Taking on hell with a fire-bucket

There are times when it is probably relatively sensible to back away. When the 'good idea' fairy is being their most helpful... Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), humans are not very good at that. Monkeys like myself, less so. This explains a great deal about the situations I frequently find myself in, as well as a... Continue Reading →

Never look back

Becoming a pillar of salt may be a pleasant fate. Seriously, one of the problems that many good authors suffer from is that of looking back -- because they want to know how they're doing. This is a little like stopping running to see if the leopard is closer or not. Of course, for the... Continue Reading →

Gah

I forgot it was Monday as well as Boxing day. I am down with something of a cold (I hope) and went to bed instead of writing a post. And now it is late. I am sorry. I try to be reliable. It's something I value in others, so I try to be it myself.... Continue Reading →

Georgina

My run up to Christmas (which, as Barbs and I are on Ambo call, is going to be a low-profile day.) has been a quiet one. I am way behind on mince-pies. My kids are elsewhere for Christmas, and I'd rather the day was enjoyed to the full by those who are surrounded by family... Continue Reading →

Re-release me, let me go

I really always thought that was regrease me, let me glow... Today's prompt from wordpress was 'Who do you envy?' My thought at the moment would be people who don't have to play the waiting game for, it seems, everything going. I've never been much good at waiting, and it was always the trad author's... Continue Reading →

Wolfbane

What is the one thing you would change about yourself? For some reason wordpress thought that was the question I ought to address today. The answer, for all of us, is simple. Underwear. If you're going to spend 4 days at a sf Con, T-shirts too, at least, please! As a personal change I would... Continue Reading →

Moralizing tales

I was in the course of doing research for the latest WIP doing some research on the moralizing tales of Miss Maria Edgeworth. Who? I hear you say. As indeed you might: this once enormously successful authoress (as she styled herself) of the early 19th century has vanished from our ken. Even from our barbie... Continue Reading →

Push

I was watching the epic melt-down on twitter, with some bemusement. Oh, there is a fair amount of 'why would I care?' It was never my playground, and probably never will be (I am davefreersf for what it is worth). But seriously, 'if you don't like what someone says, block them', seemed fairly intuitive to... Continue Reading →

Escapism

There are many easier and certainly many, many more likely to be profitable ways of making a living than being a writer. I'm... not quite as stupid as your average bear, and, um, actually very capable at a surprising number of things. I could have chosen another course, any one of fifty, really. In some... Continue Reading →

Literary constipation

Given the fact that American readers are mostly wrapped up in election issues, I figured no-one there will read this, so I could give vent to the far more scatological sense of humor that the English world outside of US to have. We're pretty immature, really. Honestly when I was a kid and there was... Continue Reading →

Up ↑