A short story Warning: questionable language alert. I fix a smile and open the door. ‘Hi, Pol. Good holiday?’ ‘Brilliant! Did Peter Piper miss his mummy?’ She flies to the birdcage, where a blue budgie bobs up and down in front of its mirror. Polly chirps, ‘Who’s a pretty boy, then?’ Blue Peter is silent. … Continue reading A Right Pickle
Category: My Writing
End of Life
A poem Commissioned, instructed, and set on my course, Programmed to adapt and to learn from mistakes, To modify pathways encoded at source When new data is input that changes the stakes. Commands and procedures, appearance, behaviours Adapt and survive. Flexibility saves us. Failure to adapt leads to breakdown and damage, Repair and reprogramming, out … Continue reading End of Life
Where Do Ideas Come From?
More successful writers than I, have blogged on the topic of finding ideas for stories (or blog posts). Writing magazines and author blogs offer prompts to fire the imagination. Few inspire me. Only when I have to follow a prompt – for our monthly writing group 'homework' or a competition I want to enter – … Continue reading Where Do Ideas Come From?
Slip-up
What to do when you can't think what to write about... Post a poem 🙂 Photo by Tairon Fernandez on Pexels.com This one was written to the prompt Slip for the 'Twelve Poems in Twelve Months challenge at https://deadlinesforwriters.com/. One of my rare attempts at blank verse. ~ ~ ~ Slip-up I slip in with … Continue reading Slip-up
Pondkeeping
I just had a minor panic when I went to feed the fish and the pond was practically empty. The fish were huddled over the pump in the bottom well of the pond. Had I left it until I came back from shopping the water would have gone and the pump would have cut out … Continue reading Pondkeeping
Making Amends
For those outside the UK who asked, here is my story recently published in The People's Friend. These knitting needles had an agenda of their own. They were of a length my gran would have branded “pickle-stabbers” and Sandy used to say my ten thumbs weren’t safe in charge of a cocktail stick. The memory … Continue reading Making Amends
Guess Who’s Author of the Week
People's Friend have designated me this week's Writer of the Week ! I'm thrilled to be this week's Writer of the Week over at the Peoples' Friend website. My story will be published under the title 'Making Amends' in this week's issue, out in the UK on May 18th. ###
My story in the People’s Friend
For readers in the UK who have asked, I've been told my story "A Stitch in Time" will be published in the People's Friend issue due out on May 18th. Photo by rovenimages.com on Pexels.com ### After a few attempts, this is my first success with the People's Friend. Thanks to everyone who sent good … Continue reading My story in the People’s Friend
A Fellow Wordsmith
A fellow member of our writing group is creating interest with his recently published work. ### Stephen Oliver, another member of our writing group, the Whittlesey Wordsmiths, has enjoyed success over the past year or two with many of his short stories chosen for publication in anthologies of dark fantasy and horror. More recently, two … Continue reading A Fellow Wordsmith
I’ve Arrived!
I had an email last week, informing me that one of my stories has been accepted for publication in a UK magazine called People's Friend. I've sent in stories before to People's Friend without success. Sometimes rejections came with an encouraging word of advice and, although I'm not a regular reader of magazines, I subscribed … Continue reading I’ve Arrived!
Writing Wrinkles 