Lisa Horner Writer & Artist

The Witchfinder's Sister , originally a book by Beth Underdown that was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick, was adapted for the stage by Vickie Donoghue and is being shown at Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch.  This Thursday night was our first outing to the theatre since the outbreak of coronavirus in March 2020.  We opted for a socially distanced seating evening. It was totally fitting for Halloween season.  We sat at the edge of our seats as the moody stage design and atmospheric music brought us into the beginning of the play.   Picture Essex in 1645, specifically Manningtree.  The whole atmosphere has the audiences blood turning to ice.  After the tragic accidental death of her husband, Alice Hopkins heads back to the small town she grew up in, home to her brother and the secrets that surrounded their childhood. Alice discovers that the dark fearful atmosphere in town is down to her brother who has changed radically.  A reign of hysterical terror ab...

It was lovely talking to Denise today, the owner of Craft Arena, the very successful craft shop which hosts workshops and individual lessons and also has a lovely gallery space called Alchemy Gallery . I've talked to Denise on a number of occasions over the years when I've popped into her shop at Barleylands Craft Village.  She's been there fourteen years and she has always been very friendly and relatable.  You can find out more about what she does from  her website: -  https://www.craftarena.co.uk/

  Earlier this year in May I interviewed Irie Perera, poet and avid charity fundraiser.  She has written this wonderful children's book to raise money for one of her favourite charities, The Scar Free Foundation .  It was published on the 3rd of October 2021.   Please support Irie and purchase a book from here .  Thank you in advance.

It was great to chat to such a passionate and purposeful pair of young women who actually started their Eco Essex Facebook page when they were having their babies.  They set up the group in 2018 and it just grew and grew.  Realising what potential it had to make a difference they kept on expanding it.  They work exceptionally hard, Eco Essex Business is Sam's passion, she also does Eco business workshops and Eco business mentoring.  Hannah's specialism is Eco Essex Sustainable Sanitary Wear. It was great to finally speak to them as we had to rearrange our first podcast.  Listen to our conversation.  You think you're eco-aware?  There is so much more to learn!  Eco Essex Facebook Page Eco Essex Rehome, Reuse, Repurpose Facebook Page. Eco Essex YouTube Channel

I have the philosophy that summer holidays should be a bit more chilled compared to the rest of the year.  Well, this year we did go on holiday!  Yay!!  We are holiday appreciators and one year out was enough in our eyes, although I know many still holidayed last year, come what may.  We did four days in Rye, East Sussex, exploring the historic town and around, and then we did six days in Tintagel in Cornwall.  As Neil suffers from arthritis we stayed in Ashcott in Somerset for a night after visiting my aunt in Marlow then drove onto Tintagel the next morning.  On the way back we stayed in Glastonbury in Somerset to break up the journey.  I feel like I've stretched my wings and am satisfied now. Straight after my holiday I was a speaker at Radical Histories of Basildon Part 2.  It was an event that brought together community groups, local activists, writers and historians in discussions about Basildon's history.  As a speaker I was to reflec...

  Tickets are free but you must register! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/radical-histories-of-basildon-part-2-tickets-167761606481?aff=ebdsoporgprofile https://www.lisajhorner.com/

I felt enormously privileged that Ian Eagleton spared his time to have a conversation with me today.  His book, ' Nen and the Lonely Fisherman ' that was illustrated by James Mayhew and published by Owlett Press has been much lauded.  It was even narrated for the publishers by Stephen Fry!  So you can imagine how excited I was when he agreed to do a podcast with me! We had a wonderful conversation where I asked probing and fun questions and Ian revealed quite a lot.  He has been busy in these times of lockdowns and has also written another book which is due to be published in September, ' Violet's Tempest ', it is illustrated by Clara Anganuzzi and will be published by Lantana Publishing. Ian is a teacher and an education consultant and he is the director of The Reading Realm .  I asked the question, "What books do you recommend to parents of 4 - 12 year olds?"  Ian gave me very comprehensive answers, showing me some of his recommended books, but he also s...

Do you need to know something about Laindon or Langdon Hills history?  Well, Ken's your man.  Some describe him as the font of all knowledge of the area and some say, "Oh yeah!  Ken's a real character".   I'm certainly pleased to have been pointed in his direction when I was approached by Amberley Publishing to do Basildon Through Time , they told me to contact Ken and with the other volunteers of Basildon Borough Heritage Group , including Jo Cullen and at that time, Denise Rowling, I was in good hands and was given great direction towards creating my first local history book. Recently, Ken has produced three books, he's always got a book on the go.  We talked about his books,  Basildon's Famous People Volume Two, Poems and a Brief History of Laindon & Surrounding District, and Joan Rosaire, Lady of the Circus. He is the Chairman and Treasurer of the Basildon Borough Heritage Group and also helps run the Laindon & District Community Archi...

I visited The Sustainability Store in Summerhills off Pipps Hill Road, Basildon.  I'll admit my only purchase was a pack of 'Moonie' Reusable Cotton Pads, 7 in a pack and made of biodegradable brushed cotton, so much better than using the alternative cotton wool throw-away pads.  But I will go back to  The Sustainability Store  with my empty washing-up liquid bottle and washing detergent and conditioner bottles. I'll probably alternate going here with  Nic Eco Before I planned to talk to Rachel and Cherry from Eco Colnes   &   Halstead I actually thought that we were doing all we could to be sustainable, how wrong was I!  On the plus side we never buy fruit in plastic bags, we either put the fruit loose or in paper bags.  But we were kidding ourselves as there is so much more we can do still.  I had the idea that rather than buy cheese in plastic from the shelves you could get it from the delicatessen and bring your own cont...

The tables were truly turned today as I have been twice interviewed by Tony Stratton on Basildon Hospital Radio, once on his own programme and the other he does with Jeremy Suffolk, all to do with my local history books. They've certainly been talking to some top celebrities on their show, two members of Slade, Annette Andre, Miriam Margoyles, who of course is often on our screens today with her cheeky humour.  Also, Britt Eckland, Jess Conrad and Michelle Monroe, daughter of Matt Monroe, to name a few. BHR 87.7 (Basildon Hospital Radio), which was made an FM radio station in the first lockdown, has been voted the second most  listened to hospital radio in the country. This book was written by the Basildon Writers' and Jacqui James, the chair of Basildon Hospital Radio.  All proceeds go to Basildon Hospital Radio -  It happened in Essex:Tall tales from the Basildon Writers'   I hasten to add I bought it and it was a really good read! https://www.lisajhorner.com...

  I had a really great chat with Rachel Sprunt and Cherry McKean from Eco Colnes and Halstead and Incredible Edible Earls Colne .  They have an amazing green message that needs to spread far and wide and influence and inspire more people to take similar steps.  Although we do a certain amount of things to be eco-friendly I'm now inspired to do more.  I also intend to go to charity shops, that is something I've held back on, it's a great way to recycle clothes and support a charity, and as Rachel and Cherry said they need the financial input more than ever after the pandemic! I've also recently listened to David Attenborough's audio book, 'A Life on Our Planet' and know from this that changes must be made.  When we watch the news and see the damage that we've done to the planet we have to take responsibility but I also think we have been learning so that we have to have a little compassion for ourselves, I say a little because now we must do all we can ...

I was fortunate enough to find Geraldine Evans on social media when I was researching for my book, Lost Basildon.  What a lady!  With some really amazing stories about The Barge and Vange's history.  Her family had ran the pub which has also been known as The Old Barge Inn for seventy years!  It all started when her paternal aunt wanted to escape London to the then countryside of Vange and on the 20th May 1937 she paid £2,643.06 for the lease of the pub and its surrounding land.  I contributed four pages to The Barge and also a couple of pages to Geraldine as the Pitsea and Vange Carnival Queen of 1967 in the entertainment section.  She also let me have a copy of a picture of Doughy Saunders on horseback heading up the Vange Carnival procession dressed as John Bull. After meeting Geraldine with her treasure of stories I knew that there was more that could be done so as I was on a writing course for The Writers Bureau and I needed to write an article I ju...

Spinning has been part of James Perry's life for 17 years now.  This progressed onto dyeing and weaving.  Internationally published in two magazines and he has also written many articles for UK magazines on this subject that he has become an expert on.  He also teaches workshops in the UK and when possible he would like to teach them abroad too.  S1 E14  https://www.facebook.com/Longdrawjames-spindles-and-fiber-arts-101377348460863/ https://instagram.com/longdrawjames?utm_medium=copy_link https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Ashenflock

  At the moment I am reading Tom King's Thames Estuary Trail , the original version and peeking into Sylvia Kent's Folklore of Essex, that will be my next read.  I've also got Jim Reeves book, Memories of Basildon lined up for after Sylvia's book.  As well as this, whenever I get the chance I am listening to A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough on Audible.  He narrates it, which makes it very real and sometimes it really gets to me how our planet has gone downhill in his lifetime.  I think reading Tom King's witty, laugh-out-loud book that has inspired the Estuary Festival creates a good balance and stops me getting too down.  The second edition can be purchased here .  By the way I noticed that fellow history author, Sylvia Kent has reached her 400,000th viewer of her blog that has been going since 2005/6 which is amazing!  She wrote a post about it, I would too!  If you're wondering, this blog has had 15,569 viewers and has been goin...

I met Tracy Vine when I was finishing my degree at Writtle University College, the area where we studied was then called Writtle School of Design.  It was an unusual set-up, three years all in one large classroom, but it worked!   Since I've known Tracy it has become clear that she has found her forte in life and has grown from strength to strength.  After leaving with a 1st class Digital, Fine Art and Design degree she went on to do a Masters in Art Research and from there has worked on several art/photography projects working with local charities and school children.  Something that she has done, which was quite unexpected, is designing public art installations and she is working on a new one now.  Enjoy the podcast which has plenty of tips for art students. http://tracyvine.co.uk/ Tracy was a finalist for Rankin's 'World Photography Project'.  Out of 72,000 she was in the top 6 under the category for 'Fun'. Ghost Town Mr Crosby Hedingham Castle

I hot-footed it over to Basildon to see what the OPEN LAB project was all about.  Well.. actually, my husband dropped me off.  It's all very exciting!  I managed to talk to five of the seven project leaders on this, the very first day of this arty Basildonian experiment. I spoke to: - Mike Young of FINGERPRINTS OF BASILDON   Hunt and Darton of KIDS BUSINESS.   George from WHEN I SAY ESSEX, WHAT DO YOU SEE?   Mark Massey from NEW TOWN PORTRAITS.   A young man from 6ftStories at THE TAT MODERN.  Listen to the good people explain in their own words what their projects are about on this podcast.  More can be learnt from their website: - https://open-lab.co.uk/ Magical Creatures Fingerprints of Basildon Kids Business When I Say Essex, What Do You See? New Town Portraits The Tat Modern Basildon Audio Visual Music Machine I also visited the Eastgate Art Gallery where I met, artist, Matt Layton.