Tree Home Coming across these tiny clogs, with the small door leading into the mystery space in the tree roots was what inspired the idea for this series. By no means the only careful construction we’ve encountered on our various walks, it was definitely the one that showed most creative thought and care. To take the …
Continue reading Oddities Observed On Outings #4
I’ve spent the best part of the last 12 months engaged in research for the new novel I’m now writing. I’ve ended up with three documents totalling 83 pages and 54,468 words, many including links to some of the research sites used for the information. Add to that the 604 pages from the Chronicle of …
Continue reading Now the Real Work Begins.
For some reason, lost in the dark clouds of obfuscating age-related memory, although I reviewed this book on Goodreads way back in the mists of time, I seem to have failed to have placed that review here. I now correct that missed opportunity. # As just one of the seventy-two poets featured in this remarkable …
Continue reading Epitaphs, by Anthological Poets: #BookReview.
I’m finally managing to read some neglected books I’ve had on my shelves for years. Having had so many books either recommended by reading and writing friends, or attracting my attention by different types of promotional material over the years, it’s a pleasure to get to those hardbacks and softbacks that have patiently waited on …
Continue reading Debt of Bones, by Terry Goodkind: #BookReview.
Having read previous works by Penny Kot, under her other pen names, I expected to find a complex plot, with many twists and turns, populated by a cast of varied and credible characters. I was not in any way disappointed. In fact, this novel is probably her most convoluted story so far. Able to convincingly …
Continue reading Death By Column Inches, by Penny Kot: #BookReview.
Literature? Fantasy? Science Fiction? Magical Realism? All of these appear in this anthology of remarkable short stories. Sometimes the style borders on the surreal, sometimes stream of consciousness is employed, but all the tales are imaginative and thoughtful, managing to capture mood and emotional turmoil, some are terrifying cross-genre pieces that stir emotions and ideas. …
Continue reading The Umbrellas of Hamelin, by Sue Knight, Reviewed.
Through the varied voices of Pat, a mother with a difference, her son, Gethin, and Jez, a young woman with a troubled past, we take journeys both intertwined and separate as they try to come to terms with their own lives. This is a turbulent ride where love, gender, complex relationships, drugs, and alcohol all …
Continue reading Riding the High Road, by Penny Frances: #BookReview.
This collection of short stories, which vary in length and style, reflects the skill and themes of interest to the author. It’s a diverse array, well-written and constructed, and includes some stories that have been previously published in various literary journals. There is great variety here, with many subjects and themes explored, always with emotional …
Continue reading Do You Remember the Barn Owl? by Barbara Lorna Hudson: #BookReview.
This is an update on a post I placed on Medium called ‘Searching On Amazon’ I’d found a book on Goodreads that seemed something I might be interested in, so I used Goodreads’ buying link to take me to it on Amazon. It took me nowhere near the book I wanted.  So, I searched for …
Continue reading Is Amazon’s Book Search Algorithm Deliberately Rubbish?
304 pages, Contemporary Romance. Insightful, and based on personal knowledge of the areas covered in her writing, the author explores themes of academic snobbery, domestic abuse, insecurity, and the search for love in an uncertain world. Having experience in both social care and academia, Barbara brings reality and honesty to this tale of the search …
Continue reading Makeover, by Barbara Lorna Hudson: #BookReview.
At the end of Friday, 11th August, I posted here on the progress of the WIP. At that stage, the book was on chapter 30 and the word count was 71,521. Yesterday I completed the WIP with chapter 33 and a total of 80,799 words. Now I need to do some detailed research for events …
Continue reading The WIP is Done.
My Books, and Others Containing My Stories. Three weeks ago, I posted about my progress on the WIP. I’m re-writing to the extent that the current work is essentially a second ‘first draft’, in that I’ve made many changes to the content and the style of presentation. At that point, I’d reached 32,427 words in …
Continue reading The WIP is Growing!
I don’t know what inspires ideas in other writers, but I gather a lot of my writing thoughts and inspiration from walking. I live in the Forest of Dean, so I’m surrounded by beautiful places in which to walk, usually with my wife. Yesterday, we decided to visit a local spot of significance, Symonds Yat, …
Continue reading Progress Inspired by a Walk?
The research (see the post from 9th July), apart from those unexpected oddities that make you check the occasional detail, is done. I began the re-write at the beginning of the week. It quickly became clear that merely editing the first draft would not create the book I first envisaged. So, I have started again …
Continue reading After the Research
Presumably all writers of fiction start with research for their chosen themes, subjects, periods, and locations. I know I always do. For my latest WIP I decided to set the story within the period around the first part of my own life. This was, after all, a time I knew well. Or so I thought.On …
Continue reading When Research Rules the Roost
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