Fi Phillips

This is how I started the second day of the new year, walking around in rainy Venice with my husband to celebrate my fiftieth birthday. With our children safe at home with their uncle, we spent a wonderful long weekend in a city that constantly inspires me. Come the Tuesday morning, my children returned to school, my husband to work, and me to my writing and plenty of post Christmas housework. Smack down back to earth. January is my birthday month but unfortunately it's also a month that acts as an anti climax after the festive break. It's cold, often rainy and, let's face it, most of us have usually spent all our pennies until the next pay day comes around. It always seems like a terrible time to me to be making resolutions so I keep those until the spring. This month, therefore, continues without a lot of change. I'll continue to wait for responses from the literary agents whom I've submitted my novel to. I've had three no's (with encouraging feedb...

This month's photo inspiration is an image taken on my birthday trip to Venice straight after the new year (which is why I haven't posted until today). There's a burnt-out candle, Christmas decorations, two finished hot chocolates and one biscuit remaining. A lone figure stands at the bar in the background. What does this inspire you to write?

It's the last day of February. There is blossom in my garden. It feels like spring is here - although it doesn't officially start until 20th May - so I felt like a fresh beginning on my blog, something new. Starting today, each month will see a new writing exercise appear on this site. I won't be marking papers. These exercises are for you to do with as you please, for personal, private work or to share, if you wish. That's up to you. This month's exercise is about food. Or rather it begins with food. Take one of your favourite foods and write a short piece on where you first ate it. For me, the food is bagels, and the place was Venice in Italy. It was my second short visit there. I planned to go with a friend but at the last minute, she cancelled. I had paid for the whole trip, expecting her to pay me back, so I now had two plane tickets and two hotel bookings. None of my other friends wanted to go. I was single at the time and, in my very early twenties, ...