My New Year's Resolution was to write and publish a second book - and I did. I'll allow myself a little bit of pride in that (but not too much because I'm a writer and I'm British). I've now published two books in two years - so what did I learn? 1. Decide why you want... Continue Reading →
I love a good cave. Not in a hard-hat-gee-that's-a-tight-squeeze-caving kind of way, but anywhere with a decent cave tour gets my attention. Kents Cavern in Devon have a very good tour and literally layers of history to uncover. The caves have provided shelter to animals and humans for thousands of years. A human jawbone fragment... Continue Reading →
Wells is the smallest city in the UK. Its status as a city dates from medieval times, and depends on its stunning cathedral complex. It's been a filming location for a number of productions including 'Poldark', 'Dunkirk' and 'Hot Fuzz' - the high street and market place are immediately recognisable from the climactic shoot-out scene.... Continue Reading →
The Glasgow Necropolis on a cold, bright morn; grand and Gothic and unsurprisingly, Victorian. Ever a society in love with death, elevating it into an art form fit for the ancients. It's easy to see why writers are fascinated by cities of the dead. Cemeteries tell a thousand tales. Inspiration and intrigue around every corner.... Continue Reading →
The real world rushed into focus recently in the worst way possible. It's why I've been so quiet on here. It was a full-on bolt from the blue and it's sent everything I knew spinning. We write to escape reality. Perhaps this is most true if you write fiction, but even those whose work is... Continue Reading →
Write I mean! On trains and buses, boats and rooftops, beaches, balconies and the bottom of the sea, we writers will do it anywhere (get your minds out of the gutter please!) I'm sure you know what it's like to have the Muse (or just the need to flex those writing muscles) strike at an... Continue Reading →
You writeso that when you fall,your descent will be arrested,by a silver net of wordstied in knotsonto the walls. And you ask,are they strong enough,tough enough, tall enough,what if they just breakso that you crash intothe floor? So you writeand on you tie themknots with bowsand knots with snarls,knots with no one else around them,knots... Continue Reading →
It's all over. Both the year and my book. Completing the book has been my biggest achievement and one I didn't expect to happen. When I looked back at my New Years postfrom January 2015, I was surprised to find I'd gone beyond what I thought I could do. I completed the 2nd edit on... Continue Reading →
Today I felt a moment of sadness flicked in from nothing a moment given for the mourning of those who have no other I wondered whose loss I had been assigned who they had been before the trap closed whether they were always anonymous born and died with the light touch flying with dragging feet... Continue Reading →
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