Bizarrely perhaps, the motivation for the story - and the initial situation Jack finds himself in - is entirely based on my own experience i.e. one day I realised "Moby Dick" was missing from my bookshelves and it should have been there. I had no idea why it wasn’t there. I never throw books away… … Continue reading About: “Losing Moby Dick” →

One of the things I like about Magic Realism is that there are no boundaries. You can put your characters in whatever situations you choose, and have them react however you want them to. As a writer, this can be quite freeing, removed from the need to be 'true to life' - whatever that means. … Continue reading About: “Riding the Escalators” →

A scruffy young man, tattooed about the neck, pushing a BMX, limps badly, unable to put weight on his left heel as if his shoe has been penetrated by the mother of all nails. He could - or should - be going to the Doctor’s, but he doesn’t look the sort; he looks disenfranchised, an … Continue reading “A Perforated Soul” – 100-word challenge →

The challenge is not being prolific, nor having ideas and turning them into something tangible - the challenge is the validation of that output. Fortunately, or unfortunately, that validation is clearly measurable these days. It's visible in the numbers: of reads, of likes, of followers, of - heaven forbid! - sales... That validation - "the scores … Continue reading In your hands →

When the fog finally lifted the world looked different. Perhaps it was the way in which the land emerged, slowly divesting itself of the cloak it had been wearing. Because it happened in slow motion, you were forced to focus on one thing at a time: a church spire, or the tops of the trees … Continue reading “Unveiling” – 100-word challenge →

...one is the normal, 'professional' one I have been living for an awfully long time. The other was born in the freedom days of youth many years ago only to enter some kind of hibernation from which it might be roused at irregular intervals to put in a surprise appearance - surprise to me, if no-one else! … Continue reading I have two lives… →

Having become 're-energised' - self-publishing books via Amazon, joining the local Writers' Group, even entering competitions! - I have also re-made a discovery that is both 'good' and 'bad'. Yesterday I was doing some research on indie publishing spurred on by a concern that Amazon’s KDP may not be the best platform for me, and … Continue reading The Good News is also the Bad News… →

The Benefactor He always wanted to be seen as a benefactor rather than a refugee - though many struggled to see beyond their first meetings with him. They would, of course, acknowledge that he had gone on to do many great things, not just for himself but for his new family and, finally, for the … Continue reading “The Benefactor” – 100-word challenge →