💯100 Days of Writing

Posted on October 7, 2026 by Ninette Hartley

I have committed to the 💯100 days of writing through the London Writers’ Salon. They’re a great organisation which, I believe, was set up during Covid. They wanted to encourage people to write from their homes, so they set up Writers’ Hour, which is online and happens four times a day in different Time Zone. It’s 50 minutes of silent writing in the company of other writers. I attend the London hour which for me (because I’m in France) is from 9am until 10am. Other times during the day are organised around 8am in other countries e.g. New York, Los Angeles, New Zealand and I believe a couple of other times have been added recently.

Me During the 100 days of Writing

I attended a workshop the day before the 💯100 days of writing began so that we could all brainstorm which project we would work on during the time. For me, I decided to try and finish a novel set during WW1 that I began in 2014 (over twelve years ago!). I feel I owe it to the characters I have created to get them off my computer and into a book. They’ve waited long enough and it’s time I took them all through the rest of their stories. Might have to kill a few off though 🤔

The important thing about signing up for the 💯100 days (which will take until 31st December 2026) is really that it has got me right back into the habit of writing every day for at least an hour. I have so many other commitments; painting, pottery, pantomime — oh yes, it’s that time of year again — that sometimes it’s difficult to fit in an hour at my computer but it’s not impossible. I just have to get organised in the right way.

However, what I have to own up to here is that my original project (the novel) was cast aside before I even began the 💯100 days, because I realised that a far more pressing assignment was to get my Italian memoir, Life in the Boot finally wrapped up and published before Christmas. Hence, I am working on that first and as soon as it’s done then I will commit to finishing the novel, working title, Frieden — Whoops — now I’ve let that out of the bag I’ll have to get on with it as soon as I can. If all goes to plan, Life in the Boot will be off my computer by the 24th December so I will still have a week left of the 💯100 days, but of course Christmas will fall in that week. Nothing to stop me writing through the holiday season though…I mean it’s only an hour a day and more if I can manage it.

How I hope I’ll look on the 31st January 2026

Thanks for reading…Back soon!

Peter May: December 20th 1951 – 25th September 2026

Posted on October 1, 2026 by Ninette Hartley

Photograph Taken from Facebook

Last week, on the 25th September the author Peter May died at his home here in France. His wife Janice announced his passing and there have been a deluge of tributes online and in newspapers, writing publications and other media outlets from everywhere.

I am a member of the Society of Authors and in April 2024 I took over as host on Zoom for the monthly meeting for the French Group. It’s called a local group but it is actually the whole of France. In November 2024 Peter joined our meeting on Zoom for the first time – at least the first time since I’d been hosting. He immediately became a regular and a firm favourite with all the other attendees.

Although I never met him in person, it soon seemed as though I’d known him for years and that he had become a friend. I think we all felt like that. He was a genuinely lovely man. Even though he was obviously the most successful and famous writer in our group he had no side to him. He shared invaluable insights into his writing process, always giving solid and helpful advice without ever sounding as though he knew more than we did — which he surely did. In May of 2025 he gave a wonderful author talk for us at our monthly meeting. He had an easy-going eloquence and we all hung on every word. I believe we ran a little over time because everyone had questions for him which of course he was more than happy to answer.

On Wednesday the 23rd September 2026 he attended our Zoom meeting and was his usual cheerful, talkative, informative self. When I saw that he had died only a couple of days later, I could not believe it. The world has lost a truly lovely person and I know that he will be very much missed by everyone who knew him, not least his Zoom friends at the local SOA meetings.

If you would like to read more about Peter, here are a couple of links:

PETER MAY WEBSITE
BBC
PETER MAY
PETER MAY WIKIPEDIA

I Have Left Substack

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Ninette Hartley

I hummed and hawed for a while about Substack. I really wanted to use it but since I began, the site has changed and I have found more recently that I am bombarded with emails re posts and often from people I do and do not follow so I just decided to give it up.

Here, on my website in the blog section I can post what I want and people can read them without having to sign up. You can follow of course, which would be lovely, but you are not obliged to do so. As I understand it, you can read one or all of them without having to pay.

So my first post here, after many months, is a short one just to let you know what I’m doing. Hopefully another post will follow soon and it will be full of interesting and newsy things to brighten your day in this rather strange world we are living in at the moment.

I’m aiming to publish my memoir, ‘Life in the Boot’ about living in Italy, before the end of the year or at the very latest in January 2027. Just need to get all my ducks in a row and boom. . .

A Week in the Lot

Posted on June 11, 2026 by Ninette Hartley

At the beginning of May I spent a whole week on a pottery course at Le Mas Sarrat, Lherm, in The Lot. It’s about a 3 hour drive from where I live in the South of France. I set off on the Sunday afternoon and arrived in good time to settle in to my little apartment and then join everyone, both those running the course and those attending as students, for a wonderful barbecue.

We were to have two tutors, Jennie Gilbert and Emily Myers you can read more about them if you click on the links. They are both very talented potters with different styles and I felt honoured that these two experts were happy to share so much knowledge with us.

There were 7 of us on the course and we came from all over the world. A woman from Canada was attending with her best friend from England and another women from Australia was there with her best friend also from England. What a wonderful way to meet up and catch up from across the globe. Not sure how they managed to get their pottery back home though.

The course ran for 4 days — we had Wednesday to ourselves. We could work in the pottery on our own if we wanted to but I chose to go into Cahors and have a look around. Probably should have stayed back as a couple of weeks later I got a speeding ticket from Espère which was a small town I had driven through on my way to Cahors!

CAHORS

I had booked for bed and breakfast and we were given lunch each day as part of the course. The set-up at Le Mas Sarrat is wonderful. It’s a great place for a family holiday. Fiona runs the gites and the B&B and she is Jennie Gilbert’s sister. Fiona has lived in France for a long time and apart from being the most amazing cook speaks French fluently. I believe she also runs French immersion courses. But it is her sister Jennie who is the potter and she comes to Le Mas Sarrat a few times a year. Jennie also teaches in England and you can see that on her website HERE.

Below is just a very small sample of the food that we were served by the lovely Fiona. I am gluten and lactose intolerant and Fiona went out of her way to deliver the most delicious meals for me. We had home made soup each day and there was always the call of, ‘This one is for Ninette!’ How kind she was.

There are quite a few stages to making a pot, bowl or any item in pottery. You can handbuild with coils, slabs or pinching or you can throw on the wheel. The latter is the hardest thing to master, in my opinion of course. First you have to centre the pot on the wheel and if you can’t get on with that then the rest of the process is impossible. I enjoy all aspects of the make. I found I was quite good at ‘pulling’ handles but I’ve not tried again since the course and in my limited experience with clay, I reckon next time I won’t be able to do it at all! After the creation you then have to decorate with underglazes, glazes, oxides…there’s no end to what you can do. It was absolutely amazing how much all of us created in just four days.

starting the coil pot (credit Jennie Gilbert)

Me looking as pleased as punch with my creations. Not perfect but not bad for a beginner!

I cannot recommend Jennie and Emily highly enough. If you’re a beginner at this pottery lark then I suggest you sign up for a two-day or four-day course. You will learn so much and in such good company. I’m going back in October for two days and I cannot wait to get there. In the meantime, I’m putting into practice all that I learnt – at least I’m trying to!

At the end of the week, I wrote a little poem. There’s a lot of water involved in pottery, especially on the wheel.

My Creative Journey is Changing

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Ninette Hartley

For a year or so, I’ve been posting on Substack, but recently I feel it’s changing and becoming more like Facebook, with so many people posting notes. I’m beginning to wonder if it was a mistake to hand myself over to that platform instead of staying here, on my blog, with my faithful followers.

Here, you’re not asked to pay for anything or sign up to anyone else’s content — there’s a little less pressure, I think. Besides, as the title of this blog suggests, my creative journey is evolving. I’m still writing, but these days it’s mostly poetry, and my other great love now is pottery. Poetry and pottery roll off the tongue rather well, don’t you think? In fact, so much so that I often find myself saying one when I mean the other!

I also love to paint, and watercolour is my favourite medium. I do try with acrylics, but I’m not sure it’s really for me. I’ve also discovered a fondness for drawing. In fact, I think I’ve tried almost everything there is to try in art — pastels, watercolour pencils — and this week I’m having a go at collage painting. Who knows how that will turn out!

I’m inspired by the people I meet at the art and pottery sessions I attend. We’re a mixed bunch in experience, artistic style, and background — a wonderfully diverse community united by a shared love of art in all its forms. I find the sessions therapeutic, relaxing, and socially enjoyable. I also have to speak French quite a bit, which is good practice for me.

That said, I sometimes find I work better at home, alone, where I can give myself fully to the creative process without worrying about the brief, whether I’m doing it ‘right’, or what others might think. At home, I can simply let go and create.

Art, like all creative pursuits, is subjective. You can learn the techniques and understand your medium, your colours, your style — but eventually, perhaps after many years, you begin to create for yourself. Not everyone will like what you produce, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s just like writing: you have to learn not to ‘compare and despair’. So the fact that my pottery mouse apparently looks like a toffee apple with ears (according to one of my sons) is clearly subjective — and what does he know anyway? In my defence it was one of the very first things I made.

Perhaps he did look a little better before I painted him. . . 🤔

Below is probably my best piece so far. Hand built and painted.

I had a little taster of throwing on the wheel when I was back in England in September 2025 and I made this pot:

The little knob on the top is a stone we found on a driveway, we picked it up (with permission) and then glued it to the lid. I loved using the wheel so much that I’ve now found somewhere local to experiment and learn more about it and hopefully get better.

It’s not really possible for me to create pottery at home as there is nowhere for me to make a mess — and pottery is very messy — I’m working on it though. . . at least I’m working on The Man to do something about it. 😊😊

Substack . . .

Posted on March 25, 2025 by ninette90

In case you wondered why I haven’t been posting here on WordPress, it’s because I have been busy over on Substack. I’ve decided to upload my memoir about living in Italy from 2008-2016. It will be serialised as a section in my Substack, Ninette Gabs About, and is called Life in The Boot . If you want to check out the first instalment then click HERE

If you fancy signing up to follow me by email, then you can do so by clicking on the link HERE or on the subscribe button below, which you may only be able to view by switching to a browser. If you’re already signed up then I’m giving you a big THANK YOU!

Make sure you sign up for FREE I don’t want anyone to have to pay.

Loose Ends goes on a Virtual Tour

Posted on September 11, 2024 by ninette90

I’ve been pretty quiet with the promotion of Loose Ends I’m just letting it roll out all over the world — yes you can download an e-book copy or order a paperback copy from several places including Australia and New Zealand!

Right now the book is featured on Zooloo’s Book Tours and I’m pleased to say that it’s going rather well. It is running from now until 19th September. You can read the reviews as they come in and are posted on Instagram, X, Facebook and Threads. Or you can follow me on any of those platforms as I repost each one — hoping not to miss any. I was rather pleased with this one that came in yesterday:

And this one from the day before:

I hope that if you haven’t yet purchased a copy of Loose Ends that this will encourage you to give it a go. If you have read it and enjoyed it then please put a review on Amazon or Goodreads. . . every little helps 😊
Talking of reviews, I was rather intrigued to read the AI generated paragraph (shown below) on Amazon 😊 Not sure what they mean by the writing quality being ‘agonising’ ha ha

You can click on the title to buy the book LOOSE ENDS

The posters below show the dates and those reviewing…

Thanks for reading this post. You can check out my Substack…Click HERE for the latest newsletter. It’s all about our trip to England in August.

Writing. . . the Ups and Downs

Posted on July 23, 2024 by ninette90

As I struggle with writing my second novel I find myself in a strange situation. I don’t exactly have writer’s block, but I’m finding that I have to dig deep for the inspiration to get on with it. I often join the Writers’ Hour on the London Writers’ Salon. It’s an online silent writing session where a few hundred writers (today it’s 245) sit in their own home, coffee shop wherever and just write for 50 mins. It is an inspirational space and I’m there right now writing this blog post. I hope that when time is up this morning, I will be able to carry on writing for the following hour at least and maybe pick up that WIP (work in progress) and get on with it.

Each morning they read out a quote and this morning (23/07/2024) it was this:
“[I don’t compare myself to other writers] I think it’s really important that you do your work. Sometimes there can be a little bruised feeling when you see others shooting ahead in sales or profile. But I’m doing the thing I need to do, and doing it as well as I can. It’s a vocation: I’m doing the thing I’m for in the world; and that is a great feeling, no matter what happens.” – Melissa Harrison, in an interview with Dominic Dean

When I wrote Dear Tosh, Cathy Rentzenbrink was my mentor and she always said, ‘compare and despair’ which I think is an extremely good motto even though it’s difficult to stick to, and it doesn’t need to relate just to writing. It’s hard not to compare oneself with others but I think that’s half my problem. Instead of getting on with the writing, I’m spending too much time looking around at how ‘successful’ others are in this fickle world of publishing. Loose Ends has had some great reviews and I’m happy with the way it’s selling and getting out into the world. Of course, the promotion of it takes time and I have, for the time being, taken a short break from all that social media and ‘putting myself out there’. I will be back to that in September when, in fact, there will be a blog tour. More about that another time.

My next novel is called Frieden but that’s just a working title. I don’t think it will be released under that name because the story has changed so much since it was first conceived, the word frieden (freedom) is not relevant anymore. It’s set in Berlin Germany, from the outset to the aftermath of WW1. I have enjoyed the research for this book tremendously. I have read two contemporary diaries written by English women who were in Germany at the outbreak of the war. One is An English Wife in Berlin by Evelyn Princess Blucher and the other is Diary of Annie’s War by Annie Dröege. She too is English but married to a man of German heritage. Her story is particularly interesting because her husband Arthur was a British National living in England but when his uncle died, Arthur was the oldest living male relative and he inherited everything including a manor and vast estate in Lower Saxony Germany. He and Annie moved to the property, and were reasonably happy but when war broke out Arthur was interned because of course, he was a British National. Both of these diaries make very interesting reading and have been most helpful in my writing of the book.

Writing can be a lonely business. Another reason it’s often difficult to get going. But thank goodness most writers are gregarious and friendly. I belong to a couple of online groups who meet up every two weeks or once a month and I find these essential for sharing work, motivational conversations and just generally boosting confidence and getting rid of that inner self doubt, which we all have.

I also love joining the Writers’ Hour and I writing this blog post this morning whilst online with the LWS was the best thing I could have done. Just writing about my writing is enough to motivate me into a more proactive day and week going forward. In August we’re going to England for a couple of weeks and I must not let my writing slip into the back seat again. When I’m there I’ll be able to join the Writers’ Hour at 8am, which I must say I find a lot more convenient than the 9am – 10am in France!

I am aiming to publish my next novel in March 2025 which will be one year after I published Loose Ends if I can do it any faster I will but there’s no rush really. One book a year is enough I think. Although looking around I know others often do two or even three but . . . COMPARE AND DESPAIR — don’t do it!

My latest Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/ninettehartley/p/tdf?r
Loose Ends buy HERE
Dear Tosh (2nd edition) Buy HERE

Debut Novel, 2nd Edition of Dear Tosh and Substack. . .

Posted on June 28, 2024 by ninette90

It’s been a while since I posted a blog. I’ve been busy doing other ‘stuff’. For starters, I’ve been posting on Substack. I have so many life memories that I want to share I decided to try and build an audience where I can post anecdotes etc., about my childhood and growing up, and into adulthood. Also my move to Italy and my travels with and without The Man. The Substack is called Ninette Gabs About. You can hop over and HERE and check it out if you have’t already.

Here on my blog which I post on my website I’ll be talking more about writerly things.

So here is my latest writing news:

The sales of Loose Ends have been reasonably steady. I did a short promotion where my readers could download the e-book for nothing for a few days and that certainly woke things up. I’ve just done the same promotion for the 2nd edition of Dear Tosh and it will run from 28th June until 2nd July. The second edition is pretty much the same as the first one but with a few updates about Jpeg the dog and my whereabouts in the world right now. The 2nd edition is only available through Amazon although there may be a few copies of the first publication floating about of the in independent shops and from second hand sales. BUT if you want a free e-book version then click on this link HERE

I’m working on my second novel but things are going very slowly. I don’t know why. . . it might be the heat or maybe something to do with my age. I fluctuate between massive bouts of productivity and then nothing. I expect it’s the same with all creatives. But I have a feeling things are about to improve. . .I gave myself a deadline of the end of August to finish it and that date is now looking a little too close. Nothing like having a target date for the finishing line to get you moving!

In case you’ve forgotten what Loose Ends looks like, here’s a reminder and you can down load an e-book version for only £1.99 (or equivalent from outside the UK) by clicking HERE

Click HERE for a paperback version.

More writing next month . . . bye for now!

Milano. . . Part 2 of the Italian Trip

Posted on May 20, 2024 by ninette90

Instead of heading straight back to L’Aude from Le Marche (that sounds like the title of a book or even a song) we decided to keep heading northwards so when we got to Piacenza instead of turning left for France, we hit the road for Milan. A former dance student of mine from many years ago, had sent me a message to say that she lived in a suburb of Milan with her husband and two children and that she would love to see me again if at all possible. I hadn’t met up with her for— I don’t know how many years — and I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to catch-up.

We found a lovely apartment in Monza not far from where she lived in Villasante, and booked in for two nights as we wanted to hang out in Milan city the whole of the following day. Neither The Man nor I had ever been to Milan except to the Malpensa airport or was it Linate? I can’t remember.

I made the mistake of thinking that our apartment had secure parking which it didn’t. It did have on street parking which was fairly safe but we had The Man’s bike on the back of the car and didn’t fancy leaving it there overnight. Our kind host arranged for us to leave the bike in his garage, a few streets away, and his partner came over to walk The Man around to the block of garages with his bike, and left the key with him so that he could access the bike if needed. It was kind of them and we appreciated it. The only problem was that when we came to collect the bike on the morning we left The Man managed to open the garage door only to discover no bike! Horrors! The host rushed round to find The Man in the wrong garage! Oh dear. . .

We spent a lovely evening with Tessa, her husband, Paolo, who turned out to be a magnificent cook although a dentist by profession, I’m not sure why I should think the two skills don’t go together but. . . We also met their little daughter Clara and son Lawrie (gorgeous names). We ate pasta with an aubergine sauce followed by slow cooked stuffed pork finished on the barbecue and served with a delicious fennel salad. Wonderful.

Tessa gave us some information about trains into the centre and because we’d managed to leave the bike safely hidden away, the next day, we drove to Monza station. There was a little bit of trouble working the ticket machine but fortunately the train was late so we still caught it and within 12 minutes we were walking out of the magnificent Milan Centrale Station.

Milan:

It’s flat to walk around, the centre feels quite small and there are many roads with trees and green areas. Its streets seemed clean (at least the ones we walked down) and as the second largest city in Italy it was busy but many of the avenues are quiet. We were there on a Thursday and it was Ascension day, the area around the Duomo was particularly busy. We didn’t go into the cathedral, but another time I would definitely do that. The train was busy both in and out of the Centrale Station but the trip was short so it didn’t matter. We walked about 20,000 steps that day and enjoyed a wonderful lunch in a traditional trattoria at no great cost. After lunch we walked to the Sforzesco Castle and then took the metro back to the central Station.

Monza on the platform waiting for the late train

One day in Milan was not nearly enough. I really thought it was a beautiful city and would like to return if possible. When I was searching for a website link for the Sforzesco Castle I discovered there were a multitude of palaces and castles to choose from. The Man and I simply brushed the surface of this fascinating city which has had a long and turbulent history from the Viscontis — whose emblem is a snake swallowing a baby — to the Sforzas who controlled land way down into central Italy including Le Marche where we used to live.

	Ninette Hartley on 💯100 Days of Writing
	Jim Hawker on 💯100 Days of Writing
	Valerie Clarke on Peter May: December 20th 1951…
	Ninette Hartley on I Have Left Substack
	Anna Wooster on I Have Left Substack

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You can click on the title to buy the book LOOSE ENDS

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