Author Interview – Stuart Aken

On 12/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Uncategorized

A great, amusing, and unusual interview.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 10/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

Last week I’d was up to 40481 words in the new book. Today, I’ve reached 51,050, so an increase of 10,569 over the week. Along the way, I’ve invented some new names for locations, introduced a few new characters to take part in the action, and hit on a very slightly different ending, which I …

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The Write Word? Post 1

On 05/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice4 Comments

Do you sometimes struggle to find the ‘right’ word for your writing? I do. Maybe, in helping myself, I can help other writers. For over a year, I’ve been posting pieces titled ‘Looking for the Best Word?’. I reached post 70 at the end of 2017 and decided a different approach could help remotivate me …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 03/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Last week I’d reached a total of 35694 words. Today, I’m up to 40481, which is just a tad over my target of 40000 for a busy week, with a couple of days out for festivities. I’m a lover of the New Year: see it as a ‘fresh start’ and prefer it to Christmas, so …

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Creative #Writing #Contests Table Updated

On 01/01/2018 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Fiction, Prizes5 Comments

Here’s this month’s reminder that the writing contest table has been updated. It’s located under the ‘Resources’ tab. I update the table frequently, in fact; whenever I come across new contest details. I also subscribe to a few sources for information to pass on to you here. Make sure you submit entries in plenty of …

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A Guest Post on a Fascinating Website

On 31/12/201731/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Nature3 Comments

You can find the whole text, with accompanying pictures of my Year in the Forest of Dean by following this link. Enjoy!

Looking for the Best Word? Tip #70

On 29/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

Help for writers and language learners; these posts look at different aspects of the world of words to stimulate curiosity and enhance creativity. Next week’s post will occur in the New Year of 2018 and I’m intending to use that change to alter these posts slightly. I expect they’ll become slightly shorter, but only time …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 27/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Last week I had a total of 30,829 words. This week, in spite of the two-day celebration, a book review, a lunch at a local pub, a night spent watching a play on a local stage, and several longish walks through the forest, clearing fallen trees and branches to allow other walkers to get through, …

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Happy Christmas!

On 25/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Looking for the Best Word? Tip #69

On 23/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Creative Writer, Grammar, Word Choice

Help for writers and language learners; these posts look at different aspects of the world of words to stimulate curiosity and enhance creativity. My apologies: This post should have appeared yesterday. No real excuse, except I took a rather longer walk than usual and the day was over before I realised it! This week’s words: …

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Bleak: The First Mission, by Ian Martyn: #BookReview.

On 21/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review2 Comments

This short (10,000 words) teaser is an introduction to a new character. However, the story does have a beginning, middle and end, which makes it more satisfying than many such introductory pieces. The future envisaged in this science fiction world is, as the eponymous title suggests; bleak. The character, described as a shape shifter, is …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On 20/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress1 Comment

Last week I had a total of 18,835 words; this week’s total is 30,829, an increase of 12,000. Not bad, considering the other things that have been happening in and around my life. Only today, we had an interruption in our power supply as the local company came along to update some of the equipment …

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Leaders: Do We Really Need Them?

On 18/12/2017 By stuartakenIn opinion, politics, question2 Comments

There’s a peculiar, but worldwide, obsession with and respect for leaders of nations. Why? What good do they do? If we look at history, ancient and modern, we find leaders have taken their nations into war, most often to increase the size of the region over which they hold power. Does such action benefit the …

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The Little Blue Book for Authors, by Gisela Hausmann: #BookReview.

On 17/12/2017 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Reading, Review4 Comments

Subtitled ’53 Dos & Don’ts Nobody is Telling You’, this short book, in common with all the author’s work, is direct and to the point. You’ll find no waffle here, no filling or puffing. It’s all simple advice, gleaned from personal experience and a research ethic that would make most of us tired just to …

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