Morning pages experiment

So. I said I’d blog about morning pages, so here goes! Definition Morning pages. Brief definition for those who don’t feel like clicking the link above (in which Julia Cameron outlines the original concept): morning pages are three longhand pages written in the morning. They don’t have to be – shouldn’t be – amazing writing. […]

Walking in snowbroth

Slept late, read a wonderful book for two hours, went for a walk. A poem rushed out, and I thought I’d share it here: * * * Crushed Ice I can’t see my future, the coming years are hidden but in this moment the sun’s shining on me, the sky’s coloured with promises. The night […]

Short stories: the challenges of brevity

I edited and sent off a short story today. Exciting! I should really write more shorts. The trouble is, I often tend to go for expansive stuff rather than the knife-sharp and short stuff… I’ve been thinking I should practise writing flash fiction to hone my short-writing skills. Was inspired by this piece in The […]

Sunday recs: On the problematic sides of grimdark

Evening, gentle readers! It’s been a rollercoaster weekend; I haven’t got any creative writing done, which is egregious. Ah well, at least today I had a very productive café session with a dear friend: I worked on an article I’m writing related to my MA thesis. Oh how I enjoy crafting academic text! Anyway, links! […]

New poetry in Curio and forthcoming in Polu Texni!

Now for the nice stuff I mentioned yesterday! Publications! * Two of my poems are now online in issue 11 of Curio, “a journal of poetry that explores the world at a micro-level: tiny spaces, instants, individual objects, scraps of dreams and memories, et cetera”. ‘Silver and Gold’ and ‘Man Playing Piazzolla’ can both be […]

Sunday recs: short edition

I was going to post a far longer rec list tonight, but the day ran away with me. Now it’s midnight, I’m really hungry, and I have to wake up horribly early tomorrow to go to my first physiotherapist’s appointment. Hence, just two recs today: two stories from Strange Horizons! I Have Placed My Sickness […]

Peppermint tea and a new moon

Warning for rambling just-before-bedtime thoughts. I’m drinking peppermint tea and eating my second slice of berry pie. I haven’t done any writing today even though I was supposed to (both academic and creative) – well, apart from my morning pages (I’ve started a trial run again; I’ll blog about it later, perhaps). Today I’ve thought […]

Beginnings and endings

Today I read two blog posts on writing, and the topics fit so nicely around one another, ouroboros-like, that I thought I’d post my own thoughts inspired by them. The first post, by Terri Windling, is on beginnings. The second, by Carrie Ryan (blogging at the awesome Magical Words), is on endings. Windling’s post is […]

A fall and some recs

It’s been rollercoaster weather here, the sun melting the snow, temperatures rising – and then shifting back to winter, the frost snapping its fingers. Last night, 15cm of snow, snow so thick in the air that it looked like a deep fog. I edited 6-ish pages of novelette yesterday, but apart from that it’s been […]