It’s a bit like Rumpelstiltskin, isn’t it? While everyone else is sleeping, you channel ideas into golden threads, weaving them into stories and settings. Because writing fiction is a mysterious act. Being able to conjure entire worlds, let alone characters and plots, from beyond one’s own mind is a kind of magick. “Writer” seems an … Continue reading
In 1984, a six-year-old girl who fancied herself a writer attended a school she didn’t like with a crotchety teacher she liked even less. The adults in her life convinced her that she should learn to fit into this school-shaped hole and find something other than writing stories to earn real money, because money was … Continue reading
She watched her mum preen and pick out a dress, putting her hair up, looking her best. “Why can’t I come with you? I don’t want my bed. I want to be an adult right now!” she said. Her mum replied softly, “My dear heart, don’t fret. You have plenty of life ahead of you … Continue reading
I don’t get writer’s block: I get sharer’s block. I missed last week’s blog post because of it, the first one I have missed all year. Sometimes I write a piece and I think, ‘That’s pretty good!’ But, by the time I have given it a day or a week to ferment, it morphs into … Continue reading
I am regularly asked, “Where do you get your ideas from?”* and I get eye-rolls when I provide my dull-but-true answer [usually: “I don’t know”, “life”, or “my head”]. Because I want to be able to regurgitate a wholly modern yet fabricated response next time I am so accosted and my response is disbelieved, I … Continue reading
I wrote a daily diary during my FAWWA residency, which is sadly at an end. To follow, are snippets of my days. Thanks so much to FAWWA for allowing me into this special space, and to the critters who put up with my too-hard typing. All photos are from Mattie Furphy House and surrounds. Day … Continue reading
I set this writing challenge — writing for 20 minutes without using the letter ‘e’ — as a prompt for Tuesday’s Write Night at FAWWA, inspired by my friend Sue’s suggestion and the idea of a book I’ve been wanting to read. It was a tricky task that resulted in some entertaining offerings around the … Continue reading
