My books feature on another author's website that examines the emotional aspect of writing fiction. You'll find this very interesting post here.
What Great Paintings Say, by Rose-Marie & Rainer Hagen: #BookReview.
This 500-page encyclopaedic tome is one of a set of art books I was given by a kind and generous stranger, a woman neighbour from a nearby village. I’m conducting research for a novel, and the visual arts feature significantly in the story. Whilst I have some knowledge of the art world, working as a …
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Further Progress on the #WIP.
Jacques Louis David “Love of Paris and Helen”, from the Louvre Museum in Paris. 22nd June 2025 When I last reported on progress, in May, the book in its developing form, stood as follows: 270 pages, a word count of 116,291, and 40 chapters. As I pen this update after my writing has been much …
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Further Progress on the #WIP
The pile of diaries and journals used for some of the background to the novel. Writing is an odd business. In fact, for me, ‘business’ is a misnomer, since I'm told I do far too little to promote my work. I much prefer to spend my time and energy creating stories for others to enjoy.The …
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The History of Art, by Blitz Editions: #BookReview.
Subtitled Pre-history to Avante-garde. The 28 contributors to this encyclopaedic tome are listed inside the book. All specialists in their fields.As the subtitle notes, it deals with art from pre-history through to the avante-garde, with the final dated entry from 1986. At the end of the beautifully illustrated set of sections, is a collection of …
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The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry: #BookReview.
Sebastian Barry has written one of those rare books that portray emotion without sentiment, diametrically opposed views with neutrality, and complex events in a manner easy to follow. Nevertheless, I was moved to tears on more than one occasion, and therefore rather pleased I was reading in private.The hypocrisy of religion is described without rancour, …
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A Spot of Serendipity
Writers Need Good Luck Sometimes. There you are, busily editing the first draft of your amazing, soon-to-be best seller WIP, hoping to move on toward that goal of publication when, from some inexplicable, unrecognised source, two new and unrelated ideas pop into your head. The question then is whether to give these intruders room to …
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#ScenicSaturday 26th April 2025
Coastal Cornwall. I post these pictures of the natural beauty of our world to show how unique and irreplaceable it is. I’m simply presenting scenes I hope will please, and maybe inform, readers here.Links to items mentioned can be found at the end of the post.This one depicts part of the stunning coast of the …
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Further Progress on the #WIP.
Wordcloud selectively based on part of the WIP as it is at present. Writing a book. What does it mean? What does it entail?Fiction, in particular, engages or should engage all the senses. Otherwise, it’s a part story, an incomplete account, a limping, meandering path of words strung together without true feeling. But what does …
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Timelines of Art, by DK: #BookReview
This sumptuously illustrated book of 400 pages of visual art and its history is an attempt to show the development of pictorial representation from the earliest daubes and scratches on the walls of caves all the way through to the more modern daubes and splashes that can apparently be counted as art. In between are …
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Apparently, Today is ‘Awkward Moments Day’
A portion of the character spreadsheet. I was introduced to this concept by Sassy Brit’s Alternative Read blog, via a new writing group I joined recently. The idea is to reveal your most awkward moment as a writer, share it, laugh about it. And, in this world full of misery and political strife, I say, …
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Women In The Picture, by Catherine McCormack: #BookReview.
Subtitled ‘Women, Art and the Power of Looking’, this book entered my reading list as a resource for research for a novel I’m writing.It has filled that requirement far better than I ever imagined. The breadth and depth of research the author has conducted to compile this treatise on the misogyny and injustice dealt out …
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Further Progress on the #WIP.
One of three notebooks, gift of my daughter's mother-in-law, Chris. For which, many thanks! It is a long time since I reported on my WIP. 19th January, to be precise.So, how’s it going?Inevitably, a touch of illness, advancing years, the state of the world since the orange clown was placed in a position of power …
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A Fork in the Road: Short Story
This short story appeared in a charity anthology, ‘Wrong’ to benefit Creative Writing Institute that sponsors cancer patients in writing courses. The theme was 'I have a list and a map. What could possibly go wrong?'You’ll find a link to the book at the end of the story. A Fork in the Road Lauren tapped …
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The Years, by Annie Ernaux: #BookReview.
Translated from the original French, by Alison L. Strayer, with remarkable insight and understanding of the original text, this ‘autobiography’ is an extraordinary piece of work. I use quotes around ‘autobiography’ because this book is so much more than that. It’s a brilliant mix of life story, history, sociology, philosophy, meditation, and poetry. Although some …
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Stuart Aken 