I recently started reading Terry Pratchett's latest book 'Raising Steam', with a slightly heavy heart. Not because I didn't think I'd enjoy it, I knew I would, but because each new book brings us a bit closer to the time where there will be no more new books. He has a very rare form of... Continue Reading →
Books That Get Under Our Skin – Literary Tattoos
The classic horror aficionados amongst you will recognise the quote above from Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The tattoo and the arm it sits on belong to my friend Kasi. This is her favourite line from her favourite book, and it's now permanently embossed on her skin. Literary tattoos are hugely popular. There are plenty of websites... Continue Reading →
New Year, New Writing Resolutions – How to Avoid Failure
I'm a little late here, but I want to just talk about New Year’s Resolutions. We make ‘em, we break 'em – that’s true for me and I expect it’s true for a lot of other people as well. Every year we make ourselves all sorts of promises – to loose weight, get fitter, get... Continue Reading →
Following Harry Potter – A Visit to Lacock Abbey
A while back I visited Lacock Abbey. Now yes it is well known as the place where William Talbot made the earliest known surviving example of a photographic negative in 1835 but more importantly, they filmed scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Half-Blood Prince there. There are also a number of... Continue Reading →
Charles Dicken’s Birthplace
Charles Dicken's birthplace lies tucked away in Portsmouth. The street is a sore thumb of nineteenth-century architecture in amongst a labyrinth of blocky sixties tower blocks. Dickens didn't live in the house long, moving to London when he was still a young child. The museum that is now in his old house doesn't include any... Continue Reading →
To Write or not to Write (whilst lazing in a hammock)
I'm off on holiday next week (yay) and I'll be taking a notebook with me (from my extensive collection) with the intention of writing whilst I'm out there.I've done this every single holiday my boyfriend and I have taken over the past eight years and so far I've never managed to write anything. The notebook... Continue Reading →
Prose – Runaway
Some mornings I wake up and I want to run away. I stare at the curtains, at the pallid floral pattern and long to escape. The early light paints the room grey, the pipes creak, the cars drive by and by and by. I want to run away and leave everyone behind. Even you. Even... Continue Reading →
Hitting a milestone…with a little help
Hello to all the followers I've acquired over the past week and a big thank you to Ionia Martin mentioning me in her delightful Readful Things blog. I've now passed 100 followers which a big milestone for me, although it does ratchet up the pressure to keep you entertained with witty and engaging posts. So I'm... Continue Reading →
Poetry – I Sleep on a Bed of Books
I sleep on a bed of books, my body cradled with words and deeds, bled into the fabric of time. They support my limbs, they hold my head, screaming in the silence, keeping me afloat. At night I wait, for the tomes to seep into me, slicing inside like purple neon lasers. I wish to... Continue Reading →
Prose – The Moon
It was the moon that made her fall. She had been running for an age, scratched and bloodied on her feet and arms with scalp and back slick with sweat. Her scarf was long lost and her hair, haphazard gold and dark tones, flowed behind her like a sail. The trees were dark guards, the... Continue Reading →
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