Welcome to the new, improved version of www.veitchsmith.com Previous versions of this website were a File 13 of the best of my articles that had appeared in print over the last 10 years of being a freelance journalist. However, I am also a writing teacher, and the site started to be crowded out by how-to articles on the business and craft of writing. So I decided to shift all my writing advice to a new blog called The Crafty Writer and to keep www.veitchsmith.com as a place to share my other articles. I also decided to change it to a blog format so that you, the reader, will have an opportunity to chat about what you’ve just read. As a writer who is also a Christian, much of the material on this site has a spiritual dimension, but not all of it. You can read articles on history, lifestyle, the arts, sport, health and whatever else might take your fancy. I hope you enjoy your visit to the site – please feel free to browse, and do come back soon!
Fiona
On 23 February 1807 the British Parliament voted to abolish the Transatlantic slave trade after 245 years of profiting from human misery. Fiona Veitch Smith asks why it takes Christians so long to act in favour of just causes. Continue reading ‘Abolition of the transatlantic slave trade’
‘Mr Mum’ has finally come out of the broom closet and doesn’t give two hoots what you think of him. And neither, for that matter, does his wife. Once the butt of jokes, the stay-at-home dad is an increasingly common feature of British life with seven out of ten fathers saying they would be happy to look after baby if given the choice (YouGov survey for Mothercare, January 2004). Continue reading ‘Home Dads’
It’s sometimes called Honeymoon Sickness, as young brides, overdosing on sex, often book themselves in for a doctor’s appointment the minute they get back home. But urinary tract infections (UTI) are not just the domain of the recently married (although sex is a major factor), and with burning urine, aching backs and sometimes high temperatures; they’re far from romantic. Continue reading ‘Honeymoon Sickness: Urinary Tract Infections’
Why is it that anyone who can string a sentence together (and even those who can’t) feel they must subject other people to their writing?
Now I know I’m on thin ice here (being one who not only subjects people to her writing but expects to be paid for it too!) but bear with me. Through this article I hope to save some deluded people from the pain of rejection and encourage those with real talent to venture out from under their bushel. Continue reading ‘Onward Christian Writers’
Every December, with January just around the corner, I wonder what the year ahead holds for me. Will my finances improve? Will I find success in work? Will I finally get that overseas holiday I’ve been hoping for? Will I win my epic battle against cellulite? Continue reading ‘Astrology: the fast food religion’
I first met Lara Mellon (or Bendeman as she was then) in art class when we were 13. By the end of the year it was clear that she had the talent and I… well, I dropped art and took up typing! Now 22 years later, we’ve met again through Friends Reunited, and I’m still typing and she’s still painting. We were thrilled to hear that we’re both Christians and serving the Lord through our respective gifts of writing and art. Continue reading ‘Brush With Death’
Although born in Britain, I lived for many years in South Africa, with all its massive social problems. So when I finally ‘came home’ a few years ago I had little patience with people who moaned and complained about poor housing, transport, policing, education and healthcare. When I pointed out that compared to many other parts of the world we have it good, I was told, bluntly, that in Britain ‘we deserve more.’ Continue reading ‘Spirit of Entitlement’
It was a late Friday afternoon in 2003 and I was responding to a call to prayer. I was waiting for my new friend Kamelia to join me. Kamelia is a Muslim and had invited me to visit her mosque in Newcastle upon Tyne, while she, in turn, would visit my church. I felt very conspicuous standing near the entrance, modestly dressed but without a veil. Kamelia had said there was no need to wear one because I wasn’t a Muslim. But I wished I had – I would have been better disguised. Continue reading ‘Can Christians and Muslims be friends?’
When God stocked the world with edible plants and animals, he said that it was good. Adam and Eve were told to eat from any tree in the garden, bar one. But, as they were soon to discover, too much of a good thing could be harmful. Continue reading ‘Food intolerances’
Welcome - I'm Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, author, playwright and writing teacher. I now have a new website 
