Melanie Fraser

Newbury is my adopted home town, Ath. Needless to say it’s less romantic now though steam trains do pass through as I’m sure you know.

Congratulations John and Elle.

Thank you @johnalty and well deserved Jonathan @jd73. As Daeds said, a tour de force. I really enjoyed both your piece and his.

Future Sound

On the doorstep in the dark, with a glass of wine. At other times when doing this duty she’d drunk coffee. It didn’t matter, just something to nudge along the twenty minutes which might be slow if there was nothing to report.

She looked out to the lane where bare, rounded oaks stood under a sky that was clear to the stars, and no…[Read more]

Congratulations @johnalty – well deserved. It was a gripping story.

Thank you @Raine for your kind comments on my entry. I’m sorry you’ve had a difficult Christmas. Hope things will get back on track for you soon.

Untitled (398 words)

In the dark before dawn the phone woke me. Its light made me squint. A window was broken at the shop, said a female police officer.

I pulled on a thick jumper and skirt and, with a thumping heart, drove into the centre of town. My shop – high-quality second-hand women’s clothes – was in a small road off the high stree…[Read more]

I look forward to it!

Thank you for this blog Richard – and Daeds. I hadn’t read it before. I remember the Penlee disaster but had forgotten the terrible details.

I have my RNLI Christmas card from a friend who always sends one. It’s very amusing. Santa’s reindeer in crew safety helmets.

I bought my cards this year from the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, another…[Read more]

Thank you for posting this, Philippa; it’s a great insight into your novel’s development and your own progress as a writer. What you say is both heartening and daunting. So much work! I’m really pleased you have an agent you like, one who is helping you develop the MS to an even higher level and who – by the sounds of things – shares your own…[Read more]

I’d guess probably not, Alan! Maybe publishing novellas is something to look forward to once one’s career is established 🙂 Though as they seem mostly to be written by big names such as Hill and Ian McEwan, you probably have to be very established.

Well done, Elle. 🙂

Thank you Daeds, I really appreciate it.

I’ve found your nonfic book on the Amberley publishing site and will order a copy forthwith! It’s a while since I read a pilot biog or autobiog and am looking forward to learning about Duncan Menzies.

Thanks Elle. Setting is something I usually skim over, so I will try applying this and see what happens!

Sounds like you might be doing spider diagrams, Philippa – more poshly called mind mapping I think, but ‘mind mapping’ sounds too abstract for me. Anyhow, I find the technique very helpful. Completely agree with the two ‘touch points’. I need somewhere to head for – that itself is the basis of an idea. Also need to know the main theme before I…[Read more]

That’s really kind of you Daeds. I’m OK at the moment but there could well be something as I still do bits of research as I draft. I promise not to bombard you. My story deals with flying before and during WW2 but I admit I’ve kept naval aviation at arm’s length as something I don’t need to include, at least not in any detail.

You’ve already…[Read more]