AND FINALLY

My brand new life as a blogger

IT’S exciting to be able to tell you that — just ahead of publication of my new book, Lifelines — I have a brand new website. In these days of frantic activity on social media, personal websites don’t seem so popular.

But a good site is the best way to find out about somebody at leisure and catch up with the range of a writer’s work. I just don’t ‘get’ soundbites on Twitter — so don’t look for me there!

(Here I have to apologise to readers who don’t use a computer. But it ’s an essential skill in the modern world, and if my 91-year-old mother can use email and Facebook, so can anybody. Why not make now the time to learn?) Back to the website — www.

belmooney.co.uk — and I’m pleased to announce a brand new blog to act as added value for this column.

As you know, each week I choose a quotation as the Thought For The Week and readers really like this feature of the page.

Yet I can never explain why I’ve picked the words: what resonance they have for me, and hopefully for you.

Sometimes the quotation comes from a book I’m reading, sometimes it marks a particular event ( for example, the death of Cilla Black), sometimes it’s from a poem I love.

Now Bel’s Blog will focus on those words — in an illuminating and (I hope) uplifting way. So do make a point of checking out these wise words for life every Saturday.

Sometimes the blog will contain news about what I’ve been doing.

Also on the new site, as well as information about my books and a wide selection of journalism, there is a volume of short stories ( each previously published in a magazine) which you can read — for free — turning the pages like a real book.

There’s also a link to my Facebook community page ‘Bel Mooney-Writer’, which you can follow each day. This new website is my way to extend communication with my readers, and I hope you enjoy it all.