Katey Lovell

Regular readers of this blog may recall my excitement for Charlie Barnes' latest album Oceanography .  Having seen Charlie perform acoustically before, as well as with his band The Society Pages, I was excited to hear he was returning to Sheffield to play at West Street Live. Following sets by Sheffield groups Hush and K A R A, Charlie and his band took to the stage with the insanely catchy 'All I Have' which features some deliciously-jangly guitar riffs, before launching into the anthemic 'Bruising'.  Anyone who's ever tried to make a living through creative endeavours will relate to these tracks about self-doubt, imposter syndrome and the need for a thick skin and perseverance, as shown in the lyric, 'Every time I've half a mind to throw the towel in, I fight it'.      Next up was 'Maria', a track which showcases songwriter Barnes' ability to meld a haunting verse wi...

I've been reading... Body Positive Power -  Megan Jayne Crabbe All Night Long  (Sweet Valley High) Dangerous Love (Sweet Valley High) Lullaby - Leila Slimani Everything I Know About Love - Dolly Alderton Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli The Cows - Dawn O' Porter I'm still way behind on my blogging for the #SVHReadalong, but I will catch up soon - promise!  But what about the other titles I read in February?    Megan Jayne Crabbe, aka Bodyposipanda, is well-known on social media for leading the march on body positivity.  As someone who recently lost a lot of weight but still had gripes with how I looked, I hoped this book would help me accept my body .  Whilst it hasn't solved all my anxieties, Body Postive Power  reminded me of all the wonderous ways my body works and how society pushes only certain, often unachievable, body types as the 'ideal'.  Thanks to my sister-in-law who bo...

It's no great secret that I love a musical, so I was thrilled to hear Sheffield Theatres were putting on a new original production.  Since the opening night I'd heard only good things about the show and last night I finally got to see what the fuss was about for myself. A contemporary musical set in Sheffield, 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie' is the story of sixteen-year-old Jamie New who wants a career as a drag queen (despite his psychometric careers testing inexplicably suggesting his future lies elsewhere).  More than anything, he wants to wear a dress to his leavers' prom.  Inspired by real-life events, this coming-of-age musical about friendship, family and acceptance has a definite northern flavour which will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the dry wit of 'The Full Monty'.  That easy humour, along with a belting score written by Dan Gillespie Sells of The Feeling and Tom MacRae, makes for a fast-paced rom...

Despite the best of intentions I've not managed to keep up my weekly musical blog posts.  I'm sorry!  Life's become rather busy lately - the day job has been hectic and I've also had deadlines for editing and proofreading the novella I wrote over the summer (more news on that very soon.  I had a sneaky peek at the cover art for it this week and am totally in love.  It's the perfect sibling for the cover of 'Singalong').  The first draft of next summer's novel is also due with my editor at the start of December so I've been fervently tapping away on my laptop to try and get it ready to send. However, I'd have loved to have found time to write about Grease as it's one of my very favourite films and also Chicago , which my husband and I saw on Broadway during our honeymoon in 2005.  I wish I'd had chance to write about how West Side Story makes my heart hurt, and how when I wa...

Today is September 9th.  It's the last day of the first week back at school.  Teachers, teaching assistants and parents are crying out for an evening with a glass (make that a bottle) of wine and something decent to watch on the tellybox.  That's certainly the case for Monique Brown and Issy Jackson.  They've found the first week back an exhausting struggle and can't wait to kick back, put their feet up and watch their favourite film.  Ah, yes...what is their movie of choice?  Well, it's actually Disney's modern classic Frozen, a pretty apt choice seeing as the terraced house they share in Sheffield's Cardigan Close is so cold that it could double as a fridge freezer.  I'm a parent of an eight year old. I've been subjected to Frozen more times than I care to remember, and as much as I love musicals I have to be honest and say it's not one of my favourites. I'm sorry!  Whether it's because 'Le...

Here it is - the beautiful cover for my debut novel The Singalong Society for Singletons!     I am absolutely thrilled - the warm colours perfectly capture the feel of Autumn evenings, the subtle music notes and songbirds hinting of the music within and the hills representing my adopted (and leg-ache inducing) city of Sheffield, where the novel is set.  Books Covered have done an incredible job!  I'd love to know what you think of it too...   The Singalong Society for Singletons is published on October 7th by Harper Impulse, the digital-first romance imprint at Harper Collins who also published The Meet Cute Series, and is available to preorder now.   So what's it all about?     THE BLURB   Monique and Issy are teachers, housemates and lovers of musicals! Their Friday night routine consists of snacks, wine and the Frozen DVD. So when Monique’s boyfriend moves to America for a year and her sister Hope m...

This weekend my local area celebrated ten years of our community celebration, The Woodseats Festival.  The week-long event offers activities aimed at all ages - culminating in festival day with a parade down the main road to Woodseats Primary school where there's a craft fair, stalls for local businesses/food vendors, a small fairground and a stage for dance/drama/music. Last year I was shortlisted in both the poetry and short story categories of the writing competition (there wasn't one this year, as far as I'm aware), and was invited, along with the other shortlisted entrants, to read my writing at an event at Woodseats library.  I bought a new dress especially... It was incredibly nerve-wracking to stand up and share my work, especially My Sherbet Lemon as it was a personal account of my miscarriage in April 2013.  By the time I reached the final poignant line, my eyes were prickling with tears, but somehow it was cathartic to say the words ...