As we approach the end of Lockdown Nr. 2, we have another Achievement story that really only happened when the hoomans were confined to their homes.
This is a story of how Dante and DeDe’s dad took the idea of writing stories about CamberDoodles for the local Rye Newspaper to publishing a book!
We even have a mention as DeDe ponders which of the Darcy&George coats she would wear!!!
So excited that these stories will soon become a book. And all because of lockdown.
Who else has done something during Lockdown that you would never have had the time to do?
May’s comment: This is another positive outcome of Lockdown.
We know James, Frank and their doodles from our Hyde Park Doodles meet-ups when they lived in London.
Since moving to Camber Sands, they have started the sister group meet – Camberdoodles. Here is James’s account of how his weekly stories of these doodle friends became a book project during lockdown.
My work at a national Charity can be stressful and the hour long journey home is my time to take a deep breath and relax. As my mind drifted off I often wondered what the dogs had been up to that day. I started to imagine what they might have done with their friends. I found it therapeutic to slip into a world where ’the famous five’ meet ‘Pooh Bear’. It didn’t take long before I found myself holding a notebook and pen, and the Camberdoodles were born.
At first I wrote for amusement but when our Camber Sands Doodle Friends reached 500, it seemed a good idea to share the adventures with our local paper, The Rye News.
If lockdown hadn’t happened I think this is where my story would end, but lockdown did happen and my adventures began.
Early in April I was admitted to hospital with appendicitis, which although normally a simple operation turned into a bit of a drama in the COVID19 NHS world. The end result being I was signed off work for six weeks to recuperate. This time away from the daily grind provided me the perfect opportunity to spend more time with our dogs Dante and DeDe and write more stories.
Shortly after returning home I was talking to a friend who was creating a website for his counselling practice. It didn’t take long before I was discussing the possibilities of doing the same for The Camberdoodles with the web designer.
It was the perfect place to save all the stories in sequence and showcase the brilliant drawings by Vicki Batt that accompany every story. To date the stories were intertwined with local news of Rye and the surrounding villages. As I progressed with the website I began to wonder if I was kidding myself by dreaming of being a writer, these stories were simple and lets face it, very ‘niche’. Who outside our Cambersands Doodles friends would want to read them?
Our group enjoyed them because they could identify with the characters. All the doodles in the stories are real doodles I love and our dogs know well.
I try to capture their characters and the characters of their Furless Two Legs, as Camberdoodles call their owners. But outside the group, who would really be interested?
During my period of self doubt, May wrote a blog about the writing coach, Ashley Brown, explaining how all writers need help and encouragement on the lonely journey writers some times find themselves on. Again Lockdown was my friend, I was off work and able to book five sessions with Ashley so she could tell me whether I was a writer or not. Ashley’s positivity propelled me back to enthusiasm and every week she handed me ‘jewels on a plate’.
This Christmas we will publish our twentieth story. Vicki and I have agreed that when we get to 24 we will take a break and focus on publishing our first book.
Who would have thought we would have come this far, from a few lines for the Local paper to a website and a book? Thank you Lockdown 2020!
Good luck James! We cannot wait to see your book published!
