About Me
‘That’s an unusual gift to give a teacher’ you’re probably thinking.
But it was from my own grown up daughter, so all is forgiven.
However, it is a direct quote from a five year old in my then class, who was getting very frustrated with the intricacies of the English language. Apparently it was my fault that the English language “is stupid.”
Whilst trying to hide my laughter, I felt I had little ground to stand on.
He had a point.
Little did I know that he had sown a seed for a book, set in a primary school…
The observant will have spotted that I have chosen to write under my maiden name, only because Arnot with one T, is unusual, and I haven’t wanted to lose it completely.
Why Did I Start Writing?
Retirement hit hard.
I thought that I would be excited.
But actually it was very quiet, and I found that I was not laughing any more.
I literally woke up in the middle of the night, and started to recall many of the funny things that had happened over my teaching career, particularly the comical things that the young children did and said.
I just thought, “I’m going to write a book.”
After a couple of false starts, and conversations with people who were already authors, my journey began…
My Debut Novel
Mrs Belvedere gave the appearance of calm. Always.
But was she really?
Infuriated by yet another ‘new’ initiative from the government. Phonics. Or should that be ‘fonix’. Oh, and her school was awaiting a telephone call from OFSTED.
Mrs Belvedere has a reliable and supportive team around her. Well, most of them are anyway. The caretaker seemed to have forgotten how to enjoy his job. The Head teacher was always very busy doing important things.
She deals with minor irritations with a wry smile. It used to be with a spring in her step, but those days were gone. She is done with springing. She leaves that to the younger teachers.
Observe how she negotiates her way through the academic year with the arrival of a fresh-faced new cohort of children, to the very last day of term. Stiff drink anyone?