Dear Reader, Today I want to talk about obsessions. Obsession əbˈsɛʃ(ə)n/ noun noun: obsession the state of being obsessed with someone or something. “she cared for him with a devotion bordering on obsession” an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind. plural noun: obsessions “he was in the grip of an obsession he was powerless to resist” Anyone who knows me will agree that when I enter into a conversation about anything I am passionate about, I tend to get a little…obsessive. Enthralled even…enraptured, ardent, zealous, or perhaps heated. Any of these things can describe my tone and body language when in discussion about a passion of…
-
-
Away to their left, a flight of cockatoos lifted from the gums and swung a pink cloud over the road and into the sun-burned bush. She watched them go, shielding her eyes and savouring the sight, knowing that was this could be the last time she ever saw a living bird. Not two weeks later she stood upon the edge of a frothing sea. The water was no longer tepid and refreshing, but bubbled and boiled, evaporating off into steam before her eyes. Behind her, society lay in pieces, crumbled along the ravaged earth that lay stretched out behind her – like a scar upon the planet. They were a…
-
After “The incident” they’d taken Fran away, and now Eve was stuck with an identity confused bonsai plant.
-
Wilder is a novel idea I've had floating around in the back of my thoughts for a long time. I'm quite fond of it, but with Extinguish and Riverwood being my current novel projects (and another one or two stories floating in the wings of those), I decided to turn it into a short story instead.
-
Dear Reader, One of my favourite things at University was writing exercises that got you thinking either about sensory techniques, or about the craft of writing. One of the last exercises I remember doing is the one sentence exercise – in which you practice writing a paragraph that consists mostly of one sentence, using perfectly reasonable writing techniques. The following is a result of that exercise. It technically consists of two sentences, but it’s the second sentence that shows the mashing of different sentence techniques. Let me know what you think or feel free to post your own One Sentence Exercise – I’d be happy to read them! Sincerely, The Jade…
-
They lay on a queen sized bed, side by side, yet not touching. ‘How’s this one feel? It’s big.’ ‘Yeah, it’s okay.’ ‘Too big?’ ‘It’s okay. Could you move over?’ ‘Nope. Anything other than okay?’ ‘Not really. You’re too close.’ ‘The last one was bigger, was that better?’ ‘That was okay too.’ ‘Do you maybe want to use a word other than okay?’ ‘I like okay.’ ‘Ugh.’ A moment of quiet, then one—the taller one—begins to flop and bounce, wriggling around on the bed in a gyrating motion. ‘What…are you doing?’ ‘Testing the bounce.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Useful information. Uh, excuse me! Miss!’—an attendant rushes over, a questioning look on her face—‘Can…
-
Week two of my Writerly Aspirations is here and with it, two new stories. While I am still striving to meet my ten chapter quota, and my reading quota, I am happy that I’ve managed to stay on track with these mini stories. For my first short story of 2017 I drew on my novel Extinguish. One of my characters, Freddie, is mute and I’ve been toying with the idea of writing from his perspective for a long time. So I did. I’m actually really fond of how this turned out. It encompasses much of what I think is missed in my novel of Freddie’s personality and inner dialogue. I won’t…
-
Dear Reader, I like to keep records of things that connect with me on some deeper level than just enjoyment. You’ve seen me mention Big Magic already, and you’ll no doubt see me mention it more. The entirety of Big Magic is one example of something that connects with me on, well I guess you could call it a spiritual level. It hits me right in the chest, in that “yeah, I know about this.” spot. If you’ve ever had one of these moments, then you’ll know the spot I’m talking about. It’s the place that intuition and imagination stem from. While I haven’t read the book, the film adaption of Cloud…
-
I suggest several options: either return it yourself, take it up with God, or consult your local witch council - whichever you prefer.
-
Wanting to write - really wanting to write - means shutting up, sitting down and actually doing it
