Cherry Potts, Writer

Category: Inspirations

  • March of the Women

    Sandi Toksvig, Sue Perkins, Susan Calman, Marin Alsop… sorry, what? The finest lesbian (or lesbitarian as Calman would have it) comedians of the decade all on stage together and … the world’s leading woman conductor?  OK you got me, I didn’t know what I’d got tickets for, but I’m very glad I was there, for Mirth…

  • Early Music

    Music I found early, and Early Music I found… My passion for words nearly got in the way of my interest in music, and I was almost oblivious to tunes until I introduced myself to a wide variety of music via the library I worked in when I was nineteen. I think I took music…

  • What’s folk got to do with it?

    I was brought up on a diet of Beatles, Blues and Ballads. (I once had a cat who loved to be sung to, and the sadder the song the better: he was very partial to John Dowland, but his favourites were Bruton Town and Waly, Waly .  Morph used to scream in terror on the way…

  • Misty moisty morning

    At risk of sounding like a weekending townie, I love the Limpley Stoke Valley. I even love the name.  My best girl, A, was born in Trowbridge and brought up in Bath and the surrounding area. Consequently I have native-by-proxy rights. Whenever A gets what she calls ‘roots problems’ we hie off to Bath or…

  • How do you do that?

    At some point writers will always be asked ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ If I tried to answer that I would probably never finish, and consequently never write another story.  This post is in response to a different question that I have been asked- about the details that end up in my stories…

  • Stone Carving for Beginners

    Sometimes talking to an expert isn’t enough, I have to try something out for myself.  I started writing a novel about thirteenth century musicians and masons over ten years ago.  I know what is going to happen in The Cold Time but I struggle with making it convincing.  I’ve read a lot of books, I’ve…

  • London Particular

    Sometimes I hate living in London, and sometimes I love it. In January rain it can feel as though it has turned its back and doesn’t want to know you, but it doesn’t take much to find a way through the cracks and into its secrets. We walked, A & I and three friends from…

  • The Arsonist’s Demise

    National Short Story Week is coming to a close, and with it all my good intentions to do some writing in honour of the event.  Having a house full of builders isn’t conducive to creativity, even when they are charming, careful and considerate, which they are. I did however make it to Spread the Word’s…

  • Why Homer?

    I do not speak or read Greek, I have never been to Greece, but I have grown up with, and still read retellings of the 2,500 year old story of the Trojan War. From a picture book given me for Christmas when I was five, right through the Adele Geras’ excellent Troy, the Iliad has…

  • One Finger Typing

    Family history has a bit of a geeky image, and I won’t pretend it doesn’t have its fair share of anoraks, but it is also a deep and rich mine for good stories.  I first got interested when my partner’s father died and we came across his genealogy research, which infuriated me because it only…