WHAT A WRITE MONTH!
Oh the season of mellow fruitfulness and scooping the seeds and stuff out of pumpkins. It’s the perfect ending to a fantastic month and the first time I’ve been at home for Halloween in four years. Actually, I have spent the best part of October at home on writing leave, it has been a treat! In the spirit of self-indulgence, which I think is vital every so often, I thought that this month, I would tell you a little of what I’ve been up to, apart from picking pumpkin seeds off the kitchen floor and looking up soup recipes for the discarded flesh.
I am thrilled to have made real headway in writing two books…you wait years for one to come along and then…
The first is called Jump in the Water’s Lovely and is a personal reflection on change and leadership. I am really trying to understand the nature of change for both people and organisations. I have been exploring the crucial issues of vision and empowerment; areas that have been driving my work over the last few years and have become key elements of my speaking work and of my unique collaboration with Think Again Media and David Bell (www.thinkagaineducation.co.uk), more of which I’ll tell you about in the months to come. I am determined to make Jump in a very human and readable exploration of the change process and hope that by this time next year, it’s available for you all to buy. If anyone would like to read the introduction; which explains the title, please feel free to email me richard@richardgerver.com and I’ll send it to you.
The second is a novel that I have wanted to write for the best part of ten years called The World Between. It’s funny really, because it has been playing out in my head for so long and I’m not entirely sure what finally made me start work on it… It may be that I haven’t written any fiction since I was at University and was scared that I wouldn’t be able to do it. I am glad I have begun though; I’m finding it a relaxing and strangely cathartic process. It’s the story of teenage girl who through a series of life changing events learns about the world beyond her own protected experiences; I think that in part, it’s an ode to my daughter.
As the month comes to an end, it’s time to dust down my passport and head back out on the road. Over the next few weeks I will be in assorted destinations around the UK, Spain, Sweden, the US, New Zealand and Australia, so if anyone wants me to come and work with them in any of these places please let me know.