Monday; the weekend over, a new week starting. Here, in Lydbrook, we’d had a pretty busy few days and were missing our usual walks in the Forest of Dean. The sky, alternately threatening and promising, made us wonder about our best option. The village has two very good, and reasonably-priced, pubs that serve …
Continue reading A Taste of Village Life
Offering help for writers and language learners, this series of posts is a resource for all word lovers. This week’s words: Fable, Assonance, sort of, back against the wall Fable – Roget’s thesaurus lists these alternative words: maxim, fantasy, fable, narrative. Under the sub-heading ‘fable’ are a further 42 replacements, including fiction, tale, …
Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #49
Translated from the original Italian, this melancholy novel captures the nuance and subtlety that can so strongly influence a young mind. The wrong thing said, the poor choice made, the misunderstanding never fully comprehended until much later, all act as controllers in the lives of those still forming. This is the story of two young …
Continue reading The Solitude of Prime Numbers, by Paolo Giordano. #BookReview.
The picture is a small version of a large image that's one of almost 400 I have on a site called Picfair.com. It's a place that sells photographs that can be used for any reason, at very reasonable rates. I'm hoping to earn enough from my work there to improve my website and to obtain …
Continue reading Creative #Writing #Contests Table Updated
At the moment, patiently awaiting the first view of the new book. While we wait, I thought I’d make a few comments about why I wrote ‘War Over Dust’. Actually, why I wrote that and its predecessor ‘Blood Red Dust’ and will write the one yet to come in this trilogy. Science fiction attracts writers …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
This is the first part of a four book series. I have a certain distrust of such books, if they fail to perform the function of a proper story in each volume. This one, it must be said, is marginal. The ending is ambiguous and designed to draw the reader to the next part, which …
Continue reading Red Desert – Point of No Return, by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli, Reviewed.
Offering help for writers and language learners, this series of posts is a resource for all word lovers. This week’s words: Eager, Definitely, All talk and no action, Gigil. Eager – Roget’s thesaurus lists these alternative words: willing, active, fervent, excited, and desiring. Under the sub-heading ‘willing’ are a further 71 replacements, including compliant, inclined, …
Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #48
On Wednesday, I normally post a piece about progress on the current WIP. But we’re in a col there; War Over Dust is undergoing physical production to prepare for launch on 2nd September at the inimical Fantasticon 2017 in Hull, UK City of Culture. So, to fill the gap, I’m posting about my personal relationship …
Continue reading Why I’m Pretty Crap at Marketing.
Offering help for writers and language learners, this series of posts is a resource for all word lovers. This week’s words: Background, Aposiopesis, Almost, A clean slate Background – Roget’s thesaurus lists these alternative words: circumstance, concomitant, accompanying, distance, surroundings, rear, spectacle, knowledge, information, stage set, and ornamentation. Under the sub-heading ‘information’ are a further …
Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #47
Offering help for writers and language learners, this series of posts is a resource for all word lovers. This week’s words: Weather, absolutely essential, Sesquipedalianism, Natsukashii ‘Weather’ belongs to an odd category of words known as contronyms. A contronym is a word that is its own antonym; a word that has two opposing meanings! This …
Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #46
Offering help for writers and language learners, this series of posts is a resource for all word lovers. This week’s words: Cage. Anaphora. Extremely. Cage – Roget’s thesaurus lists these alternative words: stable (n), compartment (n), receptacle (n), circumscribe (vb), enclosure (n), enclose (vb), break in (vb), imprison (vb), lock up (n). Under the subheading …
Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #45
A very short update tonight. The book is currently undergoing typesetting. War Over Dust, the second in the Generation Mars series, is also being covered by a creation I’m looking forward to displaying here. Gabi Grubb’s cover graced book one and she’s currently working on this volume. Fantastic Books Publishing, Gabi, and I are in …
Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.
The characters in this lengthy romance lead full and interesting lives. They’re an ethnically diverse group with a couple of the lead protagonists being West Indian. The narrative is set largely in New York and Canada and there are cultural references to these two countries that mean little to a UK reader who’s never visited …
Continue reading Letting Go, by Maria Thompson Corley, Reviewed.
Here’s your monthly reminder that the writing contest table has been updated. I update frequently; in fact, usually whenever I come across new contests. I also subscribe to a few sources for information to pass on to you here. Make sure you get your entries submitted in plenty of time, there are some spectacular prizes …
Continue reading Creative #Writing #Contests Table Updated
Offering help for writers and language learners, but adding variety to topics covered. This series of posts remains a resource for word lovers but its scope is widening. My apologies for the late post this week: I was concentrating on getting my latest book, War Over Dust, to the publisher in time for the deadline …
Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #44
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 