Penny's Website

After messing up my website the other day, I took the plunge and revamped the whole thing this week.  I felt that the old sandy coloured background was out of date now, so have changed the whole thing to a more up-to-date, off-white coloured background with elegant swirly buttons.  Anyway, if you fancy having a peek, here is the address: www.pennylegg.com Feedback is welcome!

Borders Bookshop, Australia

I was absolutely delighted to find that, although we have lost Borders bookshop here in the UK, overseas it is still a going concern. Even more importantly from my point of view, my book, Folklore of Hampshire, is on sale in Borders Australia.

Good, eh?

folklore of Hampshire by Penny Legg - Unveiled!

Hot off the presses comes the front cover of my book, Folklore of Hampshire, which comes out in July.  I love it!  It is my favourite colour and I have written about several nautical items in the book, so the front engraving is entirely appropriate.  I am now looking forward to holding the real thing in my hand!

It seemed like a good idea...

Yes, last night it seemed like a good idea to update my website - www.pennylegg.com.  I had neglected it for ages and it was about time it got a facelift.  The only trouble is that I thought I would do it on my husband's laptop, whilst watching TV with him.  Big mistake.

I downloaded the site builder software and transferred my site on to it but it did not pick up some of the photographs and the presentation was all to pot.  I spent hours last night trying to put it right and will have to do the same today to bring it back up to scratch.  Rats!

Morale of the tale: work on your own computer, so you don't have to download anything, and don't do it while distracted by scary spider films late at night!

A morning in the life of Penny Legg...

Bright and early this morning - 06.15 to be precise - I was camera in hand for a photoshoot at the Bitterne police station in Southampton.  I am working on my next book, Southampton Then and Now, and was re-creating a 1960s image of a line of police cars coming out of the station, being directed by a uniformed policeman in the street.  

As times have changed and health and safety regulations have come into force, we had to recreate the shot in the early morning, before there were too many cars about, as we needed to shut the road briefly.  I had taken along a reflective jacket, which managed to make me look ten times my usual bulky self, but did do the trick as it was still getting light when we started to set up the shot.  My husband, on his way to work, stopped to watch and took the shot above of me in action.

I have to say a big thank you to Sgt Ashthorpe and Sgt Selby at the Bitterne station for their cheerful co-operation, and to the Police Constables behind the wheels of the four cars involved.  A big thank you too to Derek Stevens and Paul Stickler at the Hampshire Constabulary Historical Society for setting up this and other such photography opportunities for me, for this and other books.  

A New Blog is Born - Southampton Then and Now

I have today set up a new blog for my book, Southampton Then and Now.  In the process I found that the name had been changed on Amazon to reflect the name change from its former title, Southampton Past and Present.  This is a good move, as I have had one or two puzzled people ask me about it!

I am still working on this book, so if anyone has any old photographs of any aspect of Southampton, which may be suitable to be re-photographed to present a then and now pairing, I would very much like to hear of them.  I am particularly looking for a photograph of the old pier and more photographs showing people at their place of work.

In the meantime, this book comes out at the beginning of October.

Penny Legg in Writers' Forum magazine!

I see that Dina La Vardera's article on 'How not to behave at a writing workshop' has been published in the March edition of Writers' Forum. I am especially pleased to see this article as Dina came to me for assistance with it and I was able to give her an insight into workshops from a tutor's point of view. The article is humorous and interesting and is, I think, thought provoking. It is good to see it given a double page spread and it was kind of Dina to mention my forthcoming book, Folklore of Hampshire, which arrives in the shops in July.