Wasting time with Google

I've got half an hour before I have to go out for my first haircut of the year - well, first haircut since the beginning of December - so here I am, wasting time. Although I don't actually have anything to say... I had to Google how long it would take to dig a six-foot …

Past, present, future

The house is quiet. Half of us are back to school today (teaching and being taught); the other half (including me) are still waiting for our jobs to re-open. Our local secondary school is having a phased return so all the kids can be tested before restarting their lessons, so the streets are still quiet. …

August Bank Holiday!

We love a good bank holiday in the UK - New Year, Good Friday, Easter Monday, a couple in May, August, Christmas and Boxing Day. Today, I'm going to be writing because I've got a self-imposed deadline coming up, and spent the weekend reading. Fun, but not particularly useful for the competition submission I haven't …

High Five for Bookshops

It's that time of year, month, day again when I encourage you to use your local shops! Regular readers, Facebook followers, random strangers I grab in the street, will know I love local shops. I know I'm incredibly lucky. In my town, we have a greengrocer, several fantastic gift shops which are supplied by local …

The bigger picture

2020 isn't being kind, is it? Do you remember the wildfires in Australia, and those terrible scenes of rescued koalas? Or that Brexit actually happened at the end of January? Harvey Weinstein's trial; Trump's impeachment and acquittal; tensions with Iran? Covid-19 has taken over every part of our lives - whether we're locked down or …

The nature of short stories

Some bloggers excel at sharing with guests who bring their extensive knowledge with them, while others dive into the deep and meaningful, with carefully researched quotes to back up their argument. When I decided to start a blog, I had no contacts, no author friends at all - I was a complete writing loner - …

#JaneAusten200

Today is the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death - a writer who found so much more fame, and critical acclaim, after she died than during her lifetime. I wonder what it would be like to pop back and see how your legacy is holding up... I love Jane Austen because she wrote my favourite …

What’s the point?

I'm a writer. I know, I'm stating the obvious here, but bear with me. Sometimes, like today, when I wake up to news of another senseless attack on innocent people - this time in Manchester - I wonder if there's any point. People are suffering, daily - terrorist attacks, poverty, living in war zones. In …

Fake News or Chocolate Hob Nobs?

I've been sitting on this post, this idea, for a long time. I wasn't sure if I'd ever post it, but the concept isn't going away. One of my concerns is that I'm going to delve into politics... But  this isn't a political post, it's a grammatical one, a linguistic one. I hate the term Fake …

Cliffhangers

Or, Making the audience wait for closure Or, oh Sherlock, what did you do? (in my best Mrs Hudson voice) Before I start this post properly, I should offer a warning: I will probably include the phrase 'in my day...', but I'll try to put it off for as long as possible. I've watched Sherlock since …