Hurricane Sandy. Praying for the people who live on the East Coast of America

HURRICANE SANDY

Thinking about, and praying for, the safety of our friends on the East Coast of America

New York called off school today, Monday, for the city's 1.1 million students and shut down all train, bus and subway service Sunday night.  More than 5 million, workers (doctors, nurses, shop, factory and office workers) a day depend on the transit system to get around the city. 

Hurricane Sandy is about 425 miles southeast of New York City.  From Washington to Boston, Sandy will cause havoc.  And New York could get the worst of it.  In the metropolitan area of about 20 million people could be hit with an 11-foot wall of water.  Reports from Ocean City state warn that sea levels could rise 8 feet above normal - enough to flood much of the city.  And New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned, "If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you.  This is a serious and dangerous storm."

Speaking about acting and theatre at Lutterworth WI

  

The Women’s Institute, Lutterworth

                   Speaker Madalyn Morgan

In September the secretary of the Lutterworth Women’s Institute asked me if I would give a talk to the members about being a writer.  I was surprised, and honoured, and said yes immediately.  Because the WI starts organising its diary for the coming year six months in advance, I was booked for February 2013.  However, the following week, the secretary asked if I could bring my talk forward to October 11^th, as the speaker they had booked for that night had to pull out.  

 I was delighted and again said yes.  But, instead of giving a talk about being a writer, I suggested I took some theatre posters, photographs and costumes along, and spoke about being an actress, which I have been for more than thirty years.  That way I could still speak about writing in February.  And hopefully by then my novel will be published.

        
Margot Lester, Vanessa Redgrave, Madalyn Morgan in Antony and Cleopatra at The Theatre Royal, The Haymarket, London.

*

The women of Lutterworth’s WI were a great audience.  I’ve spoken about the acting profession and my career as an actress several times before, and found that if I don’t take myself seriously, which I don’t do anyway, I have fun and the audience has fun too.  

I was introduced as Madalyn Smith, my birth name, which most people in my hometown know me by.  It was a great introduction because it took me straight into how I got my stage name.  There was already an actress called Madeleine Smith in Equity, when I joined, so I chose Morgan from a bottle of Captain Morgan’s rum in my dad’s pub.  There was already a Madalyn Bell (Bell’s whiskey) and I didn’t think Smirnoff (vodka) had the same tasteful ring to it.  So, in 1976 I became, Madalyn Morgan.

I laughed as I talked about the fun things, strange things, and good things that had happened since 1976 – and the ladies of Lutterworth’s WI laughed with me.  Sadly, I didn’t take a photograph of them.

The poster on the left is of an adaptation of, George Orwell’s book, Down And Out In Paris and London, which I did at The Latchmere Theatre, in London.  I took over the female lead with thirty-six hours’ notice. 

 

How the WI began

In 1897 Adelaide Hunter Hoodless (1858-1910), a Canadian from St. George in Ontario founded the Women’s Institute.  She also introduced domestic science programmes into the school curricula, was a co-founder of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), and the National Council of Women.

The Women's Institute Movement in Britain was formed during the First World War.  It started in 1915 to encourage women in rural areas to grow and preserve food, in order to “increase food production for a war-torn nation.”
                                                                                                          ADELAIDE HUNTER HOODLESS

The WI contributed enormously to the Home Front.  From the outbreak of war in 1939 they co-operated by caring for evacuees.  But, as in the First World War, the main contribution was in growing and preserving food.  Between 1940 and 1945 over 5,300 tons of fruit was preserved.  Almost twelve million pounds of fruit that, without the WI, would have been wasted.  It was for this work in the war that the WI members became renowned – and the 'jam' image has stuck ever since.

I read recently that EU legislation states, all food for sale must be packaged in safe materials.  Nothing wrong with that!  However, as glass is permeable, the EU said jars should not be recycled and used for jam, if the jam is going to be sold, not even for charity. 

(What a load of rubbish.  My words not the words of the WI.)

 Since the end of the war, the organisation’s aims have increased.  They play a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities, giving them the chance to learn new skills, take part in a wide variety of activities, and campaign on issues important to them and their communities.

Currently, with over 210,000 members in around 6,600 WI Groups, the WI is the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK.  In 2015, it will be celebrating its Centenary.  
     

The Rhythm Riders at The Shambles, Saturday October 13th

The Rhythm Riders

 

  Paul guitar, Deano sax, Matt singer, Garf on drums, Mike bass guitar

What a night!
The Rhythm Riders at the Shambles in Lutterworth on Saturday October 13th rocked!  Literally!  They played from 9 until midnight to a packed house.  Eveyone was dancing, even the landlady.  And when the gig ended, there were so many calls for more, that they played on, and on, and on. 

It was the band's new singer, Matt's debut at the Shambles - and the audience loved him.  It was evident too that Matt loved fronting the band.                                             
                                                                                                       
It was fantastic. The band was loud - and it was good. Rock, and Rhythm and Blues, with a saxophone. I think the sax, with its powerful and sexy sound, adds something very special to an R & B Band.                                                                                           

                                                 
                                                                Deano on saxaphone                                       

Madalyn Morgan's Fiction Blog: The Next Big Thing!

The Next Big Thing!  Click to read what my next big thing is.

Madalyn Morgan's Fiction Blog: The Next Big Thing! APPLAUSE
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King Arthur: King of the Britons, Dux Bellorum, Man or Myth

King Arthur by Madalyn Morgan - October 2012

Caerleon some say is Camelot

 

Click below to read

http://www.madalynmorgan.com/2012 Autumn Edition - King Arthur - Madalyn Morgan.pdf

Discovery Day 22nd Sept 2012

 

 

Video of Discovery Day click link below and arrow down

 

http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/new-curtis-brown-creative-website-launched/

 

 

 

 

 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony and London 2012  

 

                       The Olympics and the Paralympics are over. But in the words of Dr Seuss:

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened

Celebrating Händel – The Man and His Music

 

Click on the link below for

http://www.madalynmorgan.com/USERIMAGES/Handel's%20Anniversary%201.doc

Four Hundredth Anniversary of The King James Bible



Click on link below

 

http://www.madalynmorgan.com/USERIMAGES/KJB%20Article.pdf

 

 

The Telling Thump Of It. Writing Magazine April 2012

Woken at 8 am by the telling thump of my manuscript as it landed on my doormat.  



The Telling Thump  Of It

by

Madalyn Morgan

I was woken by the Postman this morning. Not directly by the Postman, but by a dull thump as something heavy landed on the hall mat. Now what could that be I thought, a telephone directory? Or maybe it’s a clothes catalogue. A telephone directory wouldn’t go through the letterbox and I don’t buy clothes from catalogues. No, I knew by the telling thump of it what it was. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, to prepare myself for the standard rejection letter that begins, Thank you for your recent letter, which in my case was a synopsis, the first three chapters of my novel, proposal and CV – seventy pages, which I sent in August 2011, it is now January 2012.

To delay the inevitable, I spent as long as I could in the bathroom, vacating it only when I couldn’t stand the cold any longer. Two outside walls and a large window, brrrrrrr – I ran into the bedroom and dressed. From the top of the stairs I saw an A4 envelope. Not any old A4 envelope – but a heavy duty, expandable, light manila, self-seal, A4 envelope – the type you can only afford to buy two of, at any one time. One to send your dreams off and one to bring them back, if you’re not lucky. Anyway, it had to be opened, so I ran down stairs, picked the envelope up and took it into the kitchen. I laid it on the table face up and noticed the stamps didn’t have any black marks on them. Bonus! I can use them again I thought while I made a jug of coffee.

After two cups of my morning kick-me-up, which was strong enough to put a zing into a rhinoceros, I opened the envelope and took out my baby. I read the apology for responding with a standard letter, which is standard, as is the excuse of ‘a small client base’, which is why they are not taking on any new clients. I Googled their client base and it is anything but small, but I digress. The third paragraph said (forgive the paraphrasing), if you would like our book on how to present your work and get a literary agent please send a cheque, etc., etc. Their self-help book, which was once my writing bible, has been gathering dust on my bookshelf for five years. I wondered about writing to them and telling them this, but then I realised that the book suggestion was also standard. So, the standard letter ended with the standard phrase, Good luck finding the right agent for your work.

Bless! Well, to wish someone good luck in their endeavour is better than wishing them bad luck – even if it is standard. Anyway, enough of my cynicism. If anyone reads this short story, please know that after I had written it, after I had vented my anger in words, which is the best way to vent anger – the pen is mightier, and all that – my disappointment had waned, and I felt more determined than ever to get my novel out there. So, as soon as I can afford two more heavy duty, expandable, light manila, self-seal, A4 envelopes... Only joking.

Foxden Acres Book Cover

Synopsis of Foxden Acres 

 On the eve of 1939, twenty-year-old Bess Dudley leaves the library at Foxden Hall and encounters James Foxden.

     James is the heir to the Foxden Estate, Bess the daughter of the head groom.  Bess is a scholarship girl, lodging at Mrs McAllister’s boarding house while training in London to become a teacher.  She has the brains, the determination and the ambition to transcend barriers of class and gender.

     With offers of a teaching job in London and Lowarth in Leicestershire, Bess opts for Lowarth in order to be near James who has joined the RAF and is stationed locally.  When she learns that James is engaged to Annabel Hadleigh, (who is his social equal) Bess returns to London, to her first teaching post and to good friends.  Within a few weeks an encounter with a rapist changes her life, and takes away hopes of love forever.

     War breaks out and London’s schoolchildren are evacuated.  Bess leaves her job and returns to Foxden, at James’s request.  While James trains to be an RAF bomber pilot at a nearby airfield, Bess turns Foxden Acres into arable land with the help of an Army of Land Girls.

     Soon the Blitz is setting London aflame.  The Midlands too is scarred by war: conflict in the air increases and Polish airmen crash land in a Foxden field.  Bess’s brother escapes from Dunkirk.  While he recovers in a hospital in Kent, he meets and falls in love with Annabel Hadleigh.  

     On a visit to London Bess finds her old lodgings blitzed to rubble and Mrs McAllister missing.  Bess persuades her homeless housemates, and the children of Jewish friends, to leave London for the safety of Foxden. 

Traditional social barriers come crashing down when Flying Officer James Foxden falls in love with Bess.  Before he embarks on a dangerous mission over Germany, he asks Bess to marry him on his return, but he is killed.

     Bess is distraught but the war has taught her that there are many kinds of love.  When the war has ended and her work on the Foxden estate is done, she knows she must let go of the past and move on.  She opens her heart to an old friend who has loved her for many years.

100th Anniversary of The Sinking of The Titanic

 

Click on link below to read article

 

                   https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9S4KxXcdlHHd0ZwWXFKTWw5UEE

St. Joan of Arc St. Peter's Review Feb 2012

Joan of Arc, "Emigma, Warrior, Heretic, Martyr and Saint" 

The Six Hundredth Anniversary of St Joan of Arc.   

Click - to read the article about, Joan of Arc

Changing the name of my novel

From Foxden Acres to Letting Go.

Decided to keep the original title.