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17th May 2010
Kilimanjaro Trek - 17th to 26th September 2010
Please - we need sponsorship!!!!
Ok, so here's a picture of a mountain, and, not at all co-incidentally, we have to climb it. And there's apparently no lifts to be had on the backs of giraffes either - despite what you see - as they are too busy snarfing down acacia leaves to bother themselves with charitable pursuits. We, on the other hand, are committed to this thing, and to that end, we badly need support.
At 19,340 feet above sea level, Mount Kilimanjaro in north-eastern Tanzania is the tallest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. We’ll be climbing for 9 days for an average of 7 hours per day, in the same clothes with no washing or toilet facilities, to reach the summit where it will be around -30° degrees. At this point, the standard presentation normally says 'that must be worth a few quid!' , but I feel that doesn't quite do it justice. There will be ants, possibly up legs and in orifices, and almost definitely making homes in our sleeping bags. There will be extreme heat, extreme cold and also the strong possiblity of getting altitude sickness, and being very very ill, without benefit of Nick Knowles in a helicopter. There will be toileting issues of gargantuan proportions, for me, if not for him with the tubey bit. There will definitely be not a drop of wine for many miles, and there will probably be tinned sweetcorn in something. Now that, I'm sure you'll agree - especially if you're female - IS worth at least 50p, surely. And if you gift-aid it, it will be worth...ummm. 62p? Whatever. The main thing is please, please please sponsor me :)))
Okay, it's a bit bald and a bit beggy (I know that's not a word, but it should be) but it's also very heartfelt, and just a teeny bit desperate - we have just two months left to hand our sponsorship money in and the days are passing scarily fast now...
So I you can spare a few minutes of your time, and a few quid, your support - we are raising money for breast cancer research - and would be very, very, very, very much appreciated. All you have to do is to click on this link www.justgiving.com/lynneandpete and you'll be transported to the site where they just love to take your money, and whiz it straight to where it's needed to beat cancer.
Now, as always, back to the home page i.e. the bit regular visitors will have already read...
I always start with a list. No, those aren't my words but those of my very first full-length fictional heroine, Julia Potter, who begins her journey by having a damn good spring clean.Which is where life, as it so often does, imitates art, because those of you who've ventured down this byway before will know that spring cleaning is something I've been up to myself, which is why this website, though green, is no longer green, and why, rather as with Sainsbury's, everything's moved once again.
The reference to Julia isn't random, however, because this being my homepage, and therefore the first one you come to, it behoves me (in the interests of both book sales and lexical diversity) to let you know that she's had a bit of a make-over too, in the form of having got herself a lovely new jacket. you can get her - indeed, any of my published titles - via Amazon by simply clicking on the shop link to your left.But whatever your proclivities - whether you’ve come as avid reader, fellow writer, or just as someone who fetched up here whilst looking for an affordable and attractive new home of character in a semi rural setting (that’s Barratt with an ‘a’ you’ll be wanting, incidentally), I hope you’ll find something in these pages to interest, amuse or inspire you.
So, what is on here, exactly? First timers might be interested to read first chapters, so I’ve included those of all my novels, in the hopes that you’ll enjoy them and (somewhat self-evidently) want to buy the books. There’s also a selection of my short stories and journalistic endeavours, some writing related articles for the creatively afflicted, and all the sorts of things you’d expect to find on a writer’s website. Twitterings and crowings various, news about projects, links to other sites I like, including the ubiquitous and afore-mentioned Amazon, plus Women's Own, the weekly column I write for the Western Mail Magazine. (The Western Mail being the national newspaper of Wales, for those of you not lucky enough to live here). It replaces the blog that used to fill that page. And is a whole lot more coherent. I hope.
Thanks for coming.
Lynne Barrett-Lee
June 07