The Lies of Locke Lamora

Power to all of your pens in the meantime though 😉

Sandra – there’s something about a pipe-smoking detective, isn’t there? Lovely piece, with the rat almost in the trap until the detective took his…[Read more]

wheelbarrow, street lamp, and a pipe (smoking)

Use them however you would like, in no more than 300 words. Have fun 😉

Everyone else’s was fab. Feel a bit of a fraud having popped in here for the first time in ages and getting to set this month’s challenge, but I’ll do my best x

“In a yellow rectangle, in the black facade of a house, a woman is laying a table.”

He could have picked any window, of any house, in any str…[Read more]

Yes there is

I’ve finished editing the memoir I was working on – author very pleased with the result, so that’s good. Still getting to grips with Tilda #4’s huge plot hole and whittling away at that when I can. Still trying to carve out…[Read more]

My punishment? A chain of large metal links, secured around my throat, pressing against my flesh, reminding me of its presence every time I swallowed or turned my head.

A man, with whom I had a connection – were we related? Was he the reason for my wrongdoing? – received the sam…[Read more]

(Also in some amazing company – Frank Cotterell-Boyce; Lauren St Child; Marcus Rashford as well as others I’m not so familiar with)

Funnily enough, it started out as a piece that didn’t work at all in my writing group NIBS, but for some reason it worked for…[Read more]

She took as many precautions as possible, wrapping everything carefully, keeping the box closed tight until the right moment came, making sure her hands were washed clean when it did.

And then…

Ordering everyone to sit down, sit still. Questioning each participant in turn to make sure she knew their exact r…[Read more]

As a beta reader, I do try to find something good to say as well as making suggestions for improvements. I don’t think I go into it with a checklist per se – I use gut feeling a lot as to what feels ‘right’ to me as a reader. But I sometimess feel that I’m not an objective enough beta reader – I don’t always ‘get’ other…[Read more]

Beyond that, I think because I’m published, working on new material, editing for other people, testing a writing course, I don’t have…[Read more]

(It’s judged anonymously, so thank you to those of you who read it and encouraged me to submit, but please don’t ID it! x)

@Athelstone – yup. Rocky Horror Show at The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton whilst at uni. And then at The Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, when we were in a minority dressed up, and me and Mr Squidge got into the local paper cos the reporter wanted to know what made people dress up that way to watch a show. (We were dressed as…[Read more]

Suspenders. Check.
Stockings. Check.
Corset and lacy panties. Check.
Stilettos.Check.
Pearl necklace. Make up to die for. Check.
Lab coat. Check.
Rubber gloves. Check.
Rice, torch, water pistol, newspaper, confetti, party hat, rubber gloves. Check.
Sense of humour. Check.
Willingness to participate.…[Read more]

(Loved reading the other stories that’ve been posted. I never start on them til I’ve posted my own…)

“I dreamt about you last night. You were in the sanctum.”
“Well, that’s hardly surprising, is it? Given what’s about to happen.”
“No. I suppose not. It was just so…”
“So…what? Are you going to share? Or just sit there looking worried? I’m not a mind reader.”
“Yet.”
“Ha! True. Well, tell me about it. I don’t like to see y…[Read more]

It was born when Noellia moved into number 14.

The car started it. A shiny new Fiat 500. Electric. In powder blue. Parked on the drive. I looked at my own clapped out Fiesta and felt the first stirrings of new life, deep in my chest.

She fed the monster well, did Noellia.

Had an open house, she did. Invited…[Read more]

@Athelstone – a tale with sinister overtones… having been on the business end of a cat’s claws more than once, I’m glad my scratches didn’t end up this way.
@Janette – such a poignant story. I fully expected this to be linked…[Read more]