Based on the back cover blurb and any previous reading of Anthony Doerr, you know from the very outset that he is going to weave together the various strands of Cloud Cuckoo Land into a cohesive conclusion. Bow neatly tied, thank you very much. And he does. However, there are other aspects of the novel … Continue reading “Cloud Cuckoo Land”
Category: Fiction
Yesterday & Today: 19th April
Lots of time spent doing things yesterday as is usually the case on a Tuesday with my Library session and 'Write-on Ripon' - but only half of it was pre-planned. The things I did expect to get done were some more drafting of "C" (which continues to move on at pace), and 'Write-on Ripon'. The … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 19th April
Yesterday & Today: 18th April
After a day or two when production has been below average, it usually takes a short while to ramp the effort back up, and yesterday was no exception. I started the day with a Crash read-through. It's interesting how my rehearsals with Andy take about 5 minutes less than when I read it in my … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 18th April
Yesterday & Today: 17th April
By the time I get to the end of a writers' retreat at which I'm mentoring I'm usually pretty exhausted mentally. No surprise then that creatively yesterday was at a minimum. At the request of the Ripon Theatre Festival organiser I pulled together a few paragraphs about me and my inspiration for Crash which I … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 17th April
My writing journey to the performance of “Crash”…
Ever since I wrote my first story aged five - an illustrated tale about a boy’s adventures in space - I wanted to do nothing other than write. In my early years this was an ambition fulfilled merely in fits and starts, and even then only in a minor way. This changed at the turn … Continue reading My writing journey to the performance of “Crash”…
Yesterday & Today: 16th April
Often a fantastic thing happens on the last evening of our writers' retreats - and yesterday was no exception. We always finish with a 'read-around', where delegates share some of their work by reading it to the rest of the group. This can be something they've been working on during the retreat or something else … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 16th April
Yesterday & Today: 15th April
The most rewarding elements of the retreat yesterday came after the 'Character Building' workshop when at least three of the attendees tried out my character profiling suggestion on their works-in-progress. They said they found the exercise very useful, and that the profiles will help them build their final stories. That really as all I could … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 15th April
Yesterday & Today: 14th April
The retreat at which I'm now mentoring kicked-off in pretty standard fashion yesterday - apart from a little local 'colour' which doesn't really warrant any further explanation here, but one day has to make it into a story! As usual, there are a variety of writers here who I'll be getting to know over the … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 14th April
Yesterday & Today: 13th April
The great news from yesterday was how well Andy thinks my performance of Crash is coming along. Indeed, we are likely to reduce formal rehearsals to bi-weekly until just before the June event. One of the beauties of the piece - and the performance - is that I can practise at home, something I'll have … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 13th April
Yesterday & Today: 12th April
Given what was on the agenda, yesterday was always going to be pretty busy - yet I even managed to fit in something unplanned! The library session was quiet (but only in terms of people wanting to see me), so I cut it short half an hour early. During my time there (and at various … Continue reading Yesterday & Today: 12th April