It is a truth universally acknowledged that when your children have school holidays, adventures must be had, and a goodly proportion of these adventures must be had in the real world. During the last summer holidays, we made fridge magnets of wooden circlets cut from fallen branches. We erupted a volcano and linked it to … Continue reading
Table exploring the word in a selection of its nuances: Definition of “free” Sample sentence a. [chemistry] uncombined, unpaired. New research is finding that free radicals may actually be good for you. a. excluded. Rich in polyphenols, fair trade dark chocolate can be enjoyed guilt-free when eaten in moderation. a. gratis. The child’s meal comes … Continue reading
It was ink dark outside when the contractions started but I waited until 5am before waking him. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked. ‘Yes, I’m sure!’ I said. ‘Could it still be prelabour?’ ‘These are no Braxton Hicks. And they’re getting closer together. I’ve been timing.’ He had good reason to ask: my prelabour had gone … Continue reading
<10,000 words from a first draft. Five days from finishing my PCWC residency. Four days from PCWC’s Publication Event. Three days from my last workshop as Writer in Residence. Three children and one husband forgetting my face. Two consultation appointments to book. Two days until applications to be a part of a 2019 writers’ festival … Continue reading
There is nothing like clicking the “Send” or “Submit” button to thrust you into a whitewater rush of doubt and self-criticality. Even dread. That’s what I’m experiencing, anyway. After three years of hitting that 100-plus rejection target, I find my pain is not so much in the rejections, but in the sendings. I think it’s … Continue reading
Thanks so much to those of you who have read Between shelves in the last 2 1/2 months [if you haven’t and would like to, you still can]. Attached below is the unedited seed that grew into this piece of flash, written in the seven minutes between two train stations. Because sometimes a story comes … Continue reading
My biggest barrier to getting words on the page is time, closely followed by the paradox of choice. For me, this paradox is the clash of excellent ideas with planned projects, and it would paralyse me if I didn’t have a few tricks to snap me out of it. These four continue to serve me … Continue reading
