Writing and reviews with an environmental, science fiction, and fantasy touch
The Last Pilgrim is a new book about the early colonists of America. Noelle Granger has been sharing her research for this book on her blog for a long time. I’ve been more and more fascinated by it, and looking
Monstrous Devices was a net-galley book from the publisher. I got it very close to the publication date listed, although it seems to have been published earlier, maybe in different formats, or it’s been picked up by a bigger publisher.
July 2020. The IWSG team suggest today that we tell you our predictions for writing and books in ten years time. Yesterday, I read a thing on what it’s like to have to go on a ventilator if you get
It’s the final week, in fact the final day of the 2020 30 Days Wild challenge. For me it’s been pretty much a washout. To review the final week first… Monday: I did the round up of the previous week.
I chose Meadowland to read during #30DaysWild because it seemed the right thing to do. It was on my list for may reasons, not only for its wildlife story, but for research purposes. You may remember that five (already?) years
Third week of 30 Days Wild. It always seems to be the difficult one. Given the change in the weather, and the impact of decorating on every other aspect of life in the house which is in semi-lockdown, I think
A Wild Weekend was the suggestion from the Wildlife Trusts. Whatever you do, make it wild. Plenty of ideas for sleeping out, watching the solstice dawn at Stonehenge (via Facebook). Virtual quizzes. Wild cooking… I didn’t check that out in
The Ickabog is a new story that J K Rowling is releasing (May-July 2020) chapter by chapter on a website. She describes it as developed from a story she told her children when they were younger, and they helped her
Three new butterflies in my garden this week, before the weather turned cool and wet. Very wet. My waterbutts which drained the summerhouse roof are nearly full, and it’s not that big a roof! Identifying Butterflies I find it very
A hedge is a woodland in miniature. Hedges are probably one of the most underrated habitats in our gardens. I haven’t had more than three feet of one in any of my houses until now. I was reminded of this
Urban Nightmare. It wasn’t a prompt that inspired me, until I combined it with #30DaysWild! Thank you to the team at Write Edit Publish, for continuing to promote this bimonthly feast of flash fiction. You can see other offerings at
My wildflowers are due for delivery today. So yesterday I checked out what’s at the bottom of my garden at the moment. Wildflowers au naturel These all made their home in my garden of their own accord. Earlier there was
My Random Act of Wildness yesterday was finding insects in unusual places. That was just what Norfolk Wildlife Trusts were suggesting. I don’t think they meant tackling ants in my food cupboards. That’s what I spent Sunday night doing, anyway!
This second week of 30 Days Wild has not gone so well. I blogged about Monday’s trip through the New Forest at Dusk, which was the most wild thing I’ve done really. Tuesday my composting worms arrived, so I used
The Seed Savers series by Sandra Smith has been one of my joys to read over the last few years. I didn’t really understand Sandy’s use of the Bible as a teaching method in book 1, but now I realise
Two birds in a bush or three provide my Random Act of Wildness for my #30DaysWild today. I had to get up early to get my car to the main dealer for its service. Due to covid restrictions and moving,
Worms are one of my favourite wild animals, preferably when they are in my garden. They are almost as important as bees in the grand scheme of things. They root through our soils, devouring stuff that needs to be devoured,
The New Forest lies between me and my brother. On the quickest driving route, anyway. Yesterday evening I escaped from lockdown and drove over to see him, and to return his microwave oven, and pick up something to test my
My first week of 30DaysWild didn’t quite go to plan. When you normally look out for wild things, especially the first year in a new house, it’s hard to do anything different from that you do daily. First week
Salt has been in my kindle for at least three years (on my list for four!). It’s not the first I’ve read by Helen Laycock, whose Mandrake’s Plot I featured at the end of 2018. Helen gets over the ‘absent
Mare’s tails are a lovely cloud formation. They look like horses’ tails being whipped in the wind. Not surprisingly, they indicate wind high up. We had a beautiful display of them on Tuesday before the weather changed, And I’m using
Planning the launch of my next book, audio or ebook: things seem to have changed again. It’s pretty good that I have actually had time to think of such things as marketing. I suppose part of the reason is that,
A bug survey, I thought. Or, at least an insect survey, for one of my #30DaysWild. I thought this as I looked around my flowers on a sunny warm June morning, and couldn’t see a single bee. It’s early days
Housekeeping starts my #30Days Wild adventures this month. Housekeeping for the birds, that is. My new garden birds As I have for around twenty years now, I do the weekly Garden Bird Watch, one of the surveys run by the
To Be Taught, If Fortunate, is a novella from Becky Chambers. You’ll remember I was blown away by her Wayfarers series, starting with Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. I got this during a promotion, and also got a