Random Musings

Category: writing

  • Let the words out

    So I’ve clearly fallen down on the attempt to blog weekly. Life gets busy, right? I suppose it’s about priorities. I choose to read in the bath rather than blog. I choose to respond to emails, scroll FB, even play candy crush…instead of blog. And I’ve come to realise it’s…

  • Building, learning, flaying

    repertoire 1 a : a list or supply of dramas, operas, pieces, or parts that a company or person is prepared to perform b : a supply of skills, devices, or expedients; broadly : amount, supply c : a list or supply of capabilities I’ve lapsed on my desire to use a word of the day for more…

  • Jabby little teeth

    I seem to be out of words. I sit down to blog, but there’s nothing there. There are personal things I could rant on about, but that feels a little too close to the bone and obvious and, and…And that leaves me not knowing where to start. I self censor…

  • Let’s get steamy

    Last year I was honoured to co-edit the Escape to Pleasure anthology with the wonderful Sandy Lowe. It was fun and we had a great time choosing the stories. This year I’ve been given the opportunity to do it on my own. Silk and Leather is about losing your inhibitions,…

  • What’s in a name?

    A number of times recently I’ve had discussions about pen names. It’s a subject that comes up in my writing courses, too. Q: Should you have one? How do you choose one? A: Maybe, and carefully. Here is the primary question to start with: if someone Googled your real name…

  • Week 2: eerie history and traffic

    If you’ve read any of the other blogs, you’ll know I’ve mentioned the insanity of driving in Italy. We thought it might be different near the bigger cities. But we found on our way to Pompei that they’ll randomly close roads, and the detours take you back to point A……

  • Week 2: it begins with a walk

    If you’ve never been to Milan airport, let me set the scene: It’s Sunday. We figured it would be a little quieter. We arrived in plenty of time, as we always do because I’m a panic traveler. The doors open to chaos. Loud, unruly, rushing chaos. Eat or be eaten…

  • And the rest of Como

    Honeymoon, week one: Lake Como So, once it cooled down a little in Lake Como, I managed to sleep through the night. That means I spent my days exploring and relaxing, and my nights sleeping…and that meant I stopped blogging. Good intentions and roads to hell and all that… The…

  • Day 4: summer solstice birthday wanderings

    I love waterfalls and there are a lot of them here. You just have to go in search of them. Fortunately we both love that kind of adventure. And with it being my birthday as well as summer solstice it seemed a good day for it. Rain was forecast for…

  • Day 3: Orrido de Nesso and Bellagio

    I can’t sleep when I’m hot. Like, I get cranky and tossy-turny and evil. So I got up, piled cushions on the floor in front of the open deck doors, and lay there until I cooled off. And that took me into the day on a little over 3 hours…