I’m pleased to announce that the new house now has solar hot water and solar panels. We enjoyed solar at our previous house and these days it’s even more important to be able to reduce power costs. Despite living in a country with an abundance of quality coal, natural gas, and uranium, household power prices…
I suppose I have a Muse. She’s that part of me that wants to write stories for people to read. The thing is, she’s erratic. Sometimes she turns up for work and puts in a good day. Other times she seems to prefer to make paper-clip chains (do people still do that?). And sometimes she…
Artificial Intelligence has become the flavour of the year, with much discussion on the merits and the dangers of the new technology. Many years ago, around 1990 or so, I attended a class in programming for AI. Back then it was (of course) very rudimentary but the idea was that the program we were learning…
I know, it’s been far too wet in too many parts of Australia. Lake Eyre is still full, farmers in Tasmania and Victoria wish it would all lift its skirts and bugger off elsewhere and there’s STILL snow at Falls Creek. Western Queensland is well satisfied with the precipitation, thanks very much. But here along…
Writer’s insomnia. That state when you’re on a roll, the story is flowing – but there are holes and questions (there are always holes and questions) and ‘oh hey’ moments and ‘is that plausible’ moments. And they all get together in your head and shake you awake at 2am. You think you’re getting up for…
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…
The title says it all, folks. I’m writing up a storm – or trying to. Writing is just like any other pastime – cooking, hockey, netball, swimming, tatting. If you stop doing it, the skills atrophy. But I’m around 6k into what will be a longish short story, and it’s all coming back to me….
Everybody gets rotten reviews. It’s part of the territory. Your first one or two star is a coming of age, your movement from beginner to seasoned veteran. I’m not going to lecture you on survival techniques. The world and his wife has done that already. I’m usually a subscriber to the DO NOT READ THEM…
Authors, you can’t be too careful when crafting that precious first page for your tour de force. This is a case study. Since he retired, my husband has read a lot of books. He tends to like crime, thrillers, mystery – that sort of thing. And he often picks up free books from Smashwords. As…