There I was at Writer’s Group, staring at a blank piece of paper and unable to write a word that made any sense at all. I’ve been in the group for a while. There’s no pressure to perform. The plan works like this. We gather at a pub room and then a subject is given. We then have some time to write to the subject. I found it impossible last night. As everyone else, there were about 12 in the group, typed and scribbled away I found it quite impossible to think of anything worthwhile. So I fell back on the drawing.

I’ve been doing a series for Cotswold Life, which is like a wildlife guide. Not unnaturally this is called Cotswold Wildlife. I’d seen someone in town the other day and I thought she’d make a good subject. Here she is in rough form before this morning’s second effort.

With the second and in the cold light of day I’ve refined ( or ruined, depending on your view ) the fruits of last nights scribbling.

I started by calling the breed ” The Beaky Shopper”. Not sure about that, I’m now using “The Urban Trolley Shopper”. I’ve roughed out the text to go with the image and to save you the trouble of trying to read my writings here on the drawing it goes something  like this:

The Urban Trolley Shopper

Urban. Bird-like female of the species. Occasional males can sometimes be seen close by looking confused, close to shelves of unknown products. ( Unknown to them )

Female carries foraged supplies back to the nest in a a ‘shopping trolley’ which renders her entirely invisible to young.

In very wet weather the female of the species may don a plastic bag contraption to the head. Frequents supermarket areas only.

Call: Female can sometimes be heard gently muttering, as does the male, who will occasionally utter very loudly: ” How much???”

I’ll be working on the final a little later, but if you want to see the rest in the series then feel free to fly over to here.  Where you can buy prints of any of the completed ones.

I’ve had three visitors this morning, one from the USA, one from Romania, and another from China. I wonder what they will make of my stuff.

If you are in the Cheltenham area and you are keen on writing then I’d recommend the Montpelier Writer’s Group. It’s a convivial crowd and a good way to hear what other writers are doing and exactly how good some of them are. What they produce in half an hour from a standing start, is quite amazing sometimes. In my case last night it was just good to listen. Find out more right here.