Writing and reviews with an environmental, science fiction, and fantasy touch
Fisherman – a good prompt for #30DaysWild, too. I used to live by a river with loads of linked reservoirs around as part of the flood defences; it was a fisher’s paradise. Several of my friends fished, and my immediate
The Saturn System was a free book from NASA at the completion of the Cassini-Huyghens space expedition. I downloaded it like a shot. I chose to look at it now as I needed to do some research on planetary ring
Mid-month Catch-up? Yes, we’re already over halfway through June, and the longest day (northern hemisphere) is fast approaching. Several other deadlines are already here, so I don’t know what I’ve been doing since the end of May… oh yes, #30DaysWild!
The Wave by Hokusai. An iconic piece of art that has been much used (and abused) over the years due to the ownership of the print blocks being in the publisher’s name, not the artist or his descendants. My art
Tunnel is this week’s #writephoto prompt. I’m still doing #30DaysWild, so my thoughts turned to nature writing again. It’s lovely to see the number of participants in #writephoto growing again, and that’s all thanks to KL Caley hosting it at
The Royal Secret was offered by the publishers via Netgalley; I’m very grateful to them for it. Listed as another in the Marwood & Lovett series, I didn’t realise how many there were out already. I thoroughly enjoyed Ashes of
My Plastics Project started as a result of reading Finding Sustainability, which was published last week. In it, the author led us on his journey to at least starting to produce less plastic waste, and to encourage his customers to
Beach is this week’s #writephoto prompt, with a great picture from KL Caley. Check other stories, articles and poems at New 2Writing.com. It’s also my thought for #30DaysWild today. One of the Random Acts of Wildness I did a couple
Trouble with Tattle-Tails is a delightful book. I couldn’t resist it when the publishers and Netgalley offered it. I read it on my iPad, for the full effect of the colour illustrations. It also gave me a T for my
Gilbert White, the 18th century naturalist, lived in Selborne, about 20 miles away from me in Hampshire. His house and garden was my first 30DaysWild excursion this year. I set off in the fourth day of wall-to-wall sunshine (as forecast),
Drafting, and specifically going back to your first draft and redrafting. That’s today’s subject, and I confess I never think of any of them as a ‘draft’! I’m writing and editing, although I might call it a draft until it
Another June! They seem to come round so quickly. I’ve been taking part in the UK Wildlife Trusts’ awareness raiser #30DaysWild for some time now. This is what’s planned for 2021. Another June of Wild Writing The plan is to
Steps of Venice is my story today. I was thinking of maybe 200, maybe 500 words, but Venice took over and I’ve edited it down to just over 1000! And as you saw on Thursday, the photo from this week’s
Finding Sustainability comes out on June 1st. It’s a non-fiction book, focusing on how one person reconciled his concerns for the state of the planet with his role as a small business owner, manufacturing plastic packaging. As a former environmental
There’s a guest photo on #writephoto this week–and it’s mine! Guest Photo Anyone can send KL Caley a photo for the weekly #writephoto prompt. My challenge was to find something a little unusual, something that could give writers and poets
The Shadow of Atlantis is the first in the fabulous children’s historical time travel adventure series The Shadows of the Past. Wendy Leighton-Porter is on virtual tour with Pump Up Your Book, and I’m very pleased to be hosting her
Penny for your Thoughts: it came to mind because of this week’s #writephoto prompt – the Money Tree. If you’d like a regular flash fiction prompt, then consider popping over to KL Caley’s website New2Writing.com, and check out the Writephoto
The Kingdoms has a blurb which drew me in, even if some of the reviews might have thrown me out again. Thank you publishers and Netgalley for the chance of an ARC for this book. Although the formatting of the
George and the Maiden is the title of my offering for the #writephoto prompt today. Thank you, KL Caley, for organising the blog hop at New2Writing each week. Here’s the picture: Today is the tenth anniversary of my hero George.
Death by Donut is the fifth in Rebecca Douglass’s highly entertaining Pismawallops PTA cozy mystery series. I’m lucky enough to have a preview copy, since I was also a beta reader, but I read the finished article last weekend. I’m
Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord archive series is featuring my David Attenborough book review today. Why not pop over and give Sally some love? Thanks, Sally!
This is my Road trip post and my quarterly catch-up for the Spacetime reading challenge. Which is nearly six weeks late. Sorry about that. I’ve been writing a spacetime book instead of reading them, and yes, I forgot. SpaceTime Catch-up
Swan. Mute swan, to be explicit. They aren’t exactly mute, but have a range of hisses and other sounds. When I lived in Norfolk, I was lucky enough to be closely associated with two pairs of swans – and all
Rea and the Blood of the Nectar caught my eye when it was offered by Netgalley and the publisher. I’m glad it did! It’s a super fantasy tale, smoothly merging the life of a poor girl in India with a
Greed and Retribution is the second of my Flash Fiction collection to hit the press. Greed and Retribution: The Carruthers Collection and Other Twisty Tales If you’ve been reading my flash fiction long, you’ll have come across Carruthers and his