Seymour Writes

I’m lucky to know a lot of great people offline who also blog online. I’d like to introduce you to them in no particular order:

Jess Dunton: The Filthy Comma

Jess reads (a lot), is extremely passionate about literature and has an opinion on most things. When she got married, instead of the usual tat being on the wedding list, there were about 400 books – yuh! When we were kids, Jess and her brother and my sister and I honed our writing and narrating skills by playing wild variations of the game “Consequences”. Now it’s a pleasure to see that she is still crafting words, editing, teaching, campaigning for good grammar and usage, speaking her mind, working on a novel and freelancing full time. Don’t just read her blog, hire her extraordinary mind!

James Robinson (AKA noahsapprentice): Curating Creativity

Doing the stuff! James is constantly exploring new outlets for his creativity and he is a constant encouragement and inspiration to me personally. This is his blog where he does what it says on the tin, “Curating Creativity”; he shares all the cool stuff that he finds from the arts in every imaginable medium. James is the creator of the Scrapbook Bible and pursues a range of creative activities under the umbrella of Noah’s Nanny Goat Productions; from tee shirts to theatre.

Jenny Jiggins: Ribbon Willow

Jenny is another person whose output defies any neat category of creativity. If it’s creative, then she probably does it, and very well, too – from sewing, through drawing, to filming, photography, music and events management. She manages to do all this on top of a day job. Check out her blog for news and views of current projects, there’s always something new going on there.

Nick Howes: Developing leaders and organisations to their full potential.

Nick is the associate Director at LMI UK (Leadership Management), a training and development company that has been going since 1966 – that’s a long time for this kind of company. Nick is based in Coventry. His blog shares gems of wisdom in leadership and training, motivation, planning, and goal setting in a nice informal style.

Liz Coughlan: Geriatric Gapper

I first met Liz when I was about 5 in Zimbabwe. Since then she has travelled and taught all over the world in England, the USA, Zimbabwe, Spain, Argentina, South Africa, Thailand, El Salvador, Malaysia, Italy and Turkey. Currently based in Turkey and retired from teaching, Liz blogs her travel experiences and the colourful life of Istanbul. She also writes at Helium.

Daniel Sladen: true//edible

Daniel was my room mate for the first term at University, he is one of the most intelligent people I know, and a gifted philosopher. He is a tax expert and city banker in London but he is on a mission to share fine recipes and discover an authentic experience of “church” in the 21st Century; both of which he does very well on his blog.

Ben Jiggins: These Thoughts of Mine

Ben is an elf from Middle Earth thinly disguised as a science teacher. He has a thoroughly considered opinion on just about everything so his thoughts are worth a read. Ben blogs about books, films, music and fragments of contemporary culture as well as random uncategorizable stuff.

Gabriel Smy: The Tongues Of Men

Content Guru by day and Novelist by night, Gabriel is a man with a vorpal pen. If pens were swords his would be Saldin’s Scimitar. His chameleonic ability with poetry, web copy, and fiction is an inspiration to me. Gabriel is based in Cambridge and blogs about his coming novel, “The Tongues of Men” and all things writing.

Marika Rose: Theologies

Marika … I can’t really tie it down in a single phrase. She’s an academic theologian with not the slightest hint of bluestocking. Her blog does what it says on the tin, “Theologies”. Marika makes the weird and wonderful ideas of bygone and current thinkers accessible and relevant to laymen like me.

James: James’ Blog

James IS a giant peach. By that I mean a soul with an engulfing sweetness it would take years to explore. James is based in the cultural melting pot of Bradford and blogs very honestly about his faith. He dares to say out loud the stuff that most of us won’t admit to thinking.

Becky Hunter: visual artist, itinerant art historian, freelance writer

Another of my greatest inspirations, Becky is insanely prolific and seems to cram into a single day what I can only hope to achieve in a week. Where does she find the time and energy to flit between York and Philadelphia, interviewing artists about their work, delivering talks, drawing and creating original artwork, and writing for magazines? She is amazing.

Sally Heasley: Sally Heasley Illustration

Sally’s artwork has an illustrator’s simplicity of line and lightness of touch. It makes me think of icecream and parasols and has an atmosphere of unihibited joyousness. Her blog showcases her recent work and current projects and she sells lovely screenprints and cards at her www.sallyheasley.co.uk.

Heather Lawson: Home Grown Heather

Heather and her husband, Mark, are urban gardeners taking small steps towards sustainability and The Good Life in Durham, UK. Every time I see them, there is a new idea on the horizon of their ever-widening visions and plans. Heather blogs about the simple pleasures of their little plot and other exciting projects.

Stuart Porter: Eat More Raw

Meet the man who eats 30 bananas a day! Since breaking free from a host of physical ailments – back pain, IBS and fatigue – by changing his diet, Stuart has become an advocate of the raw vegan lifestyle. He proves that you really can thrive on raw fruit and vegetables. He has a YouTube channel and is always pushing the limit of what can be achieved on his diet. He also sleeps without a pillow and runs barefoot – a true man.

Tim Mayo: Cool Christian Culture

Tim works for a homelessness charity and in his spare time he surfs and ponders Christian Culture from the perspective of a visual and new media artist. I love this humble man and his relentless quest to be a better person and live alive. His blog highlights some great charities, beautiful artwork, nusic and films and tries to see where “cool” and “christian” meet. He plays a mean guitar, too.

Dr. J: Heart Soul Mind and Strength

A man of bass, beats and strong convictions, I have had the privilege of playing in bands with Jason during his years at Durham University. Jason is a DJ and musician, never seen without cans on his head. His blog is a mix of photography, videos and other creative projects. He’s another of those people who crams every day full. Where does he get the energy? Loves God, nuff said.

Sian Aynsley: Literal Librarian

Another Durham graduate from the old university days. Sian held the record as a longtime housemate to my wife until I overtook her a couple of years ago. She has gone on to become one of the new breed of librarians; by that I mean unstuffy, savvy, information management ninjas. Currently working as an NHS librarian and blogging in that niche, Sian always has creative projects going on the side where she lets the artist out.

Robyn Trainer: Floral Footsteps

Robyn Works for the Ethical Superstore and is forging a second career as a photographer, illustrator, and florist. I don’t know anyone who can put so much life into a few penstrokes and a blotch of colour. She blogs about the projects she is working on and the lovely people in her world.

Matt Finn: Confessions of an Undercover Theologian

Matt is the living proof that there is so much more to Geography than colouring in. His blog has been going for years. Matt is doing a PHD and the “undercover theologian” bit is about revealing the theological dimension in absolutely everything he does, geographical and otherwise. His posts are always thought provoking and very current from, “How Emphasis can Quickly Become Reductionism” to, “Keep Anachronisms Relevant”.

Pete Phillips: postmodernbible

Pete is Secretary of the Methodist Church’s Faith and Order Committee and Director of Research for Centre for Biblical Literacy at St John’s College, Durham. He’s also a Dad and an avid tweeter and social media networker. He’s massively involved in advocating for the Bible in a digital age, dashing round the country with a bag full of i-gadgets and writes about all this stuff on his blog. In spite of having such a full mind, you always feel that he is 100% with you when he’s with you – I covet that quality.

Chris Juby: Christian spirituality, web design, reading, music and life

Chris is the arts and media man at my church and runs his own web design show. He shot to fame in August 2010 with his herculean project to tweet the whole bible at biblesummary. He’s one of my most valued brotherly confidants and encouragers. He blogs his worship sets and the books he is reading. Sorted Geezer!