Stevie

New Day

The smoke from cooking fires lay like a grey blanket over Alexandra township and a tangerine sun rose behind it, then burst clear and threw its warming mantle over the land. The windows of the high-rise buildings on the distant Johannesburg skyline glinted like slabs of molten gold. A typical autumn dawn on the highveld but this was not a…[Read more]

There are also examples in art – Paul Gauguin, Picasso and Freud, for example, were not particularly nice folk, it seems.
If a writer’s work doesn’t reflect his obnoxious views, does that make it OK? Or if his views are expressed in a work of fiction and not an educational piece?
Some very good people write fiction that contains extreme views, but…[Read more]

Bit of a confession from me – this lifted from current wip, otherwise I might not get one done. 400 words plus title.

Returning from honeymoon (First day of the rest of their married life)

They were on the A9, having just left the Kinross services, before Luke asked. ‘Your wedding present? When do I get to see it?’

‘Soon as we get home,…[Read more]

No problem @Libby, it was a flippant remark on my part, not intended to be taken seriously.

I have two pieces nearly done but I don’t now which of them to enter. Maybe I’ll enter both, one under a pseudonym. Would that be cheating?

Well done Libby, excellent. Good job, Jane.

Very well done, Libby – such a strong and individual tale (as were they all) and thank you Jane for the prompting and the comments.

Hi @skylark, good to see you’re back.

What a wholly satisfying tale Libby. Thank you.

Still here also (and elsewhere!) and glad to say one 2019 resolution was fulfilled by my self-pubbing the first three of my ‘Love triangles with murder’ series, so now I’ve got book 4 to a near-beta read stage and begun book 6.

Wow, Sea, this is hard-hitting and not a word wasted. Superb.

Oh, go on Jane, have a peek.You know you want to.

A not-so-idle threat

Even though she knew looking left and right as she opened the discreet dark green door was a dead giveaway for anyone watching, she couldn’t stop herself. Crowds and dazzling Christmas lights made it harder to spot a spy, but surely, after five days at Ivo’s cottage they’d’ve given up by now. Wouldn’t they? The low-level…[Read more]

The Future

“The future is the time we haven’t had yet,” he said, “simple as that.”
“That may be what the future is but not what it holds,” she responded, “not what’s in store, where it might take us.” Then she got up from the picnic table outside The Black Bull and walked off.

He thought about that last exchange…[Read more]

A belated “well done”, Jane!

Well done Jane – very well deserved – and thanks to Janette for the opportunity to try out a scene.

Has the ring of truth, Jane, and lovely with it.