Mobility
When I got an iPad (my first) in April, I had high hopes for all the things I’d be able to do with/on it. My laptop is getting old (5…
An Artist and her Bus Pass
I am on a lonely road and I am travelling, sang Joni Mitchell in a song I like very much. But her problem could be considered quite the opposite of…
The Artist’s Date
Like everyone, Covid has affected my life in a zillion random ways. While I've had the very good fortune not to get sick, I'm somewhat weighted by certain repercussions. No…
Embracing the Strange
It struck me, as I lambasted myself for having watched three You Tubes in a row on how to get the most out of Big Sur, that instead of fighting…
Cook Your Own Stories
Literary Diet, the final dayTomorrow it won't be January any more, which feels rather abrupt. But there are still a few hours left of the month in which The Guardian…
The Short Story: Opening Lines: A Perfect Day for Bananafish
‘There were ninety-seven New York advertising men in the hotel, and, the way they were monopolizing the long-distance lines, the girl in 507 had to wait from noon till almost…
Writer Opps: 2020 Short Story Contests
Aerogramme Writers' Studio is one of my favourite resources for writers, and I have a link to their site on my Resources for Writers page. But I'm flagging them up…
Literature Ambassador: Writer Opps: Tom-Gallon Award
If you've been writing short-stories for long enough to have at least one published, you'll have discovered there's very little money for those of us who favour the genre. So…
Literature Ambassador: Writer Opps: Wigtown Festival Company’s Mentoring Scheme.
I don't know about you, but I tend to be much more productive if I've got someone to disappoint. I still miss university for that reason, I need someone who…
Valtos Rocks
Research & Motivation (or is it the other way round?)
I'm currently writing a novel about a shit-storm that ensues when a small Scottish community decides to buy the island it inhabits from the wealthy, always absent and appallingly neglectful,…