Sometimes a book can make you cry with laughter so much that you have to stop reading it in public for fear of appearing unwell and in need of intervention. Other times a book can make you sob with sadness to a point where you feel numb from the overwhelming distress. Occasionally, a book can …
Starting a New Story. The Big Questions.
So… I’m about to do something monumentally stupid. Worse than that, I’m performing this extreme stupidity in a very public way. I’m truly terrified (and maybe a tiny bit excited) of my next creative project. The short of it I’ll be writing a novel, using Twitter/X (if it can survive long enough), Bluesky, and maybe …
Subbing, writing yips, and into PhD-land
Submitting: "Welcome to the Desert of the Real" In the highly influential film The Matrix, the first time Neo is taken beyond his fabricated world he is theatrically welcomed to 'The Desert of the Real'. This it turns out, is the reality which greets most writers when they enter the harsh wastelands of agent submissions. …
A decade ago, in a world far, far away…
Warning: Blog contains personal views, graphic descriptions and graphic images that might not be your thing. Before the Beginning (ten years ago, Tralee, Ireland) The brooding clouds of Co. Kerry She woke between sleeps. We were all there, beside her. As she had been there for us since the moment we were born. The word …
Slow-burn Short Fiction Project
How are you? It's been a very long time since I last posted. Sorry about that. Life has been somewhat delayed. I am thankful for many things, one being that I was many months ahead of my novel that I am working on as part of my UEA Creative writing MA (I'm very proud of …
Revisiting Flash! Friday (week 4)
#FlashFridayReplay. A story based on Flash Friday Fiction week 4.
Revisiting Flash! Friday
Flash! Friday is the starting point, the crucible, the starting point of everything. I went back there to revisit old prompts, to inspire new stories. And I found much more than I was looking for. Prompt One: 7th Dec 2012 100 word story starting with "On Friday, everything changed." https://flashfriday.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/flash-friday-week-one-contest/ On Friday, everything changed. She …
New books available – for free
As mentioned in this post: https://makingfiction.com/2020/06/06/why-i-wont-be-trying-to-sell-you-my-next-book/ I don't want to mass market or sell the latest books. So, if you want to get them for free, they are available today (15/06/20) on ebook via Amazon. You might need to try the link a few times as the promotion times are in a US timezone, but …
VSS365 – my thoughts
As the person first responsible for the idea of VSS365, bringing it to life, hosting the first year of prompts and designing the ideas for the anthology, I have been asked to provide my thoughts on a few things. VSS365 is a vibrant, supportive and inclusive global community. It doesn't work without the following: People …
Why I won’t be trying to sell you my next book
My dear friends, It's blog time. A very rare event, I know. Firstly, an apology Sorry it's been a while, I've been busy as you all have, I suspect. I won't dwell too much on the strangeness of recent times, other than to say it's hard for lots of people, I've found it hard too, …
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Metropolitan Dreams 