The extent of human storytelling was something I didn’t fully grasp until quite recently. In the beginning, when I was a child, stories were something that came in books or something that was told. It had an obvious boundary. It … Continue reading
When I moved into my current home eleven years ago there was a feature wall in the bedroom painted a deep, dark purple. It was a nice colour in itself, but I didn’t like it there, so I covered it … Continue reading
Since the referendum I’ve considered the whole sad process of Brexit to be a Death March. Whether you had feelings on it either way and however passionately your feelings about where you belonged nationally and internationally one question only should … Continue reading
The opposite of doubt is certainty but, actually, both are different degrees of confidence. Doubt seems to be the thing I write about most in my fiction. I would say it has had a major impact on my life as well … Continue reading
When I started writing I had no plans of any kind. I just wrote whatever seemed exciting or interesting. I didn’t know anything about how to do this and that, how people liked to put stories together and then take … Continue reading
Loyalty is one of the most important values that humans trade in. As an ideal it has nobility: a sense of purpose and unwavering devotion which play heavily into the feel-good factors for those in charge and their retainers; because of … Continue reading
On the whole, you’d be better off without these. An expectation is a future disappointment. Not inevitably, if you take each one in turn, but collectively it’s certain, especially if you expect something out of another person. Sometimes an expectation … Continue reading
A belief is a direct leap from the unknown into being certain. A belief is always considered justified, otherwise why take it? An unjustified belief is seen as something other people have. It could be based on their faulty perception … Continue reading
Someone decided November had nothing in it so everyone should write a novel. If you’re doing this you may decide to google a bit of advice at some point or you may be heading into it for the first time … Continue reading
That question I put at the end of my last blog – a variant of “What will you do?” I put it there because I read so many blogs that end with the invitation to do something and it perkily, … Continue reading