I'm getting in a mess. Sent a short story in and a piece of flash fiction but I think they've not gone to the right section. I know I'm doing something wrong and have asked site expert. Even that seems complicated. Should have gone on a course instead of floudering around on the net. Bought a book for 'Idiots' to help but I gave up. I'm scared of the whole aspect of the internet but will carry on.

In a desperate attempt to make the holidays last longer before the existential horror of having to return to work tomorrow (no, no, please!!), Lord H and I have spent the day at Titchfield Haven and stared blankly at enormous number of oystercatchers. Not to mention dealing with a strange person who asked to use my binoculars to look at a very exciting bird and then wouldn't let me have a look to see what the said bird was. However, he did eventually give the binoculars back, by which time the bird had gone and he was stuck into telling me the life-cycle of a dabchick (aka Little Grebe). We backed away smiling politely and nodding. Whilst phoning the police. As you do ...

Read Full Post

I was thrilled to receive an email tonight saying that my short story, Secrets, has been accepted for publication in an anthology inspired by String Theory. String Theory is the branch of physics that is trying to persuade everyone that the basic building blocks of matter aren't particles but instead tiny strings, that become different particles when they vibrate at different frequencies, a bit like the way a violin string can produce different notes depending on how you play it. There are still some outstanding "problems" with string theory, not least that if this theory is to work then instead of our four-dimensional world (three dimensions of space and one of time) we would need at least 10 dimensions, some of them folded up very small. Hmm. No, I don't understand it either. The discussions are ongoing....

Read Full Post

Have spent most of the day at a surprise Graduation Ceremony at the University for my friend, Pauline, who has just been awarded her NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship - or Naturally Perfect Quality Heads, as Lord H likes to call it ...) certificate. I wasn't supposed to be attending actually (hence the surprise) though we were putting on a celebration tea for her - but as her husband wasn't well, I went instead. Sad for him (and I hope you feel better soon, Tony ...) but good news for me, as it's probably the last graduation ceremony I'll ever attend ...

Read Full Post

This week, I’ve been discussing a recent post by Jeanette Winterson. On her website, Ms Winterson is talking about the imminent release of her new novel The Stone Gods and seems to be insisting that despite the novel being about ‘the discovery of a new planet’, the novel itself is literary and not science fiction.

That’s all fair enough, I suppose, apart from the fact that people take exception when the fantastical genres are denigrated in such a high handed fashion. And I do mean high handed.

Read Full Post

I'm back and the holiday was fab! I loved North Wales - we avoided the rain and some of the time were even bathed in sunshine, which was great. Not a lot to say tonight ("Ugly Betty" is in 30 mins and I can't miss that!), but things that stood out for me were:

1. Seeing a Green Woodpecker for the first time. Always good to meet another creature with a red head and who favours green.

2. Sitting in a bird hide and having a Great Spotted Woodpecker on a birdfeeder literally two inches from my nose, and being completed gobsmacked by it. It's a constant astonishment that we even have birds of such glorious and unlikely colours in the UK ...

Read Full Post

I'm keeping busy lots of new writing,
still going to night school although they haven't started teaching anything yet.
I was hoping to be making great progress by now, still maybe later.
The books are still going a pace. Ah! reminds me I must get back to them.
That's all for now.

I let the dart go. Now it's the start of another story. Have decided not to read newspapers or watch the news for a few days. Reading about celebrities and their troubles,infuriate. But in our local paper there was an article about a boy of 8 who'd cared for his young, dying mother. Goodness among many items of theft,stabbing and brawling. Maybe it's autumn and my view on human life has become jaded. I saw a dog fox recently at dawn and I felt privilaged. My brother hates them after he left his hen house door open and the fox got in. But, would you stand next to a known thief with a pocket full of money? I don't think he'd listen to my defence of the fox.

I love this image. Unfortunately, as reported in today's Guardian, the Russian culture minister, Alexander Sokolov, does not. He's banned it. Well, weirdly, he's banned it from being shown in Paris, although it's already appeared in Russia, at Moscow's state-owned Tretyakov gallery, no less.

His reason for not giving the kissing policemen (and 15 other artworks by Russian art collective Blue Noses ) permission to leave the country is: "If this exhibition appears [in Paris] it will bring shame on Russia. In this case, all of us will bear full responsibility."

Ah well, Mr Sokolov, I'm afraid to say that by preventing this image from appearing in one Parisian art gallery you may have provoked its dissemination to millions of computers around the world, via the power of the internet.

Read Full Post

Joseph McCrumble has reached a cross-roads in his life. Through a series of mis-adventures he has found himself sequestered in the smallest room of the local manor house, forced to work as a gardner, and estranged from his wife and family. He's trying to come to terms with his new situation, but the house-rules are so strict he can't even properly beak the ice with the enigmatic housekeeper, Mrs T.

Can McCrumble come to terms with having lost everything, or will it all prove too much?

Is Dolores just displaying some tough love, or has she had enough of her husband?

Who is the mysterious owner of the Manor?

Find out by reading his blog. Using nothing but the keypad of a mobile phone to post his storie, Joseph remains determined to tell the world of his struggle to survive and keep his dignity intact.

Read Full Post