A year ago the most ludicrous thing I didn't have to imagine was a petition launched in the UK for a ban on the teaching of Arabic numerals. I thought it was some kind of stunt, but the woman responsible believed numbers were some kind of new fangled way to, I don't know, get whatever … Continue reading 2020: too novel?
writing
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
Unsubstantiated support
If you're feeling a bit down, as I am in these uncertain, COVID-plagued days, there are things and people to turn to for a boost. I peered into this site's spam folder and discovered insights from anonymous spam-posting bots were the thing I didn't know I needed...and still don't: Very great post. I simply stumbled … Continue reading Unsubstantiated support
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
Perfect just what I was searching for!
It's the time, once more, to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Caesar can have these back: kindly crafted words of praise from anonymous accounts seeding spam everywhere they tread across the internet. Much like this: I am lucky that I observed this blog, precisely the right information that I was looking for! Or … Continue reading Perfect just what I was searching for!
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
Posting poetry
I'm taking part in a month long Post-it Note Poetry exercise (#PINP19) on Instagram over February (organised by @Soullyrical). I'm taking part because too often I'm a bystander. Also, after all this time, I know inspiration works better with restraints, and a bunch of discipline, rather than the panic that infinite space induces. A Post-it … Continue reading Posting poetry
Writing Bec 