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 →

The Apartment on Faustus Street. The apartment had two entrances, one either side of the nondescript pink-lit establishment below, which it straddled like a railway footbridge. In past lives these had been used as 'In' and 'Out', but for its present purpose only the former was necessary. People did leave, of course, but he knew … Continue reading “The Apartment on Faustus Street” – 100-word Challenge →

One of things that had been decided in advance was the name with which the child would be adorned. Denis and Joyce had set down a number of rules. 1 - there would be no middle name. 2 - they did not want a name that could be shortened further, and by abstraction, rule 3 … Continue reading “Near Enough” – snippet 2 →

I found myself wondering just how much of a story could be conveyed within a strict limit of 100 words (excluding any title) - so thought I would give it a try... As a Young Man As a young man he was attracted to girls on the fringes; pale, troubled, unique. He called them 'quirky' and later, … Continue reading The 100-word challenge →