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 …
Continue reading Timelines of Art, by DK: #BookReview
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, …
Continue reading Apparently, Today is ‘Awkward Moments Day’
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 …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP.
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 …
Continue reading A Fork in the Road: Short Story
It surely can’t be this long since I reported on my WIP, can it? But it appears my last post was way back on 23rd November 2024. How can that be?Well, I’ve some excuses. It’s possible some of you may consider them reasons, which would be better for my conscience.First excuse: I’m suffering from an …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP
I last updated progress on 28th of October, so a little late with this one. Sorry. At that time, the first draft was up to 80,840 words and I’d started editing to include a new character and had got as far as chapter 14. The old word count was 33,454 and the new to that …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP.
This short story has a long history. It first appeared in the small print magazine ‘Ouse Valley Poetry’, unfortunately no longer around, where it was placed third in their monthly contest in January 2008. Following some slight editing, it was then published in the monthly print magazine ‘Writers’ Forum’, where it gained second prize in …
Continue reading Rebirth. A Short Story.
I last updated progress on 8th of this month, when I reported that I’d experienced a strange epiphany not uncommon for pantsters. It meant I needed a new character, and that new person had to appear right at the beginning of the story. He also has an intimate connection to the original main protagonist, replacing …
Continue reading More Progress on the #WIP.
I’m still working on the first edit of the initial draft I finished, at 84,141 words, on 14th May. On 7th September I let you know I was well into the first edit of the WIP, when the word count had reached 57,341. On 15th September I let you know I was up to chapter …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP, 8/10/24
This story was first published in the now discontinued Writers’ Forum magazine in May 2007, when it won the 1st prize in their monthly short story contest (£300.00, quite a generous sum). The story was, at that time, part of a romantic thriller I was writing, and altered to stand alone as short fiction. This …
Continue reading #Short Story: The Best Possible Time
Still working on the first edit of the initial draft that I finished, at 84,141 words, on 14th May. On 7th September I let you know I was well into the first edit of the WIP, when the word count had reached 57,341. I also promised to keep you up to date with progress at …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP
This story was first published in the Autumn edition of 2005 of Scribble, a small print magazine published by Park Publications. I also posted this to Medium The Last Early Rising ‘What are you thinking about?’ Kerry stroked his abdomen. ‘How to kill our idiot neighbour without being caught.’ Her fingers migrated. ‘That’d certainly stop …
Continue reading Short Story: The Last Early Rising
This story was first published in my anthology, Ten Tales for Tomorrow, a sci-fi collection, on 1st January 2011. The eBook, running to around 30,000 words, is one of half a dozen in a promotion run by the publishing organisation, Smashwords. You can buy it here. Caution: some readers may find some of the content …
Continue reading #ShortStory: A Gastronomic Treat at the Edge of the Galaxy.
The short story posted below was first published in my anthology ‘Ten Love Tales’ in 2011.The book is available as an ebook on Smashwords, discounted to half price for the month of July.Lost and Found Cathy, my two brothers and I, had all left home when Mum and Dad moved out of their town house, …
Continue reading Short Story: Lost and Found.
The Gate A short story, first published as a prize-winner in Northern Short Stories Vol 5. in 1994. This was when I published under my given name, before I discovered, via Google, that there were umpteen writers using that name. I created my pen name a little later.But enough about that. Here's the short story …
Continue reading A Short Story For You.
Stuart Aken 