Random Musings

Category: writing

  • Write down to the bones

    A writing retreat is an unusual beast. You see, it rips a writer open. In just seven days, the soul is exposed and the hurts that revolve around words are exposed to the sunlight, where they then proceed to shrivel and burn to ash. And in the remnants of that…

  • Hours and Hours and Hours of Words

    I write books. I don’t know if you knew that. You see, I don’t talk about it a whole lot here. I do so over on my author page (though, not very well), but I tend to reserve this blog for the more personal, more introspective stuff. But today I’d…

  • Every step

    Imagine waking up and finding that in order to get to your destination that day, you had to walk a tightrope. And anywhere you had to go after had to be via tightrope. Cafe, bakery, doctor, groceries, park…all via tightrope. And then the next day was the same. And the…

  • Permutations of Connection

    Lately, I’m unsure what it is I want to share and what it is I want to keep to myself. But I did a talk recently for the Nottingham Writer’s Studio about connection, and the way our writing keeps us connected in a variety of ways. And so I find…

  • Reflective surface pumpkin head

    A blotchy pumpkin head, ageing and spreading. A bloated bag of wind. A revolting, unappealing mixture of bumps, rolls, and general grossness. That’s what I see in the photos lately, and I hate looking at myself so much it makes my stomach churn and my eyes water. I avoid any…

  • Seeing yourself on the page

    Twelve years is a long time to do anything. I mean, not every day, but still. The Bold Strokes UK book festival is in its twelfth year. From starting out on a weeknight with a few local authors, this year we have twenty-one authors joining us from all over the…

  • Beltane potatoes need love too…

    Beltane. Spring. Rebirth. Fertility. Sexy sex. Run off into the forest and commune with nature with your bum in the wind. It’s a grand holiday. But as I age, after a year of Covid related health problems, I find I’m more inhibited (and that’s saying something, given that I was…

  • Travel, mojo, lessons

    Going back to the old adage of trying a list when thoughts won’t come any other way: Lockdown has lifted and life feels almost normal again. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I liked hermiting. I’m feeling better. Mostly. I’m really lucky. In pretty much every way. I…

  • What are you planting?

    Rebirth After a tough 12 months, being able to walk amongst the snowdrops and jonquils was a spring blessing. Tiny leaves sprouted from budding willows, little ferns were waving into warm air, and dark ivy was taking on a bright new sheen. I took lots of deep breaths, filling my…

  • Out of Plato’s Cave

    It’s my one year anniversary. Which is far less exciting than most one year anniversaries. It’s a year almost to the week that I came down with the coronavirus. And today I received my vaccination so I don’t get it again, and so I don’t have it and pass it…