kids 6 and 9 at the time – I absolutely identify with the ‘normality’ thing – life is very different when the simple things aren’t obvious – finding a doctor/dentist/optician/hairdresser all became major events – but there was a great satisfaction in gradually getting to grips with it all. We all have such great memories of that year. I live in a village to the west of Cambridge and I’m also a writer ( a series of mystery novels for 8-12 year olds my latest project) so let me know if there’s any ‘local knowledge’ I can help with…
Helen
It’s heartening to see you survived, Helen! Had a lovely look around your web-site and your middle grades look fantastic — very Famous Five-ish! Let me know if there are any good writers’ groups etc. around!
Thank you very much for your kind comments on the website/books – they are great fun to write – I’m working on books 7-10 at the moment! There is a group of SCBWI (childrens writers and illustrators) that meets socially in Cambridge from time to time (sporadic, as I’m meant to organise it, and organising isn’t my strong point!) – you’d be welcome to come along if you’d like me to let you know about the next one – although it is all children’s writers, of course. The other thing you might want to know about is the WordFest events that take place in Cambridge twice a year – lots of great speakers and related literary events. Here is the website for the next one, which is at the end of November. I will definitely be going along to some of the talks, so if you are planning to go, we could maybe meet up there. http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk/
1.
Karyn Brinkley | May 1, 2011 at 7:32 am
Good luck with the adventure! My son (who was 8 at the time) and I moved to a village outside Manchester for three years in 2005 when I got a job at a small university there. I survived the experience with lots of email rants to friends back at home, but I wish I’d had a blog to capture the best and worst of times! Really looking forward to reading more of yours. Enjoy! (Keep calm!)
2.
Helen Moss | August 16, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Hi Allison,
Welcome!
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog after following the link from the Cambridge News article. We did something very similar a few years ago – moved from Cambridge to live in Portland, Oregon for a year, with kids 6 and 9 at the time – I absolutely identify with the ‘normality’ thing – life is very different when the simple things aren’t obvious – finding a doctor/dentist/optician/hairdresser all became major events – but there was a great satisfaction in gradually getting to grips with it all. We all have such great memories of that year. I live in a village to the west of Cambridge and I’m also a writer ( a series of mystery novels for 8-12 year olds my latest project) so let me know if there’s any ‘local knowledge’ I can help with…
Helen
3.
allisonrushby | August 18, 2011 at 5:50 am
It’s heartening to see you survived, Helen! Had a lovely look around your web-site and your middle grades look fantastic — very Famous Five-ish! Let me know if there are any good writers’ groups etc. around!
4.
Helen Moss | August 23, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Thank you very much for your kind comments on the website/books – they are great fun to write – I’m working on books 7-10 at the moment! There is a group of SCBWI (childrens writers and illustrators) that meets socially in Cambridge from time to time (sporadic, as I’m meant to organise it, and organising isn’t my strong point!) – you’d be welcome to come along if you’d like me to let you know about the next one – although it is all children’s writers, of course. The other thing you might want to know about is the WordFest events that take place in Cambridge twice a year – lots of great speakers and related literary events. Here is the website for the next one, which is at the end of November. I will definitely be going along to some of the talks, so if you are planning to go, we could maybe meet up there. http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk/