🍴 Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo ~ Pam Billinge

 

On this quiet Sunday morning why don't you put the kettle on, make your favourite breakfast and settle down for Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo

🍴I'm delighted to welcome Pam Billinge to our Sunday Brunch today🍴

🍴Welcome, Pam. What favourite food are you bringing to Sunday brunch?

In the summer time I will bring fresh strawberries and possibly early raspberries from my garden, and some of my friends’ amazing free range eggs.

 

🍴Would you like a pot of English breakfast tea, a strong Americano, or a glass of Bucks Fizz?

As this is a special occasion I will have a glass of bucks fizz please followed by a cappuccino with soya milk after brunch.

 

🍴Where shall we eat brunch – around the kitchen table, in the formal dining room, or outside on the patio? Definitely outside on the patio, assuming that it is a warm day!

Shall we have music playing in the background? And if so will you share with us a favourite song or piece of music that makes you happy?

 

If we are outside I would prefer to hear the birds singing and the bees buzzing, rather than have music.

🍴Which of your literary heroes (dead or alive) are joining us for Sunday Brunch today?

I have recently read Madeline Millers’ Circe, I would love to have her join us and bring with her the mystery and magic of the mythology she recreates.

 

🍴Which favourite book will you bring to Sunday Brunch?

Given my passion for horses it would have to be The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans.

 

🍴When you are writing do you still find time to read for pleasure? And is there a book you would like to read but haven’t had time for …yet!

Oh yes, I always have at least one or three books on the go! I read at bedtime, sometimes in the evening or when I first wake up. I find that it helps me stay in flow to read other peoples’ work.

 

🍴What’s the oldest book on your book shelf?

The oldest book on my shelf is actually an old family Bible. My mothers’ side of the family were from Wales - it is in Welsh and was first owned by my great great grandfather in the 1840s then handed down the generations. Needless to say I haven’t read it!

 

🍴Where do you find the inspiration for your novels?

My books are mostly memoir and I also include stories of the people who come to work with me and my wonderful herd - the inspiration comes from nature, in particular horses, the people I meet and what I have learned along the way during my own life. They are books which are really about helping the reader to find a way through the challenges they are facing, and to find comfort and inspiration.

 

🍴Have you a favourite place to settle down to write and do you find it easier to write in winter or summer?

I find it very easy to write when I am sitting on my patio, surrounded by birds singing, my horses grazing in the paddock nearby and probably my terriers and cat snoozing beside me. Of course the sun is not always shining, even where I live in France, so sometimes I also write in my office. Summer tends to be a season when my inspiration comes, I do a lot of reflection and journalling during this time. Winter, when it is cold and dark, is when I sit at my keyboard and do the really hard work of writing the words and the editing.

 

🍴When writing to a deadline are you easily distracted and if so how do you bring back focus on your writing?

No, I am able to stay focussed. I actually find it quite easy because I love writing so much and being in that quiet and calm place where it takes me. The important thing for me is to be clear from the moment that I get out of bed that I will write that day - all day.

 

🍴Give us four essential items that a writer absolutely needs?

A journal, a pen, a chair and a table. The journal must go everywhere with you, so you write at least something every day.

 

🍴What can you tell us about your latest novel or your current work in progress?

My books seem to ‘write themselves’. That is, what I start out intending to write doesn’t usually get written - it morphs into something which does want to be created. So it is difficult to give you a clear idea other than whatever it is will almost certainly be inspired by my life here in France.

 

Pam, where can we follow you on social media?

Twitter Pam Billinge @pam_billinge

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/spellofthehorse

Website https://www.pambillinge.com/blog-and-events/

More about Pam

Brought up in suburban Liverpool, the first horses Pam fell in love with were ridden by the mounted policemen she would see passing her house on the way to supervise football matches at Anfield. Little did she know, then, how these magnificent creatures would influence her adult life, leading not only to support her through a number of personal tragedies, but also to her pioneering work in horse-led psychotherapy and coaching and then as a writer and author.

The incredible power of horses as healers and teachers

When Pam became disillusioned with her stressful career in industry she set up as an independent coach and leadership consultant and trained as a body psychotherapist. It was during this time that her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and Pam began to notice the way her horse responded to her emotional turmoil. Thus began an exploration into the true nature of the horse and their infinite capacity to help humans heal and deepen their sense of themselves.

Horses reveal our emotions

It was Pam’s desire to tell that tale which inspired her first book The Spell of the Horse. Through sharing her memoir and other stories inspired by the incredible interactions she has observed between horse and human, Pam reveals the true nature of the horse whilst delivering some simple principles to help the reader transcend life’s challenges to live with purpose, self-belief and joy.

During the process Pam discovered a passion and talent for writing and her second book The Spirit of the Horse was published in March 2021. Pam is now working on a third book.

Pam lives in North-west France where she runs her business Equest Limited www.equestlimited.co.uk providing horse-led learning programmes to a wide range of corporate clients, and a small private horse-led psychotherapy practise.

The Spell Of The Horse: Stories of Healing and Personal Transformation with Nature’s Finest Teachers

Paperback B Format ISBN 9780995473553.

The Spirit of the Horse: More Stories of Life, Love and Leadership

Paperback B Format ISBN 9781838278625

Thank you, Pam for taking part in Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo.

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