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 …

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Rebirth. A Short Story.

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 …

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More Progress on the #WIP.

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 …

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I Am, Perhaps. Short Story:

It’s a few weeks since I last posted a short story here. I’ve been busy with other things. But I decided I’d continue the posts of previously published stories to give them a second chance of being read. Please feel free to comment, share and like as you will. This was published in the now …

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Further Progress on the #WIP, 8/10/24

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 …

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#Short Story: The Best Possible Time

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 …

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Further Progress on the #WIP

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

Oddities Observed On Outings #22

In this rolling series I’m looking at things seen when out walking. Some objects will be familiar to some readers, but many are likely to be unfamiliar to most. I’m presenting those that caught my attention through incongruity, idiosyncrasy, or simply their odd appearance.I came upon this birch leaf on an autumn walk through the …

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Short Story: A Change of View

This story was published in Words, a quarterly magazine sold in aid of the Winnicott Baby Unit charity. It appeared in issue 57, in early 2006, and was published before I started to write under my usual pen name of today. I received no fee (not expecting one) but did get a free copy of …

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Short Story: The Last Early Rising

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 …

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Oddities Observed On Outings #18

In this continuing series I’m looking at things seen when out walking. Some of the objects will be familiar to certain readers, but many are likely to be unfamiliar to most. I’m presenting those that caught my attention through their incongruity, idiosyncrasy, or simply their odd placing or appearance. This one was taken in a …

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Oddities Observed On Outings #17

In this continuing series I’m looking at things seen when out walking. Some of the objects will be familiar to certain readers, but many are likely to be unfamiliar to most. I’m presenting those that caught my attention perhaps by their incongruity, idiosyncrasy, or simply their odd location.This one was taken in the small Italian …

Continue reading Oddities Observed On Outings #17

No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, by Greta Thunberg #BookReview.

The mere mention of Greta’s name here may prevent the climate deniers and nay-sayers reading further. Such is the nature of the closed mind. The shame is that these are precisely the people who need to hear the message.The book is small and short, 106 pages of accessible text. These are the speeches Greta made …

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Short Story: Lost and Found.

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, …

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Zen in the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury: #Book Review.

Ray Bradbury was one of my earliest writer heroes. I read a lot of his work when I was a teenager and young man. Along with Asimov, Clarke, Aldiss, Heinlein and Wyndham he was one of the authors who created my love of science fiction.This is my second reading of this book. It has been …

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