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Kudos for sticking with it all, Philippa – it sounds like it has really taken a toll over this year.

Looking forward very much to reading it – I am sure that it will be worth every bead of sweat, nibbled fingernail and tear shed.

And if it makes you feel better – Tilda’s just been published and even though we went through all the pages,…[Read more]

Hah hah, yeah! Well, I suppose I could have not bothered reading the page proofs and just left it to the proof reader. But when I asked other authors, they all advised checking myself, saying I would KICK myself down the line if I spotted typos I could have caught! TBH though, I’ll take page proofs over structural edits any day!

O.M.F.G.

On top of all of that you have to deal with page proofs? I had fondly imagined that at least would be the publisher’s job. They certainly make you earn your crust, don’t they?

Thank you (I think) for this insight into the process. Before I smash my computer and run screaming for the hills, I must congratulate you on seeing it all…[Read more]

actually that would be really interesting @athelstone – putting these memories into the I Remember format (which does seem to intensify them somehow, the way it jumps and juxtaposes gives a really different feel than a narrative does). You should try that!

Thank you, Kaz. Do you think this might count as an “I remember” exercise?

This is wonderful @athelstone. It feels like a tender and perceptive remembering and Maggie seems extraordinary. You’ve drawn her with a light, deft touch. There’s self awareness and real affection in there too. Beautifully done, without a hint of sentimentality.

Thanks Gerry and Richard. Oh, and Richard – more rails. Definitely.

Thanks for this. I remember your ‘The Truth About…’ blogs on the Cloud, and used to enjoy them immensely: perceptive (Isn’t hindsight wonderful?), moving, and uncompromisingly honest. This one is no exception.

And yes, there has been a sad dearth of blogs lately. Maybe it’s time for another tale of the rails…

Great stuff. Very readable, with enough mini-ouches to keep us viscerally involved.

Memories, memories

Through a mane of blonde hair, through streaks of bleached and of darker dyed strands, her eyes flickered upwards. “Can I help you, sir?”

Behind me the door hissed shut expensively, hinges well greased by wills and probates. “Do yer know where Bryant Street is?”

“I umm… don’t know.” She bent her head back down to the screen…[Read more]

That looks amazing, congratulations @katemachon !

Here is the link to the Corrugated Sky Urban Fantasy book my short story Changing Gabe is included in. Some of you will have come across it in Athelstone’s Room with a View writing challenge at the beginning of the year.

The theme for the anthology was Sass and Magic. If that tickles your fancy, I hope you will go and take a look.

It feels a bit…[Read more]

Yin and Yang

A gurgle of whiskey titillated the silence, ending with a full stop tap of glass on glass. Darrol picked up the tumbler and drifted over to the window, mind still emersed in his Yin and Yang infatuation. Her long blond hair against his dark skin; her crystal cry above his leather groan, their lovemaking uniting them – like the i…[Read more]

Untitled (314 words)

We’d been to Tesco’s. A late night shopping trip. I bought a ready meal and a soft, fluffy scarf in shades of blue and grey. In the car home we talked about a chip shop tea and the possibility of potato fritters.
‘Your grandad used to make potato fritters,’ I said. ‘As a special treat. Mixed up the batter and did them in t…[Read more]