Writing and reviews with an environmental, science fiction, and fantasy touch
Castle Hangnail is the GMGR Book of the Month selection for October, Halloween month. I’m very grateful to the Amazon resellers for getting a copy to me in time. It arrived around 12, I started it at 3.30, and finished
Deja Vu or Voodoo? is the prompt for this month’s WEP/IWSG flash fiction competition. It does seem to be a competition, not just an exercise in sharing our writing. Well, WEP does stand for Write…Edit…Publish, so I suppose it makes
Witch Week caught my eye as I was browsing the mobile library shelves. The GMGR and other book of the month choices eluded me, so I hunted for something else that fell into the categories MG and suitable for Halloween
The Body is the 500 word flash fiction I submitted for the Noirwich writing competition. As mentioned previously, it made it to the last ten… but not into the top three. The only requirement for the story apart from wordcount
It’s my reading challenge update for the third quarter – end of September. Three-quarters of the way through the year already. Oh heck. I begin to wonder why I do reading challenges. I know it helps me prioritise what I
Bloody Brilliant Women was released on Thursday. I received a pre-release copy from the publishers 4th Estate and William Collins, via NetGalley. The full title is Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention. This does
Although time for editing isn’t the question of the month for the Insecure Writers Support Group this month, I thought you’d be happy to know I’ve finally got my editing hat back on. September was incredibly busy, and October looks
Norfolk Saffron held an Open Day on 8th September. That’s a bit random, you might say. What has it to do with my blog? You may remember I reviewed The Saffron Trail in June for #30DaysWild after my bookclub read
Forged in Blood is the finale of the Emperor’s Edge series featuring Amaranthe and her gang of outlaws who are fighting to free the Emperor from the people who would overthrow him. The assassin Sicarius is one of the gang,
It’s a zombie technothriller Flashback Friday this month, since I couldn’t find anything more savoury involving night-time. Flashback Friday gives a second outing to posts you liked, but maybe didn’t get the attention they deserved when they first came out.
Empty Nest is the prompt for this month’s Fiction in 50 words #Fi50 flash fiction. This monthly challenge was the brainchild of Bruce Gargoyle, but is now continued by the Ninja Librarian herself, Rebecca Douglass. You can get all the
Jane Friedman used to write a great blog about her progress on her MFA. Now she writes a fantastic blog on writing, and other aspects of being a professional author. Here’s a great interview with Russell Rowland, who’s published five
After Zero was published on 1st September. I got a pre-release copy from the publishers via Net-galley on August 31st. Had I not have been in the middle of something else, I might have got this review out by the
The 27th Letter is the ampersand. That’s according to a very interesting e-newsletter from Blurb, my paperback print/distributor. I was so taken with it, I’m recreating it here, using their graphics and words. The 27th Letter Ever wonder why we
The Clear Your Shelf giveaway is the best hop of the year, I think. It comes courtesy of Bookhounds, and it gives me the chance to offload reduce the number of books on my shelf while recommending them to you!
There are two Tawny Owl Surveys running in the UK at present – well, one underway and the other about to start. Anyone can take part in the second one, doing it from your own home. The first tawny owl
Norwich’s crime festival, christened Noirwich in its first year, has reached the grand old age of five. This year’s writing festival is as varied and exciting as ever, although I’m only going to the events on Sunday. Crime festival highlights
The Jewel of Peru is book one of an intended MG series by Sharon Skretting, entitled The Ultimate Treasure Chest. I’ve taken the liberty of detaching it from its series name to fit in my Alphabet Soup reading challenge for
Writer’s block is not the question posed by the Insecure Writers Support Group this month. The suggested question is: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why? Our cohosts are Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler! Please follow them
Flavia Alba is the second series by Lindsey Davis, set in Ancient Rome, but later than her first. It’s later by a generation; Flavia Alba is the adopted daughter of the protagonist of the first series, Marcus Didius Falco. I’ve
It’s FlashbackFriday again, and I’m going for Humphrey when his book was WIP. You can join in by posting your own post from way back when, one you love, or maybe nobody saw, or just something you want to display
Bank Holiday in England and Wales (Scotland’s is at the start of August). Sales, cars stuck in traffic up and down the country, ‘back to school’ being thrust upon us all. I am not going back to school. Again. On
Sally Cronin’s weekend party for the End of Summer continues today! I was there for brunch yesterday, although I had to skip off and do other things, so I returned later to catch up with the news and gossip. You
The Way of All Flesh turns out to be a Scottish Gothic murder mystery. I received it from Net-galley as an advance review copy. I say ‘turns out to be’ because I found the blurb intriguing, which is why I
The Rifles Are Calling, and I Must Go is the title provided for this month’s Fiction in Fifty Words #Fi50. This exciting 50 word microfiction is managed by Rebecca Douglass on her blog, and you can join in. Actually, this