Pick up the phone!

Why hello there!  Thank you for calling.

This is one of my usual sorts of posts, combining my love of music and popular culture with my current obsession fascination with actor Richard Armitage.  New visitors just here for RA stuff can scroll down to the end of the post where I finally get around to mentioning the real reason you are here...

My love of songs about phones goes way back... All the way back to a Warner Brothers cartoon that we got to watch in movie theatres before the main feature (back in the day before advertisements took over).  Later on it showed up on television on the Bugs Bunny Show, but there's no bunny in it.  Just a very unusual frog.  A singing frog!

I used to sing this song like crazy when I was a kid!

The next video was brand new to me, but apparently was a hit in 2009.
It is by a Canadian band from Toronto, Ontario.
It's very catchy, and has been remixed for dancing but I prefer the original version.
See what I learn when I do these posts?

Pick up the Phone / Dragonette

Phylly's Favourite Phone songs:

My all-time fave!

Operator/ Jim Croce

My second-most fave!

Brings back my teen years! It hit #1 in Canada in 1976.  I used to hang out in a local restaurant and get my friend, who was waitressing there to play this song over and over and over...

Telephone Line / ELO

Other Faves:

This song is such a classic and brings back my childhood.  I just noticed that it has been covered quite nicely by R.E.M. but Campbell's version still does it for me

Witchita Lineman / Glen Campbell

Call Me / Blondie

Now, this song brings back memories of viewing Richard Gere's full frontal in American Gigolo. I sat through that movie twice so I could catch another glimpse!  But Blondie's music really can stand on its own.  She was a fabulous singer with an original sound that was captivating!

Sylvia's Mother / Dr. Hook
This song is so pathetic it is almost funny.  But I love it very much.  It is great fun to sing!

I have to give the RA fandom credit for introducing me to Lady Gaga. I hadn't heard of her until I started watching fanvids back in 2009.  There are at least two RA fanvids to her song Telephone.  One I have already featured on my blog in my fanvid tribute to La Gaga.  Here is the other one:

Telephone- Lady Gaga (Lucas fanvid) by  Behind Blue Eyes - mixed Armitage roles

Many fans of Richard Armitage have noticed his characters seem to spend quite a bit of time on the phone.  In fact someone has devoted a whole blog to just this theme!

Richard Armitage on the Phone - Tumblr

Here is RA fan blogger / graphic artist and fanvidder Bccmee's contribution to this theme which she featured on her blog awhile ago:

Please follow this link to her blog post: 

http://fanvideos.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/lucas-north-vs-john-porter/

I love it when a fan turns one of his commercial voice-overs into a video!

Richard Armitage reads 02 Offer ("Better Connected") advert / by NotEvenAnOuch

Oh yes!  Before I forget... Check out this page at Richard Armitage Central for 
Richard Armitage's voice on a Ringtone!
RAC RA Ringtones

I've got to try one of those!

One more song I just love to sing is
I just called to say I Love You /  by Stevie Wonder
I can't help it! I love this song right down to the "cha-cha-cha"!

So I couldn't help myself... I had to make this video.  (Please forgive me!)

If the sound doesn't work - try this link: http://vimeo.com/61946623

Do you have any favourite songs about telephones?
And... which ringtone would you prefer?

This has been my second contribution to FanstRA 4. Please click on the banner above to be directed to the Hub page where you will find many more contributors this year. 
If you are interested in any of my previous FanstRA posts
you can click on the category FanstRAvaganza in my tag cloud listed under Favourite Things.

Meet Another Canadian Fan... my friend Tyme4t!

Tyme4t has been one of my most faithful commenters since I started blogging back in 2010.  I've often thought we seem to have a lot in common -- besides our mutual admiration for Richard Armitage.  I really didn't know much about her other than she was also Canadian.  I knew she lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia -- too far away to visit (as she is on the east coast of Canada and I am located near the middle).  So I decided if I wanted to find out more about her - I had better ask her!

Welcome to Phylly's Faves Tyme4t!  Thanks so much for agreeing to this guest post. Tell us something about  yourself...

I am a proud Canadian, born and raised and currently living in Nova Scotia. I have a University Degree in Political Science and College Degree in Public Relations, and am currently working as a Customer Service Supervisor, I am single, never married (but still hoping Prince RA I mean Prince Charming comes along). And I have a wonderful family - I love spoiling nieces and nephews.  My other loves are: Bruce Springsteen! -- I have seen him in concert 3 times! ; reading ; the beach -- especially in autumn and spring! ; learning about other cultures and countries.

A favourite place... the view from her parents' cabin

 Please tell us how you became a fan of Richard Armitage.

It began as a comment from a roommate:
"Hey! That's the new hottie spy on [spooks]!"

Looking at her bewildered I replied - "What's [spooks]?"

"It's a British spy drama called MI-5 here and every few years they get a new good looking guy in the lead. That guy playing the vicar's date is the newest one."

Richard Armitage in The Vicar of Dibley

Although I first saw Richard Armitage on Vicar of Dibley, it was MI-5 that I crossed over to the "fangurl" dimension! And really it was my developing obsession with MI-5 that lead me to so many of the great blogs and new friends.

Up until finding MI-5, I was never one to go to YouTube or visit a fan forum. I just didn't "get" why people would join or become involved in those things. But because both RA and MI-5 were in Britain...and I am in Canada...the internet became an essential link to finding out more about both.

First I tried YouTube....typed in Richard Armitage - the first video that popped up was Nat's Stick Figure Richard!! I loved it! and then I did a brave thing...I clicked on the link to her blog! From then on...I was hooked. I discovered other fans, blogs, sites, forums I could check out. Heavens above...there were a LOT of them and so varied. 

Richard Armitage and Rupert Penry-Jones in Spooks/MI-5 series 7
Then I stumbled upon the [spooks] forum. I lurked around for a bit and then decided to join. For me that was it....I found soooooo many people hooked and loving MI-5 as much as I did. My roommate although a fan, was not ADDICTED as I was. Now I had discovered a community of people who, even though we may have differing opinions, understood the obsession. My favourite part of the forum was becoming friends with people from around the world who were having fun like me discussing episodes as well as trying to stump each other with quotes; ogling gorgeous pictures/graphics of the various actors and suggesting other tv programs/movies that members may enjoy. From this forum I made friends from Britain, Germany, Brazil, Spain, the US and met other Canadians which I keep in touch with in other ways now.

I was (and still am) amazed at the creative people who do the graphics, banners, art, fanfic, blogs, etc with Richard Armitage as one of their muses. I always have fun with doing captions or funny poems like limericks or Haikus. I have been asked in the past if I was going to start blogging. I have considered it but I don't think it's for me. So I tend to be the one who drops by and makes a comment or a funny observation. But never say never.....

So who and what other movies/programs did I discover because of my RAddiction?

These actors: 

Matthew Macfadyen - (visit Darcylicious everyday) ; Rupert Penry-Jones ; Peter Firth ; Hermoine Norris ; Nicola Walker ; Danny Oyelowo ; Keeley Hawes ; Trevor Eve ; James Nesbitt ; Martin Freeman ; Benedict Cumberbatch.


And these shows:

Robin Hood ; North and South ; Cranford ; Wives and Daughters ; The Impressionists ; Shakespeare Re-told ; Life on Mars ; Ashes to Ashes ; Waking the Dead ; Clatterford ; Hu$tle ; Murdoch Mysteries ; Sherlock ; The Hobbit ; Ripper Street

Of course there are way too many to list here but the above is a small sample. I have re-discovered my love of Victorian novels and period piece dramas, at the same time as increasing my love of spy and mystery genre. In a strange way, this "obsession" with RA and MI-5 has also led me to more Canadian novelists, TV shows and movies, as I seek out new-to-me entertainment. 
Our mutual "muse" on his Toronto visit
I no longer have that roommate (insert silent thank you prayer)...So thank you Harry Kennedy with your stripey sweaters and glasses! You lead me to MI-5 and soooooo many other amazing shows and actors. But most importantly you lead me to new friends, new art, new points of view, new communities, new ideas.

Thanks to Phylly for asking me to be a part of her blog - I am truly honoured.

I am so happy that Tyme4t agreed to this guest post. This introduction made me think of even more questions to ask you! I hope you will answer any questions in the comments below. Thanks for contributing to FanstRA4!

Click on image to go to the main FanstRA site

It's that time again!

Thanks so much to Traxy@The Squeee blog for organizing this year's FanstRAvaganza.  Also thanks to Angelfish69 for the lovely banners.  This year there are 30 participants!  Some bloggers may post daily and others may only do one post, but all of the posts will be collected on a special website for FanstRA 4.  Please check it regularly so you won't miss any posts!


I will be posting twice this week - on Tuesday and Saturday, so until then -- Have fun blog hopping!

Call for participants...

For more information, or if you are interested in participating, please contact Traxy @TheSquee blog

The Squee

or on the 
FanstRAvaganza page on Facebook

and fill out this form

Catching up with FanstRA

What a fabulous outpouring of creativity this man inspires! I have barely scratched the surface of reading all the posts that were planned for last week's celebration of Richard Armitage blogs.  But what I have seen so far was amazing!  Please forgive me if I haven't commented on your posts yet.  I had a problem with Gravatar which wouldn't allow me to post a comment to any Wordpress blogs.

As you may have read, I was on a holiday in Mexico for March Break last week.  I was staying with friends in a condo right on the beach at Nuevo Vallarta.  It was paradise, except for one thing... barely any Internet connectivity.  Yeah, I know... I shouldn't be on a computer when I'm on holiday.  I should be having fun in the sun!  Well, I did!  But... it's not fair to have this huge blockbuster blogfest without being able to participate!

When I saw that Bccmee was handing out medals to her blog commenters, I started to pout, as her blog (being on Wordpress) was one I tried and failed to comment on.  So I emailed her my sad story and she made me my very own medallion.  Awww! Thanks Bccmee! :)  Last year I missed out on the Gold Coins she awarded, because I was in Hawaii!  Here's hoping FanstRA#4 won't have to happen during my March Break.. Pretty please?

By the way, thanks to everyone who visited here last week.  It was great to see the comments from new visitors and also from my much appreciated regular commenters!  I still intend to reply to everyone individually.

I only had 8 replies to my poll asking about problems people were having posting here.  There were 3 people who had an occasional problem, and 2 people have given up trying!  One of you, I already know. For anyone else having problems, please send me an email and perhaps I may be able to help you.  I am still investigating the problem.  I believe it has something to do with "cookies".  Erasing the browser's cache was one suggestion I found.  I certainly know how frustrating it is not to be able to comment, especially after this recent episode with Gravatar.  But whether you like to comment or not, thanks for visiting!  I hope you will keep coming back for more! :)

If you missed any posts from FanstRAvaganza 3, please check out this great directory to all the posts made by CDoart.

It's Phylly's 2nd Blogoversary!

It is Day 6 of the FanstRAvaganza! 

I hope you have been enjoying it so far.   In case you missed it, yesterday was Jazzbaby1's  turn to post over at Funky Blue Dandelion.  I hope you stopped in and left her a comment.  Say hello from me too, in case I haven't made it over there yet.  Right now I am spending my March Break in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where the internet access is intermittent at best!

Today please join me to celebrate this blog's 2nd Anniversary. The actual date of my first blog post was March 19th, 2010. At the time, it was right in the middle of the first FanstRAvaganza.  I didn't plan it that way, honest!  I didn't know anything about the first celebration of Armitagemania when I made my plans.  But it was March Break and I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere that year, so I had time to jump into blogging and see what might happen.

When I started thinking about creating a blog most my friends were using Blogger: Nat, Avalon, TeeTotallyNot, Ragtag, Maria Grazia, Charleybrown, Traxy, Ruth, Jane ;  Mulubinba was using Typepad, which was a lot less common and then Servetus came on board with Wordpress.  Frenz was next with Wordpress and since then, that seems to be the blog platform of choice.  I am completely out of my comfort zone with Tumblr, but that seems to be where it's at now!  Of course before I started reading RA blogs there was LiveJournal and perhaps some other type I've missed.

I've liked the ease of use of Blogger but there are some glitches that crop up now and then.  The biggest problem (according to what some of my readers have told me) is that it is sometimes difficult to make comments.  It has happened to me too, on some blogs and believe me -- after typing a long and thoughtful comment and then seeing it disappear into cyberspace -- I feel your pain!  I have started to copy the comment to notepad or some other word program before I press "send".  Then at least I can try again without all the rethinking and typing!  Please see the poll on the sidebar about this issue.

You can't hide here any more.  They're on to me!

In  January I hit the 100,000 views mark.  I know it doesn't sound like much to some and it took me almost 2 years to do it.  But this little blog gets barely 30 views a day so I'm like the Little Engine That Could which was the theme of my very first blog post!  Most people who are trolling around the net for RA photos and other tasty tidbits don't quite get what my blog is all about.  RA does show up, more than 90% of the time, but he is not always the subject of the post.  He's more like the punch line!  When I look at my stats I see most people visit to snaffle a picture of any number of things I may have been focusing on.  But hopefully, while they are here, they might catch a glimpse of Mr. Armitage and it will pique their interest.   For a long time, his name barely even showed up in the search terms people used to find this blog.  I was happy when his name got to 4th place and now I am almost ecstatic to report he has hit 3rd place!! Here is a screenshot of this blog's most popular search terms.

I have one flippin' picture of Professor Snape and the world beats a path to my door! Also, I am very happy that "Richard Armitage" searches finally beat out the donkey from Shrek!

It has been such fun getting to know so many interesting people worldwide, from every walk of life who have one detail in common.  We are Armitagemaniacs!

Tomorrow is the last day of FanstRAvaganza.  

Please visit the following two blogs for your last taste of this year's celebration in the Fandom tag chain:

C.S. Winchester from her blog of the same name,

and Jazzbaby1 posts again!

My Grande Passion

Welcome to the first day of the 3rd Annual FanstRAvaganza! 
(Although This post was begun Sept. 21, 2011 I am relieved I have finally had the impetus to finish it!)

This year we have so much to talk about there are several chains of topics you can follow.  This blog is on the Fandom chain.  Also posting today in this chain is Didion from the Feminéma blog. Please click here to read her post.

As she usually somehow manages to do, Servetus (over at Me + Richard Armitage blog) has made me ponder my strange attachment to the actor known as Richard Armitage (RA for short).  I have sometimes called it an obsession (which sounds creepy) or an addiction (which sounds too needy).  But suddenly, in the middle of a comment I was writing on one of her always thought-provoking posts, the proper term leapt out at me. He is my grande passion! (said with an italian-ish accent).  I was going to put an "e" on the end of passion too, but when I googled it: grande passione came up as a wine tasting blog.  That works too! :P But let's not confuse the issue.  I am a very passionate person, and one can have several passions!  (My husband is grateful for this.)

You know you can't help it!

But an interest that takes up most of one's waking hours, (perhaps even some sleeping ones too?), and inspires one to endeavor to create artistic tributes in all sorts of media from pencil sketches to graphic and video renderings, from online comments and discussions to poetry and essays to fantasy fiction!  It is incredible how one admittedly humble (and talented -- not to mention gorgeous) man can create this type of a reaction in the women of all ages whom one might otherwise think lead completely sane and humdrum existences.

It has occurred to me that I have never told my readers how I came to be so enamoured of this shy,  charming and intensely talented actor. I have made comments all over the blogosphere and told the story several times on quite a few different blogs, but never on my own.

The first time I saw North and South was on a public television channel in Canada probably in the Fall of 2006. I enjoyed it immensely and wished I could watch it again, but it wasn’t available on DVD for awhile. I remember scanning catalogues to see if the DVD was out yet and when it finally was available, (about a year later) I hinted broadly to my husband that it would make a great Christmas present. For some reason, I did not think I should just buy it myself! I didn’t do much online ordering then and I didn’t own very many DVDs, so it didn’t really occur to me to buy it for myself. When my “hinting” didn’t work for 2 Christmases I was a bit miffed, so I left the catalogue out with the DVD circled in red marker and pronounced that the only thing I wanted for my birthday was this DVD! (Sounds bossy, I know – but I was desperate!)

My husband joked that he had no idea what to get me for my birthday – just to see me LOSE it! Well, when I finally received my birthday prezzie I was so happy and relieved (this was March 2009) that I posted a picture of the cover on Facebook with the caption: Best. Present. Ever!

Long story short – I watched the DVD right away and loved it again! But, I didn’t rewatch it over and over again, I wasn’t obsessed…yet! At the end of the summer I knew my daughter was going to England to finish her university studies and I wanted her to watch North and South with me because she was going to be near the same area as Manchester (where the story takes place). For some reason, when I watched it for the third time, I was suddenly overcome with the magnitude of Richard Armitage’s performance and I went to the computer almost immediately after watching to Google his name. The more I read about him the more I liked him, the more performances I saw, the more impressed I became!

Very soon I found Nat's blog, Richard Armitage Fan blog.  I was so happy and relieved to find someone else with a fascination for the same actor.  I had never felt quite this way before about a total stranger since perhaps David Cassidy of The Partridge Family back when I was a tween. All we had then were records and Fan magazines.  I never had any, they all belonged to my friend, so I couldn't have had it as bad as she obviously did.  Later on, as a newlywed I was smitten with Pierce Brosnan in Remington Steel.  I used to go over to an unmarried girlfriend's house to watch it with her.  But I never bought any magazines or videos about him.  At least not until lately, when I wondered if watching DVDs of my old crush could wean me off my new one.  But I never found out as I haven't even opened them yet!

Pierce Brosnan

David Cassidy

Doesn't he seem like a composite of the other two?

Nat's blog served as a stepping stone to the wonders of Armitagemania.  From it I discovered there were wonderful web pages devoted to him with huge picture galleries.  I discovered Youtube had fanvids of him in all kinds of roles to all kinds of music!  I discovered her list of other bloggers which were just like us.  It was August 2009 and I was immersed in the fandom world.  I lurked for a couple of months and then finally, with great trepidation I posted my first comment.  There was no going back after that!  I started collecting pictures, attempting to make graphics, and putting the pictures into a slideshow, set to music.  By the time 2010 rolled around I was seriously considering starting my own blog.  But what to blog about?  (I mean besides the obvious!)  I didn't want to copy anyone else's style.  I also wanted to blog about other interests as I could see that if I ever stopped needing an Armitage fix, I didn't want to have to start over again with a new blog.  So I decided to focus on my own favourite things (of which RA is top of the list - not that he's a "thing", but I definitely have a "thing" for him!) 

Thornton being comforted by his mother

One of the things I have been trying to work out, is what is it about Richard Armitage that so attracts me to him?  Yes, I know he is very talented, very attractive and charming, very intense and committed to his work. But perhaps it is also something in me which started off this Armitagemania?  I have read many comments from fans crediting Richard Armitage (or one of his various characters - usually John Thornton from North and South or possibly Guy of Gisborne from Robin Hood) for almost rescuing them from some difficult stage in their lives.  I wondered if we all had some kind of "trigger event" (as Servetus has called it) that lead us to be somehow more susceptible open to his attRActions.  Was my trigger event caused by my worry over my only daughter and oldest child's impending move to the UK?  I was very worried about her being so far away from anyone and everyone she knew, and in a different country with a different culture and traditions. (At least the language was relatively the same!)   She had already left home many times for University far away in southern Ontario.  We only got to see her once during the school year (at Christmas) as it was very expensive and/or time consuming to visit more often.  So I was used to her being away.  But when she was at University in Canada, she was in a city where we knew people, and had some relatives nearby.  So I knew that if she really needed us, we could be there for her.  But across an ocean, with no one but strangers all around, perhaps even terrorists?  Yes, you bet I was worried!  So perhaps, when we settled down to watch North and South together, as I experienced it for the third time, I was seeing it with new eyes.  I was able to catch nuances perhaps I hadn't quite picked up on before.  I am not sure.  All I know is that almost immediately upon turning off the dvd player I was on the computer Googling Richard Armitage.  

Did he take my mind off my troubles? Yes, he did.  He certainly was a distraction that's for sure! So, while an addiction to Richard Armitage will not solve world problems, it may definitely make you feel a bit better about life in general.  And don't we all like to feel better?

So, I will share with you this little slideshow / video (still made with Windows Moviemaker - sorry I haven't progressed much beyond that program yet).  Many of us are intrigued with the mention that Mr. Armitage enjoys Do-It-Yourself projects.  Also many are very attracted to his long-fingered, very masculine and capable looking hands.  Since James Taylor's Handyman has always been one of my favourite '70s tunes, I couldn't resist combining all these elements together to illustrate how RA manages somehow to give us a little emotional DIY.

More about my blog later this week when I celebrate my 2nd Blogoversary! I hope you will join me for the celebration!

This post is on the Fandom tag team.  For more articles on this theme today, please visit Didion (who is a professor and RL friend of Servetus) at her blog Feminéma. I have enjoyed reading her movie reviews and am looking forward to hear more about her experience in the RA fandom!

Tomorrow March 13, there will be two bloggers posting on the Fandom chain:  Fabo at White Rose: and Simple Thoughts and Gratiana Lovelace at Something About Love.

FanstRAvaganza 3

Graphic art by Bccmee

Yes, it is almost that time of year again my friends.  That magical week when all those who wish to blog about Richard Armitage may band together and celebrate.  It is the Third Annual FanstRAvaganza!  Mark your calendars for March 12-18 so you don't miss it!


Begun with a simple suggestion from Maria Grazia of Fly High! to Nat of Richard Armitage Fanblog, it grew from the beginning 7 participants to just over double at 15 blogs last year.  This year it has more than doubled and become even more complex.  With 10 anchor blogs leading the way, there will also be 24 tag team bloggers -- a grand total of 34 participating blogs!

Here is this year's line up:

Anchor Bloggers:
1.   Servetus @ Me + Richard Armitage
2.   Traxy @ The Squeee
3.   Nat @ Richard Armitage Fan Blog
4.   Christine @ CDoart
5.   Bccmee @ Richard Armitage Vids & Graphics
6.   Frenz @ RA Frenzy
7.   Mulubinba @ An RA Viewer's Perspective
8.   Fanny @ Distracted Musings of One ReAlity
9.   Judiang @ Confessions of a Watcher
10. Jonia @ Jonia's Cut

Tag Team participants:

A is for Armitage
An Obsessed Fanatic
Avalon's Realm
C.S. Winchester
Cerridwen Speaks
Crispin's Eclipse
Do I Have a Blog?
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Country Life
Feminéma
Fly High!
Funky Blue Delphinium
I Want to be a Pinup!
Just Another Armitage Fan
La Loba
Me, My Thoughts & Richard Armitage
Melanie's Musings
Mr John Thornton
Musings & Other Enigmas
Phylly's Faves
Searching for MY Mr. Darcy
Something About Love (A)
thearmitageeffect
y que iba yo a contar
White Rose: Sincere and Simple Thoughts

As you can see I will be a tag along blogger this year.  I have only committed myself to 2 posts, after last year's juggernaut of 8 posts!  I will be away from home during the week so I hope I will be able to keep in touch from using my Kobo e-reader. Have fun everyone!

You will be able to follow along on Facebook by liking the FanstRAvaganza page.

Polls are still open

Well, officially the fabulous week that was the second annual FanstRAvaganza is over.  But this blogger is not ready to let go just yet.  I hadn't finished putting up all my polls until just now.  I won't be able to analyze the results until I get home, and all the polls are closed.  So please continue to vote on the polls that are still open (if you haven't already).

If you are wondering why I am asking these questions, please refer to my first post for this series: Impressions of You.  I imagine I will see some similarities within our group of admiring fans, but perhaps not! We shall have to wait and see...

Elizabeth Alger: artist, writer, RA fan (and so much more)!

 DAY SEVEN

I am very excited to have a published author / illustrator on my blog. Thank you Lizzy,  for agreeing to this interview. Please tell us a little about yourself. 

Firstly, I’m a country gal – but only since December. Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, I thought I’d remain in the city/suburbs forever. But I was persuaded out into the rural outskirts five years ago and liked it so much that now I’ve made the big move out into real country. It’s heavenly out here amongst the rolling green hills of Gippsland. I live here with my sister and brother-in-law (that might sound weird, but there are two houses on the property) and our ‘family’ of seven horses, a pet Brahman bull, two dogs, a cat, a rooster and three hens. Almost all of our babies were saved from starvation, neglect or the knackery – my sister and I can’t resist rescuing mistreated animals and our family is sure to get bigger now that we’ve got more space.

I’ve been a horse rider since the age of nine and have owned, and adored, some wonderful horses. Unlike most horse-owners, I’ve never sold a horse, instead keeping them all into old age. My most loved was my perfect thoroughbred mare, Saldana – she carried me to many successes in show-jumping competitions.

My other big ‘hobby’ is sailing tall ships – I’ve sailed in eight different vessels and have crossed the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the world’s two biggest sailing ships – both of them Russian. When there aren’t any ships around (which is most of the time), I’ll happily ‘mess about’ in little boats.

Please tell us something about your sailing adventures!  Have these experiences inspired you to write or to illustrate anything?

The Kruzenshtern is one of the great loves of my life. I’ve made three voyages in her: Puerto Rico to Bermuda to New York, Liverpool to Bremerhaven, and Fremantle to Durban to Cape Town. That last voyage involved a Force 11 gale off the Cape of Good Hope - a terrifying, mind-blowing, exhilarating experience. This beautiful ship was built in Germany in 1926 (her name then was Padua) - she was the last big engineless cargo-carrier ever built.  

This ship is Sedov, the largest traditionally rigged sailing ship in the world (three metres longer than Kruzenshtern). I sailed in her across the Atlantic, from Tenerife to Puerto Rico. She was also built in Germany in the 1920s, as the Magdalene Vinnen. Both of these ships are now owned by the Russian Ministery of Fishing and crewed by Russian cadets (all male... so that was interesting...)

The tall ships I’ve sailed in inspired enough drawings, etchings and paintings for two exhibitions of maritime work - both pretty successful as I sold almost everything. They also inspired me into public speaking - which still amazes me as I am normally a very shy person. It’s surprising how a great passion and enthusiasm can override nerves! For over thirteen years I spoke about my tall-ship experiences for hundreds of clubs/groups/fundraisers all round Melbourne - these engagements only stopped when I moved into the country and changed my phone number.


It sounds like you have a wonderful life! How do you have time to make a living? Please tell us something about your career and how you came to it. 

I don’t have time to make a living! Which explains why I’m always struggling to make ends meet. working freelance is probably not a good idea for someone as perpetually undisciplined and disorganised as I am.

When I am working, I’m a children’s book illustrator - I’ve worked for all of the major publishing houses in Australia. I loved drawing as a kid and being reasonably good at it, completed an art and design course at uni and ended up where most of my fellow students did - working in advertising. I eventually went freelance and, in a particularly stupid move, dropped all my commercial clients to concentrate on book illustration. Though I knew there was no money in publishing, I chose to do work I enjoy. Well... I have enjoyed much of it, but there are not enough good picture books published for children (especially in Australia with its small population) to keep illustrators in work. The ‘bread-and-butter’ work for us is in illustrating school text books and readers - and that work can be quite dull.


What are some of your favourite books / works of art and did they influence you in any way?

I read the classics almost entirely these days - Austen, Gaskell, Dickens, Trollope and especially Joseph Conrad. But the books that have influenced me the most are the fantasies I read as a kid and a teenager - Alan Garner’s books, as well as Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’, and Ursula Le Guin’s ‘Earthsea’ series. These books kindled my imagination and inspired me to pick up pencils, paintbrushes, biros... anything with which I could put my imaginings onto paper.
 

Another book that made a deep impression on me as a teenager was Josephine Tey’s ‘The Daughter of Time’. It began my lifelong passion for history - and led me to wonderful tours of Britain (hunting down sites connected with Richard III), and eventually to ocean crossings in the last of the great ‘windjammers’ of the 19th-20th centuries.

 Which of your published works are you the most proud of?  Please tell us why.  

written & illustrated by Lizzy

Getting rather tired of illustrating other people’s books, I decided to write my own some years ago. It was a true story, based on a wonderful pony I owned at the time, and it was titled ‘Bertie at the Horse Show’. I sent it to only one publisher - Penguin - and they snapped it up straight away. It was published with my full-colour illustrations and with not a single word changed from the original text I had sent them. It was all so easy! Unfortunately I didn’t follow it up with another... but I have written a 160,000 word novel - which I am also quite proud of. It’s a fantasy - and the hero is a knight in armour who  - surprise, surprise - resembles a certain TDH actor that many of us are very fond of...

Getting something published at the moment though is horrendously hard work (and I haven’t tried very hard!)  



What kinds of things do you prefer to draw?  (I am guessing horses and sailing ships?)

 Yes, I do like drawing horses and sailing ships - but I’ll happily draw any animal. I’ve been doing a lot of commissioned pet portraits for people lately - which is a nice change from book illustration. I also love drawing people.

 How did you become a fan of Richard Armitage?

I first saw him when ‘North and South’ was shown in Australia in 2005.  It wasn’t exactly love at first sight - it took till the end of the second episode... and then I was completely gone. I bought the N&S DVDs and must have watched them every day for the next six months. It was not just that he was the perfect cravat-wearing Period drama hero - I'd also realised that, with different hair and costume, he was the fantasy hero/medieval knight that I'd had in my head for years... 


Can you tell us something about what you are working on right now. An adult fantasy novel, right?

Yes - I’ve finished my first fantasy novel with its RA inspired hero (a knight in un-shiny armour), and have started on my second which will probably turn into a trilogy. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that writing books is MUCH easier than finding someone who’ll publish them.


 RA inspired!! I am so excited!  Thank you so much for letting us know more about you.  Before I forget, which was the drawing that you sent to Richard and he mentioned in one of his letters?  He says it was a watercolour so I am thinking it is the one on the left...