parkin – Kate Kenzie Writes

Following on from my last post, a cake was baked. Not strictly parkin, a Yorkshire ginger cake because of the lack of oatmeal in the house (I don’t think rice crispies would have been a good substitute) but a ginger cake made to my Mum-in-laws recipe. It hit the spot creatively so the scene is written and my main character, Amber is happily going on a dragon hunt armed with a cake to Filey.

Filey Brigg is a long, narrow, rocky peninsula in Filey on the East coast of Yorkshire. Until recently, I just saw it as part of the scenery to enjoy while drinking hot Horlicks overlooking the bay but then I discovered it was supposed to be a parkin-loving dragon turned to stone after his death. This fits perfectly with Amber’s story and gave me the opportunity to introduce Iggy, a very floppy toy fabric dragon who played a large part in her early childhood.

Iggy; A beloved friend or a judgmental fiend depending who you ask

He may or may not play a pivotal role in the book depending on where the twists take me. It always amazes me how something you read followed by a prompt of a sketch can inspire you to write scenes you would never have thought of otherwise.

More of the folk tale of Filey’s dragon can be read in a delightful book called East Yorkshire Folk Tales by Ingrid Barton as well as here.

July has arrived so Camp NaNoWriMo has begun so it is time to put the kettle on and get this draft done.

Happy July!

Another month has nearly gone and memes on social media are telling me it is only 25 weeks until Christmas so I had better get my skates on increasing my word count.

July means Camp Nanowrimo; something I had never heard of until recently which means I need to decide whether to commit again to another goal or not. My writing routine is all over the place. Maybe this will ground me enough to organise and write the story rather than have snippets of scenes and ideas all over the place; on random bits of paper, phone apps and pc programs waiting to be weaved together to form a chapter or two. It seems more lenient than November’s challenge with you being in control of your target. There are also cabins to join. That idea thrills and scares me in equal measure. It conjures up images of midnight snacks, storytelling around the campfire and toasting marshmallows but also emotions of being the weird, shy kid in the corner no one wants to talk to and being in the company of perfect children as depicted in Disney movies. Decisions, decisions!

campfire free — Photo by Mike Erskine on Unsplash

More pressing is deciding on a recipe for parkin to make. For my writing group homework I received a prompt in the form of a sketch of Filey Brigg. My brain cells whirled remembering the folk tale from the area concerning a tailor, hungry dragon and some ever so tasty parkin. Since then my taste buds have been craving the distinct gingery taste of this Yorkshire cake so today it needs to be made. It is research after all because you can’t write a realistic description of your character eating it without having a slice yourself can you?

Tag: parkin

Going on a Dragon Hunt

Camp, Dragons and Parkin