Why Did I Write Generation Mars This Way?

Earlier today I received an email from a visitor to this site, explaining he couldn’t review my Generation Mars series of books because he found the first one, Blood Red Dust, too distressing. His comments prompted a response from me to explain why I’d written the books in the way I did. It occurred to …

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13 After Midnight, by Jaime Martinez Tolentino: #BookReview.

274 pages Fantasy? This book is promoted as a collection of stories in the fantasy mode. That collection is preceded by a wordy, lengthy, introduction dealing with the nature of fantasy in literature. That’s a tortuous read in itself and, after the first few dry pages, I skipped the rest, since I’d bought the book …

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The #Write #Words? Post 1

A new series of posts about what words to use, and how. In this series, I’ll consider Onomatopoeia, Simile, and Collective Nouns. From time to time, I may include the odd reference to other word use, and I’ll continue my Delusional Dictionary. The last series, accessed through this link, dealt with Synonyms, Antonyms, Contronyms, Adverbs, …

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How Do You Deal with Non-Creative #Stress?

As artists, craftspeople, creators, we all have interruptions to our creative lives from time to time. How do we deal with such intrusions? I’ve been battling with bureaucrats over the past few weeks on behalf of a charity I’m involved with. One of those ‘bright ideas’ that suddenly turns into a sort of nightmare with …

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Independence: Two Democracies: Revolution, by Alasdair Shaw: #BookReview.

Science Fiction 6,000 words This free short story is a taster for what is currently a four-book series. In that role, it works well, drawing the reader into a world that begs to be explored further. The writing style is tight, with little or no waste of words. The central theme, which appears to be …

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Creative #Writing #Contests Table Updated

At Port Grimaud The time has come round, and I’m a little late (been a little buried by events outside my control)! Still, here’s your monthly reminder that the writing contest table has been updated. It lives on the ‘Resources’ page. Many contests are free to enter and offer great cash prizes. The table currently …

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The #Write #Word? Post 60 (Final)

Word cloud via wordart.com This is the final post in this series, which has dealt with words as Synonyms, Antonyms, Contronyms, Adverbs, Clichés, Redundancies, Plain-Language Alternatives for Wordy Phrases, Untranslatable Emotions, Words Often Misused and my own Delusional Dictionary. One of my regular readers suggested I should compile an index for the series, to help …

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Unseasonal Weather: a #Poem

With thanks to ClimateReanalyzer.org Unseasonal Weather But one month of the year complete and the next is almost done Where is the wet the chill the flakes of seasonal snow fun whitening brightening delighting children who would slide and glide down frozen slopes in noisy joy We have that burning globe above ubiquitous it seems …

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The #Write #Word? Post 59

Word cloud created through wordart.com In your writing, do you sometimes have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do. In trying to improve my own work, maybe I can help you. This is the penultimate post in this series. A final one will follow next week as a conclusion, indexing all the previous words I’ve …

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The #Write #Word? Post 58

Word cloud via wordart.com In your writing, do you sometimes have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do. In trying to improve my own work, maybe I can help you. There will be one more normal post in this series, next week, and then a final one the following week as a conclusion. What will …

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Love Matters: a #Poem

Today is Valentine's Day, but Valerie and I have always ignored such niceties. At the risk of seeming overly romantic; every day is our special day. And this is for my lovely wife. Love Matters You are she who speaks me truth never harsh or hurtful ever your heart is your guide and leads the …

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The #Write #Word? Post 57

Word cloud created through wordart.com In your writing, do you sometimes have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do. In trying to improve my own work, maybe I can help you. Today’s words: Xenial, Xenophobically, X marks the spot, Xmas. Synonyms are alternative words that have the power to convey exactly what you’re trying to …

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Yum,Yum, Grub in My Tum! #Poetry

Here’s a daft poem I wrote as light satire about the pretentiousness of certain eateries. You know, those places that seem to believe that food is more important than so many other aspects of life; the food porn-brokers, the food snobs, the food worshippers. I’ve presented this in the form of a menu card, just …

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Creative #Writing #Contests Table Updated

Ponte St Tinita in Florence The time has come round again! Here’s your reminder that the writing contest table has been updated. It lives on the ‘Resources’ page. Many contests are free to enter and offer great cash prizes. The table currently offers contests with entry dates from February to October 2019. Submit your entries …

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The #Write #Word? Post 56

When writing, do you have problems discovering the ‘right’ word? I do, sometimes. In trying to improve my own work, perhaps I can help others. Today’s words: Wit, Warn in advance, Words fail me, Word. Synonyms are alternative words that have the power to convey exactly what you’re trying to say. Wit: Roget lists these subheadings; …

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