Hello and thanks for visiting my site.
"Black & White. The symbol of harmony and equilibrium."
Zhou Dunyi (Ancient Chinese philosopher)

Before I tell you a bit about the site and myself, let me say you don't have to be a wordsmith or a poet to enjoy this site.
It's for everyone and anyone and its success is as much in your hands as it is in mine.

Everyday people can say the funniest things; words of inspiration can come like a bolt from the blue, the most wonderful and poignant words can come when trying to comfort someone, a simple observation can spark a rhyme or even a song lyric, there's not a person on the planet that doesn't have an anecdote but has found no reason to write it down.
I'd love you to write yours down and send them to me, ask your family and friends to do the same, don't worry if you're not used to writing or if you think the styling or presentation isn't up to scratch, just email the outline of your story and I'll work with you to make it presentable.
I really do need your help so let me explain.

I'm compiling a book of "Great Quips, Quotes & Anecdotes from everyday people" and yours can be in it. I need your original stories; your families favorite quips, quotes & anecdotes. I'm not totally ruling out existing quotes. As you can see I have used the Zhou Dunyi quote above because it reflects the sentiments of this site perfectly. As long as the quote has a meaning to you or your family and you share that with me. What I don't want is famous lines from famous people or from books or films that have no meaning to you. No J.K. Rowling or Quentin Tarantino excerpts. No Lennon & McCartney lyrics. No Eleanor Roosevelt or Oscar Wilde quotes. No Keats or Shelley poems and no Stephen Fry anecdotes.
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Not everything funny comes from Micky Flanagan or Katherine Ryan, words of inspiration don’t only flow from Michelle Obama or Nelson Mandela, we've all experienced poignant moments in our lives, you don’t have to write poems like Maya Angelou or rhymes like Pam Ayres, nor do I expect lyrics like Bob Dylans, whilst no one and I mean no one expects you to tell a story like Billy Connolly.

Whatever you've got to offer I want to see it. I'll check everything prior to posting for authenticity and good taste. I won't knowingly post anything I feel could be deemed offensive in any way. To qualify for entry onto the site and into the book all I ask is you give me permission to use it alongside the CoZo Ruel logo and as part of the CoZo Ruel brand.
So come on, let’s get writing. Once your entry's been accepted it will be posted on the website with your name put to it and be entered into the book when compiled.

Intro:
So what's with the book?
To be perfectly honest I can’t really explain how this all came about. I'm a professional chauffeur and In October 2018 whilst parked near Heathrow I heard a conversation on the radio about how we use the five main senses. For no reason I put a note on my phone and later listed two things for each sense that meant something to me. A year later in October 2019 in the very same circumstances the same subject came up on the radio. I immediately revisited my notes and a day later I had written the lyrics for “Sensing Love”. By February 2020 I had written the lyrics for 13 songs.

As Lockdown took hold I wrote a couple of rhymes. I started listing some of my own quips & quotes fed back to me by friends and family. A couple of friends suggested I write some of the stories I'd told them hence the anecdotes. Now, I have no history of writing whatsoever so when I read some of my own stuff back it suddenly dawned on me there must be thousands of absolute gems out there.
I don’t look for things to write about. Every song lyric and rhyme has been inspired by something I’ve seen or heard or a sudden memory and been written quite spontaneously. I have no agenda so only write when inspired to do so. It’s a great feeling as I don’t know myself what I’ll be writing about next. I've recently written about an hour and a half of standup comedy and about 15 pages of a short story. I'll continue to add my own stuff to the website as and when it happens.
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Who am I?
I’m not sure it matters who I am. I wrote my first song lyrics aged 61. I was born in Glasgow but you wouldn't think it to hear me speak. I moved to the south west of England aged 2 and have been here ever since. The pseudonym came about when I had two personal songs put to music. The budget didn’t stretch to afford a decent singer so I had to sing them myself. I don’t profess to be a singer but if you listen to them it’s clear they're all about the lyrics for me. I wasn’t confident enough to put my name to them so CoZo Ruel was born. I am now happy to write under my own name but the website will continue to be known as Cozo Ruel.
So come on in and have a look around. There's enough for you to peruse at your leisure and don’t forget this site's for everyday people.
​If you like what you see but aren't quite ready to contribute yet it would be really helpful if you could leave a review. That to me will be a contribution in itself and help with the evolution of the site. Just go to contact to send your review via the comment / review box.
​Cheers.
Enjoy

Tom Heron