I can’t believe it’s been 5-6 months since I posted here. I took a break but it was only meant to be a short one. Summer came very fast and Little Miss Six – Oh, she’s seven now – Little Miss Seven takes up more of my time when there’s no school. She’s a great wee girl though and she’s quite good at occupying herself when I’m busy. We also have lots of people calling during the summer so it’s all go!

Roll on September. I miss my routine and I want it back!

My book is progressing….slowly but surely! God, the research is never ending. I must say, the people in my writer’s group are a great help and very encouraging.

While I was researching life as a school teacher in rural Ireland in the late 40’s, I found out that when a female primary school teacher got married, she was no longer entitled to her job. Banned! What? Not only teachers but all civil service workers. 

This ban wasn’t lifted until 1958 – earlier in other countries. Now, this information created a wee obstacle for me because in my story, Flossie is a young primary school teacher who just got married and the year is 1948!

I pondered over this for days wondering what to do about it. I really wanted Flossie to be the teacher and she HAS to marry this man! I thought about bringing the dates forward by 10 years; but I’d prefer not to.

So…..I asked my parents and my mother-in-law about this and they said that all their school teachers were married. Yes, it was true that they weren’t entitled to remain in their jobs but as they say, “There’s ways around everything.” It was who you knew back in those days (still is in some cases). If the school ‘couldn’t get anyone else’ to fill the position, the married teacher had to stay!

So can I keep my Flossie in her job in my story? What would you do my writer friends?