'Hear' be spoilers... I like a bit of writing like this. It bats you around the head with its cleverness, it's self-referential, and even didactic. That's not a bad idea sometimes, as it means we get a lesson in time travel, and we know what's at stake, because we've dealt with The Doctor messing about … Continue reading Doctor Who: Listening Tour
Doctor Who: Talking Cure?
I started writing this before I saw Under the Lake and having seen it, the episode reinforces what I've been thinking for a while. Of course it will though, because confirmation bias. I was thinking regardless how big a fan you may may not be of Doctor Who under Steven Moffat, you can't deny he can write, or … Continue reading Doctor Who: Talking Cure?
Doctor Who: Lying, the witch and wardrobe malfunctions
Review: The Witch's Familiar I think the Dalek loop is complete for the moment thanks to Steven Moffat. The Doctor has killed them, refused to kill them, transformed them, saved them, run away from them, and helped in a way, to invent them. Davros and The Doctor are the same and different. Scientist geniuses, the … Continue reading Doctor Who: Lying, the witch and wardrobe malfunctions
Authors Answer 47 – Portraying Cultures in Fiction
I've been thinking about this and it's more complex than we realise. Every setting in a 'real' place has its own culture. I mean local customs and language idioms and expectations for behaviour and that's even within one country or larger area. Then if we write historical fiction of any kind, the past is also … Continue reading Authors Answer 47 – Portraying Cultures in Fiction
Doctor Who: Told You So
AKA remembrance of things that might be retconned So yes, it's just like I said in my last review. Lo and behold, with The Magician's Apprentice we get the double bill return of Missy and of Davros. No sweating on slow burn mysteries, Steven Moffat is leaping straight into the big themes of the season: … Continue reading Doctor Who: Told You So
Doctor Who: Prologue-ic
The Doctor is almost here. It's been an epic wait. And for that we get a prologue. I have all the thoughts and no thoughts about this development. As a writer, I suspect prologues are for the artsy bits authors believe are too well written to throw out when editors demonstrate they're not needed for … Continue reading Doctor Who: Prologue-ic
A room right with WriteSpace
Part One WriteSpace: it's everything I had imagined a day devoted to writing to be. There were desks, comfy enough chairs, food and beverages, natural light, power, a thoughtful selection of writing resources for inspiration, and much kind service from our host. Quiet tapping on laptops is comforting. We happy few are getting work done, … Continue reading A room right with WriteSpace
Changing spaces
I'm going to a writing retreat. I won a place, which is nice, and I'm looking forward to it. Not sure of what to expect, or what I'll gain from it, but I hope something a bit writing related. It shouldn't matter where we write, but it sometimes it might. Sometimes, the household is full of … Continue reading Changing spaces
Equivocating, writing and a review of The Heretics
I've just finished Will Storr's The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science. Mainly because the medication and the agony of my swollen face with sinusitis won't let me sleep, but that's a digression. I think the book is an exploration of how humans come by opinions and beliefs using contrasted interviews of climate denialists and scientists, creationists … Continue reading Equivocating, writing and a review of The Heretics
How a story is a horse, of course
Writing has been hard work. I've had trouble getting from the end of the middle of one story, to its conclusion, which I've worked out. And, with my novella, I've begun fixing everything I've realised is wrong with it, but it takes a while to warm up. I'm not feeling the mojo, in other words, … Continue reading How a story is a horse, of course
Writing Bec 