Last time, I ended with, "But that's another story, for next time." And here we are, so... I was always fascinated by the way empires fall. Gibbons' tale of the Roman Empire and Asimov's Foundation series (inspired by Rome's collapse) sparked my interest. In older days, the empires of Rome, China, Persia, Egypt, Huns, Mongols, …
Category: Work In Progress
About a Story, Maybe
Let me tell you a story... about a story. Or maybe it's about a writer. Seven years ago I started to write a story. It grew like topsy. I was squeezing an epic series spanning thousands of years into a single novel. So I found break-points and spread the tale over three, then four, books with yet …
Waking Up?
Well, that's been a weird few weeks. Groundhog Day all over again every morning. "What day is it, today? Is it yesterday or tomorrow?" The writing community seems to have fallen into two camps. Some were fired up, churning out thousands of words a minute, mainly about fictional global virus infections, it seems. (Good luck with sales.) …
A Winter’s Tale
February I look out the window at the storm-wracked forest beyond the rainsoaked fields and long for Spring. My personal "writing place" is my garden patio in the sunshine with rock music on my headphones and coffee within reach. Sitting in my attic office with artificial lighting to compensate for the all-day, gray-sky dullness outside …
Almost February?
Wow, time flies! I am SO glad I renamed this an "occasional blog" a while ago. Luckily, the world ducked Father Time's scythe as December slipped into January, despite Middle East issues, although China's upcoming New Year of the Rat (starts January 25, 2020) is plagued with spreading Coronavirus problems and Australia is still beset …
April & May
BSFA Ytterbium Chocaholics and parents might have noticed it was Easter again last month. To me, that meant eating chocolate at the British Science Fiction Association's Annual Convention! Code-named Ytterbium, it was held this year at London Heathrow's Park Inn. As always, I rolled up ready to meet old friends, make new ones, and …
Twenty Percent
Greetings from Luxembourg, where the early morning snow has melted away (just like 2019 is doing). (The photo is of the city looking beautiful in deep winter: we only had a scattering of snowflakes this morning and this looks much prettier.) Wake up call! Almost twenty percent of the year is already lost in the …
Back in the Saddle
Belated Happy New Year! It's been a while since I blogged. No, it wasn't the longest coffee break ever. To be honest, I've had enough medical, legal, and dentistry distractions to set me back more than a few months, but I'm bouncing back! Anyway, I had to put my writing and publication on hold, …
Winter Is Coming
No, not another "Game of Thrones" review. It's snowing in Luxembourg, Halloween is here and there's only 55 days left to Christmas at time of writing. (To keep track of how time's running out for your gift shopping, click here.) And it's been another month of ups and downs in a writer's life... A Short Story Published "Your …
The Writing Game
This writing game is a bit of a strange adventure. Telling Lies A fiction writer tells lies in a vacuum. S/he tells lies about things that didn't happen to people who don't exist. And there might be no one listening... (Hello? Anyone there? I'll carry on and you can catch up later.) Writers write - …
