ANOTHER INTRODUCTION TO A NEW FRIEND, THE CLEVER TECH LADY IN BILLERICAY HIGH STREET

Although I bought my first computer in 1984 (in those days, Lord Sugar was the main computer provider). His office was then based across the road to my office Ewing House at 130 Kings Road Brentwood, Essex. Our computer screens then were an odd shade of green with very little memory. I have always tried to keep up with each tech innovation as it was introduced, but have difficulty these days in keeping up with technology.

However, these days, the business of learning how to use new digital pieces of machinery is not as easy for me as in those long-ago decades. So, how lovely to meet Humaira Adam in her super little shop BSmash in Billericay High Street. Here she explains quietly and patiently all the aspects of my new phone and other digital equipment needed to carry on with my job as an author, columnist and archivist. Many thanks to lovely Humaira for her patience and kindness and, of course, expert digital knowledge.

MEETING OTHER AUTHORS - LISA HORNER

I do enjoy meeting other writers and learning how they first entered this strange writerly world of ours. So, it is with great pleasure that I introduce my followers to yet another of my author friends, Lisa Horner, who is an accomplished artist as well as being a published author of two best-selling books.  She is a familiar face at Billericay Library, where she works.

 

When interviewed recently, Lisa said:

'Writing is something I started later in life. Before this, fitting around family life, I worked through quite a few art courses, culminating in a Degree in Art and Design. I did find that the areas that I shone in on my degree course was writing and illustration. I have always been driven to find balance and to be able to give my family quality time, so it's natural that I've had more time to concentrate on art and writing later in life.'

Generally, many aspiring writers have great difficulty in finding a traditional publisher, but Lisa was surprised (and happy) when one of our top history publishers, Amberley Publishing, approached her to write a book about Basildon in Essex. A high honour indeed!

She was previously a contributing researcher to the late Frances Clamp, one of the county’s best-known authors; also the President of the Brentwood Writers' Circle for twenty years. Lisa had worked with Frances on the book Basildon, Our Heritage.  Lisa’s first title was Basildon Through Time, which was published in 2014. This was followed by Lost Basildon in 2019. With so much research material available, she included the Geraldine Evans's family story about The Barge in Vange in the book, and also a more detailed article, which was published in the Essex Life Magazine in 2020.

As an author, Lisa has given talks and appeared on the Phoenix FM radio station and on other radio stations. In 2023 she joined the Basildon Writers' Group, where her story was featured in their successful second anthology, It Happened in Essex 2: Tall Tales from the Basildon Writers' Group.  All proceeds went to Basildon Hospital Radio (BHR 87.7). The author commented: 

'I'm very proud that my story based around the great North Sea flood of 1953 - the worst natural disaster in modern British history - was included in the fund-raising book. My story focuses on the Canvey area.’

Lisa’s writer's website: https://www.lisajhorner.com/

Lisa’s art website: https://lisajanehorner.wixsite.com/artportfolio