Athelstone

Thank you, Sandra. I haven’t tried commenting so I don’t know if the link works or not, but thank you for attempting it.

The admin side of writing stories is boring. Looking for submission sites, keeping track of submissions and rejections and keeping my stories filed in an easy-to-find order — it’s all time consuming, and I don’t even write…[Read more]

Read, enjoyed and commented, but comment didn’t appear. I thought it very well captured the claustrophobia of village life. I haven’t got into the habit of submitting any of my stories; just  self-published a collection so as not to lose them.

Thank you!! I keep thinking I must submit that story somewhere.

If you’re in the mood for another, CafeLit published one of mine earlier this month CafeLitMagazine: A Horse, A Queen, Some Crockery by Elizabeth Leyland, homemade lemonade

But honestly only read it if you feel like it.

CafeLit asks writers to name a suitable favourite drink -…[Read more]

How long have you got?  btw, I re-read your story for ‘Bump in the night’ yesterday, and was much impressed , all over again. Good stuff.

Tell me about it! 🙂 🙂

Know what you mean about ‘just nice’. Sarah Winman’s ‘Still life’ had that effect – a thoroughly ‘feel good’ effect, in part for location. Which is no bad thing, since I do re-read for comfort. And also find that writing that takes my breath away one day, might not  have the same effect on another.  No wonder this writing lark is so hard!

I don’t remember a sex scene in The Offing though if I sense something – anything – which seems a clunky effort to suddenly heighten the drama, I start to disengage. If the author has a crisis of confidence, so do I.

I find it easier to explain why I dislike something than why I like it. Though I very rarely ‘dislike’ anything, I just get…[Read more]

A quick glance at p.82, and I suspect it was the  brutal blowjob (but more subtly described). I am aware of a degree of wariness with each book of hers I buy but she always does it for me in the end. I am also very aware (in a science-minded family) I lack analytical skills, so can’t always justify my reasons to like or dislike (and hence am crap…[Read more]

In my notebook I put, ‘Gave up page 82. So many adjectives. Characters insufficiently interesting.’

I don’t know what was wrong with p 82 but I don’t think anything gruesome had happened yet.

Sounds super critical and a bit rich coming from someone so keen on Mrs Dalloway. I think basically it wasn’t my cup of tea, otherwise the adjectives would…[Read more]

He can also be stomach-turning gruesome!

‘really good’ 🙂

‘Butcher’s Perfume’ – I could see it was really could but I’m a wimp and I’m not sure I finished it.

Benjamin Myers – I tried The Offing. Historical fiction (which I write), lots of scenery and countryside (fab) and set in beautiful Yorkshire. What wasn’t to like? But I couldn’t get far with it.

Same here, with stories, although ‘Butcher’s perfume’ in ‘The Beautiful Indifference’ blew me away.

Have you discovered Benjamin Myers?* I’ve just finished his ‘Male Tears’ which is short stories and much less impactful (to me) than his novels.

*not at the Festival!

I loved ‘How to Paint a Dead Man.’ Also ‘Haweswater’. I find her short stories a hard read – often grisly or too troubling.

I confess I’ve never read Mrs Dalloway, but have ‘Burntcoat on my tbr pile. Fell heavily for Sarah Hall having picked up ‘How to paint a dead man’ in a charity shop, some years ago.

I’ll sign up for Sarah Hall, and Graham Macrae Burnet – among others.

Also Mrs Dalloway for whom I seem to have limitless capacity though others may groan 🙂

Quick count says I’ve bookmarked 19, but I don’t know if all are online, which they need to be because I’ll not be there in person :-(.

Thoughts for today

Writing this on the fifth day of June – my daughter’s 51st birthday and the third day of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations of a reign of 70 years – my memories span a similar length of time. In June 1953, once again off school and suffering with the recurring pain of a persistent ear infection, my mother attempted to divert me…[Read more]