Kitchen Duty

As I was peeling potatoes this morning, I cut myself. As you do. I managed not to drip on the food, and to find a bandaid in the dark (everyone is sleeping), contemplated why I don't have a first aid kit in the kitchen (knives are in the kitchen, why not bandages?), and finished my... Continue Reading →

The secret mind

I think of myself as a squeamish person. I don’t read horror novels or thrillers that delve lovingly into deranged minds. Heck, I can’t even read the icky bits in Diana Gabaldon’s books. So I was rather disturbed, the other day, to discover that some part of my mind has been lovingly detailing scenarios that... Continue Reading →

The Internet of All Your Stuff

  The other day Peter blogged about the immense vulnerability created by the Internet of Things. His comments have given me to think about the connections that crawl spider-like over our entire landscape, both physical and mental, and the weaknesses they expose. Our privacy is being eroded at a rate that would have appalled Winston... Continue Reading →

It’s axiomatic

Real Life has been happening fast and furious around here, so I’m reposting from my blog, with a few relevant thoughts about writing added. Don’t worry: there will be no math. People will keep mis-defining axioms. To boil the definitions I’ve been seeing down to the simplest possible statement: “An axiom is a statement which... Continue Reading →

Context and Misdirection

Misleading the reader is always fun, right? That is, as long as you don't cheat. (And let's not get into the argument that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is cheating, not today anyway.) One way to do this is to present the reader with only some of the information - say, the part that makes the... Continue Reading →

Psst… Wanna Idea?

The age-old question for the writer of 'where do you get your ideas?' can be a little confusing for some of us. My problem is more like 'I have too many ideas. Want one?' and the First Reader always has some on tap (to which I often respond, well, then, you write it) because although... Continue Reading →

Up ↑