I’ve been on a river cruise. Up the Danube from Budapest, then via the Danube-Main canal into the Main, which flows into the Rhine, which empties into the North Sea, but has a canal to Amsterdam. It was fun and I took a lot of photos. But Budapest is not where the journey started. That…
I’ve just finished reading the last Discworld novel. “The Shepherd’s Crown”. The tile of this post comes from the book’s blurb. A SHIVERING OF WORLDS Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength. This…
I haven’t written much lately. But I did write this. It’s for you. For free. And it won’t cost much of your time. Christie stepped aside as a few more laughing workers bounced down the steps into the freedom of a Friday night. She looked at her phone and checked the time. Quarter past. It…
Good heavens, it’s 2015 already. Whodathunk? December 31st 2014 has, at the stroke of a clock, become January 1st 2015. It’s one of those times, a cusp, a watershed. Or so it would appear. We have to remember to put 2015, not 2014, when we write a date, and when our birthdays arrive we’ll be…
Death. It’s something that everyone reading this post must face at some time. At my age, many people I have known and loved have passed the final portal. Some deaths were expected, and indeed, were a relief to the dying and to those left behind. Others died suddenly, brutally, and far too young. Yet others…
This morning I logged onto a group I belong to on Facebook and read a post from an author bemoaning the fact that a friend had stopped ‘liking’ their author page. It’s not something Facebook notifies a page owner. This person simply noticed the number of people liking the page had gone down. In fact,…
I really, really have to wonder about some website developers. Do they ever test anything on real people? This is going to be my list of gripes, but when I mention these cases (especially the last one) to others, I get a chorus of violent agreement. I sure wish somebody would take note. 1. Show…
The summer solstice has been and gone, and now the days are getting shorter. But not for a while, not worth talking about. Here in Australia the year is coming to a close. School’s out until February, everyone is on holidays and there’s nothing on TV. It’s as though we’re all little red engines, fighting…
Finally! My very own copy of the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrived! I spent a happy afternoon watching the movie and I’ve had some time to think about it. These things are all about editing, are they not? And we writers can learn from what the pros do. So this is…