The Ghost of my Pussycat's Bottom, by Mike Jubb

Welcome to my collection of poems about all sorts of creatures. Many of them are meant to be funny, but I’ve also snuck in a couple of thoughtful or (Oh No!) serious ones because . . well, because I wanted to, so there!

When I was at school, I was useless at writing. I could never think what to write. In fact, my confidence was so low that I didn’t start trying to write regularly until I was a very old man . . nearly 40! Now, I spend a lot of time going into schools to perform my poems, and to help children write creatively. I hope that means I’m worth listening to, because I know what it’s like to stare at an empty page and think, “I can’t do it”.

The truth is . . you can do it. And the first thing to do is to stop worrying about getting it ‘wrong’. You can’t get it wrong. It’s not Maths! Next, you have to be brave enough to write down the first things that come into your head. Don’t worry about whether it’s any good or not. It’s better to write rubbish than not to write anything at all. I often write rubbish! Remember that the finest chocolate starts with a load of old beans!

Once you’ve written something, and you don’t have to stare at an empty page any more, you can always improve on it. Like playing football, or netball, or any musical instrument, the more you practise the better you’ll get. And, before you know it, you’ll be writing good rubbish, like me!

People often ask where writers get their ideas from. Everywhere. Sometime, I have to concentrate on keeping my eyes and ears open, and my mouth shut (occasionally)! I learn more that way. And I don’t eat so much junk television as I used to! I gobble up programmes about the real world: drama, wildlife, history, travel. Below some of the poems in this book, I talk about where the idea came from, and sometimes I suggest an idea for writing that you might like to try.

I hope you find something that will encourage you, something that will inspire and, more than anything else, something that will entertain you.

Happy reading, and confident writing.

Mike Jubb