I was going to review the Tolkien biopic I saw the other day. And I will: it was solid story telling, took some minor appropriate liberties with the source material to heighten the drama, yet didn't compromise much. I enjoyed it. Basically, it was another thoughtful narrative mostly around the effects of a difficult childhood … Continue reading Some enchanted telling
Notes on Writing Related Stuff
Oh the monotony
I'm hoping this type of announcement post will get extremely monotonous as I reveal a second poem has been accepted for publication (in a different journal to the first one). It turns out sending poetry and stories to publications occasionally works. It's simple but it's still true, and I have been guilty of forgetting this. … Continue reading Oh the monotony
Anyway, here’s Wonderwall
Tell you a secret. I've been writing again. Yes, I've returned to submitting my back catalogue of unpublished stories and poetry....And. Yes. I have written some new things as well. Nothing too epic. There are no 1000 page sagas completed, but there are a couple of flash fiction things. Why? Because I'm feeling the mojo. … Continue reading Anyway, here’s Wonderwall
Something old, something new
I have news. It has been a long time coming. But after writing poetry for decades, finally, after all these years I've had one poem accepted for publication. It's in Trouvaille Journal right now. If you would like to read it, here it is. It sounds dramatic, doesn't it? Decades in the making, but it's … Continue reading Something old, something new
Disrupt this writer
You know how scientific analysis sometimes requires killing what it is seeking to understand first? I feel like this at the moment about writing. As soon as I talk about it, even here, the idea, or the impulse or the work itself is killed, stone dead. Sure, we can look at the structures of the … Continue reading Disrupt this writer
Calloo, callay, publishing day
Much like a paddling duck, writing things are happening, but the effort is mainly invisible, below the surface, or not very exciting, but again, like a duck, I am slowly getting somewhere. Firstly, I have just had an article published on the blog of global publishing platform Submittable about the craft of writing flash novellas. … Continue reading Calloo, callay, publishing day
Writing things in motion
This is a quick note to mention writing things are in motion. I have an article for the Submittable blog coming out this week, and a tiny morsel of flash fiction has been accepted for publication in issue 20 of Speculative 66 which is out the week after. These events are very welcome. These are … Continue reading Writing things in motion
Feeling the love
Valentine's Day has never been a significant date, except as a historical curiosity featuring long dead martyrs. I'm not going all woe is me either: if your beloved requires a commercialised saint's day as a reminder to up the romance, your romance might be a bit past revivification. Or not. I am definitely not an … Continue reading Feeling the love
Sisyphean writing update
Over December and January I properly perused my flash fiction file, collated a bunch of little narratives, then re-edited the lot as one document. Then I found a couple of opportunities and frantically tried to shape this cobbled together thing into a flash novella. Before sending it off, it needed something extra, so I tore … Continue reading Sisyphean writing update
Review relief
Last year (2018) was personally and professionally challenging in a variety of un-fun ways. The things I expected to be doing I didn't get to do, while other things happened that I never imagined would. Then again, in terms of creative writing, I believe I produced some of my best flash fiction so far, however, … Continue reading Review relief
