Tag Archives: writing
The improbable story line
“How unbelievable is that?” “That would never happen in real-life?” I’m sure some of us have said these things when reading a novel? How far should authors go with storylines that rely on remarkable events and coincidences, especially ones that requires readers to suspend their incredulity for the sake of moving a plot forward? But […]
Drum roll… get your pitchforks and hoes ready!
For the fourth consecutive year I’ve entered my blog into the annual A-Z blogging challenge. From the 1st April to the end of the month, I shall blog each day (except Sundays) using each letter of the alphabet to represent my posts. Themes aren’t compulsory, but I like to use them to help focus my […]
A-Z blogging challenge – theme reveal 2018
Welcome to this year’s theme reveal for the A-Z blogging challenge. After the previous year’s cathedrals and abbeys, I decided to continue the theme of historical places of the British Isles. With the success of Downton Abbey and The Crown on TV, it would be easy to pick the stately homes of Chatsworth, Blenheim Palace […]
A-to-Z and the book
I’ve signed up again! Yes, the A to Z blogging challenge beckons and I’ve succumbed. Already, I’m wondering what I’ve let myself in for and if I really can deliver a post a day when I’ve hardly posted anything for months. Why? Because I’ve been super busy working on my book and finally it is […]
The Wrong Lesson – A short story
The Wrong Lesson It didn’t go quite to plan, but that was okay, things generally didn’t. “So, it all went wrong?” Elliot asked. Gareth squirmed in his seat. “That might be taking it too far,” he replied. He laid out his sandwiches, poured a coffee out of the pot and settled into a seat […]
Catching up on castles and stuff – #amwriting
Gosh, it’s been a while since I posted. I have a wonderful excuse – I wrote a book. Well, that’s a little bit of a cheat. I wrote the first draft of it years ago, but it wasn’t right. So now that I’m learning the art of editing, I ditched half of it, totally re-wrote […]
A to Z challenge – reflections
This has been my third year of A-Zing. In no particular order, my thoughts in reflection… Time – oh to have buckets more of it. As usual I failed to plan everything up front or schedule enough posts in advance leaving myself a pitiful amount of time to read other people’s. It should be said, […]
Draft after draft – #amwriting #firstdraft
I recently read Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life and thoroughly enjoyed it. The life of Ursula is repeated throughout the novel and each time it replays, her various choices and outcomes lead her down different paths. It’s like a butterfly effect, the recuperations of one seemingly inconsequential life rippling into countless others. Ursula has the […]
Lost chapters
I woke last night in the middle of a dream. One of those intriguing, what happens next kind of dreams with lots of strange subliminal messages that I feel I ought to understand the meaning of but instead they leave me confused and frustrated. Trying to get back to sleep, I’d love to have jumped […]
The Quiet Writer 