All Blog posts
Battle of the Ages in the Election
So there's an election on Thursday. You might have heard of it. You probably have your own opinions one way or another. Maybe you don't care. But either way, you have to admit, it is kind of a big deal.
Dispatches from the Uncanny Valley
White Noise
Hi,
A Debate: Flash Fiction
KATIE NEWSINGTON: Welcome back. A new study suggests the moon has a more abundant mineral content than previously realised. Interesting stuff. Joining us to discuss some important questions is the author of the study, Professor Ian Boffin.
Oak Tree Manor: Flash Fiction
Another story from a prompt at Terrible Minds. This week was a mash-up of genres. I got 'Haunted House' and 'Body Horror'. Enjoy!
Everything is a story
One of the things reading a lot of fiction teaches you is that everything we rely on in the real world is made up. We are narrative beings and we rely on the power of stories to guide our everyday lives. Very little of our experiences and the systems we live in are based on cold facts. Most of the stories we tell ourselves do no have neat structures, with a beginning, a middle and an end, but are beliefs we hold that change how we view the world.
At the End of NaPoWriMo
I wrote a bit about the process halfway through, but I've finally finished NaPoWriMo, where you write a poem every single day in April. I had foolishly thought the process would be relatively straightforward, but I was drastically wrong about that. Writing so many lines over so many days was a real challenge. It was difficult to keep motivated and continue writing.
Jerusalem, Ambition and the Power of Ideas
It's taken me three and a half months, but I finally finished Alan Moore's magnum opus Jerusalem. Made of a number of interlinked short stories set in Northampton, it tells the history of the town as well as the nature of life, death and time itself. It is ridiculously broad in its scope while remaining funny and down to earth, with a serious message about the abuse of the working class. The entire second book occurs whilst a child is choking on a sweet. Each chapter, especially in the last book, uses its own style. There's an epic poem, a play, a Joycean wordplay chapter. In short, it is a hugely ambitious work that in my opinion succeeds wholeheartedly.
NaPoWriMo Halfway through
For the month of April, I have tried to write a poem a day for NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month.) It's been surprisingly difficult to find a different theme or story each day. Nevertheless, I feel the process has pushed me forward as a writer by sending me into unknown areas. It's giving me much needed rigour and discipline. I consider myself to be an amateur, with less experience in poetry than in short stories or plays. I only started writing poetry again last year, and even then it was fairly occasional. Forcing myself to write a poem a day has been a boon, as I have tried to improve each day.
Tourmaline: Flash Fiction
Flash fiction created in response to Chuck Wendig's prompts. Enjoy!