Xander Michael

“Stealing and giving odour “ [Twelfth Night]

From my very first whiff of the pipe tobacco I was a sucker for the scent of Balkan Sobranie. Given its name, thirteen-year-old imagination conjured red-jacketed hunters chasing yellow-eyed wolves through night forests. My Dad’s dour, ‘Four Square far cheaper,’ confirmed its blend  of leaves — Latakia…[Read more]

Setting a writing prompt then watching the array of exciting interpretations  — six in all!! — flood in as they did this month, confirming there are always many times more than one ‘correct’ answer, I consider one of life’s especial pleasures, but I have to say actuality exceeded expectation by some considerable margin – thank you all!

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Monthly comp:  there’s already three thoroughly inspirational entries this month … I’m heading for the Hull ferry later today, will be back on the 3rd September, hoping to see how others interpret this prompt.

Some years into my writing journey I began making a list of writers who, as I read them, immediately sent me  to my current wip, recognising the breed of magic, of tone,  I needed to add to mine. (no idea where that list has gone) I’m not at all analytical, so fail miserably at the ‘read like a writer’ exercises, but was mildly shocked, on r…[Read more]

Turning of the Wheel

In a yellow rectangle, in the black façade of a house, a woman is laying a table. Not the sort set for the serving of meat, but one that would see her more trussed and seared than any spit hog.

Candles set: North. South. East. West.
Salt cast for purification.

Gaia had fasted for this night of the blood moon, its m…[Read more]

Sunshine and Shadow (219 words inc. title)

In a yellow rectangle, in the black façade of a house, a woman is laying a table. Her movements are deft and economical…

Wait.

That’s not right.

For a start, that rectangle isn’t yellow; it’s liquid gold. Or maybe it’s a garden of primroses in spring. No. It’s even more than that. It’s mo…[Read more]

How have I missed out on Pete Atkin? Been going to folk festivals for years, and just having heard snippets of him on Youtube, I thought I’d have had recommendations before now, if not seen him in person! I might have to look up some of the gigs you mentioned.

I give up on books that boast complexity of prose above character or hook to read on, which makes me lean more towards plain text. However I am a sucker for a clever turn of phrase or a descriptive which reads like a painting.

I used to wonder if my plainer style showed a weakness, and would never read it out during workshops, after others with…[Read more]

Thank you for this treat of a blog, Richard, which addressed my total ignorance of chanson. I’ve long preferred lyrics which say something (hence my liking for Arab Strap and The Floating Men, discovered via my youngest son.) I’m thinking I can repay him with Pete Atkin.

Perhaps I should make it clear this is just one line intended as a prompt to build a story on, from a collection of poetical, random lines, in a pocketbook entitled ‘Distance and Proximity’.