A short story inspired by a picture of an old gate The incessant drips slid inside the neck of the threadbare raincoat. It had been brand new when he began the search, when he started the journey that had led him here. The iron gates groaned, the gnarled, graffitied walls…

Learning How To Write It seems strange to be full of thoughts about learning how to write. Writing is easy, isn’t it? Sit down, pick up the pen or fire up the technology, and write. Easy. That’s what is happening now, right now with this article. Easy. A thought in my head conveyed onto the paper. Writing, I’ve got this. But there’s that sort…

I had just finished off a marathon writing challenge; I have banged out my #2badpagesaday and there's a manuscript (a couple of folk are kindly having a peek). Everyone said, step away from the words; move away from that story … leave it alone, pretend there is ‘nothing to see…

Writing every day really slowed down my reading. Ever since I started the #2badpagesaday writing challenge, my #57Books reading has floundered. I know I should be doing both; there is an indivisible link between voracious reading and improved writing. Authors are all over this kind of thing: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two…

Or ‘What Happens After You Draft Your First Novel’ I wrote a novel. {Ahem, coughs loudly} … sorry, did I mention, I WROTE A NOVEL. So, I’m not saying it is a book. That would be way too — what’s that word again — ambitious. But I definitely sat down…

#2badpagesaday (80) By the time he set off, he had wasted half the morning. He re-read the notebook, relishing the way it connected him with her dreams and intentions. Packing and re-packing took an hour on either side of the hearty breakfast the old man brought in, the quiet silence…

#2badpagesaday (79) It wasn’t long before he was missed. It only took until Monday lunchtime for the Enforcers to secure his office. The desk was clear apart from the computer. Every drawer, empty. Save one. …