Words are like oxygen
I’m back at the Improbable Press fiction prompt coalface, last week urged on by the words ‘A broken instrument’, ‘single’ and some pictures. The broken instrument made me think of how PG Wodehouse is always quoting Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The Idylls of the King about ‘the rift within the lute’. And so, here we are. Pop over to Improbable Press […]
» Read moreThe five novellas of the Duo Ex Machina series are full of song lyrics I wrote to go with the stories. Some are by the two-man band Duo Ex Machina (comprising the two lead characters, Frank Capriano and Milo Bertolone, who are also boyfriends). Others are by their friend, Gabriella Valli, and yet others are songs on the radio or […]
» Read moreMy responses to the Improbable Press fiction prompts tend to be optimistic, but this has gone very dark. Oh well. The muse is obviously In A Mood. Option Five The sea was on fire. No, wait. Hang on. The rolling waves of flame, sparks flickering like sea spray, lapped against a shore made of ice which, despite the heat, didn’t […]
» Read moreImprobable Press’s latest prompt included bees, and then I thought of that old tradition that the bees must be told when their keeper dies. And then I thought of Sherlock Holmes being away during WWI as a spy. And then I thought of John Watson. And then I thought of this. The Dancing Bees It is spring and we bees […]
» Read moreThis week, the Improbable Press prompt drew a song out of me. (Check out the site and try the prompts yourself!) I’ve been thinking about werewolves a lot, for an upcoming story, and this is the lyric that happened. It might also apply to vampires, actually, but mostly it was written for a new werewolf. Yes, I have a melody […]
» Read moreI discovered KJ Charles in March 2019 – a friend had raved about The Henchmen of Zenda, and when someone whose taste in books allies very closely to your own, you listen to their raves. I actually began with a few other books first, but five books later I was ready to be a lifelong reader. The Henchmen of Zenda […]
» Read moreIn a world where wings give everyone the freedom to fly, an artist born wingless uses her art to show the winged world the wonder of the ground. But when she meets a recently injured police officer who finds himself grounded, they will both learn that there is more than one way to soar. From 1 to 30 September, Escape […]
» Read moreThis week’s prompt from Improbable Press made me think of Australian poet, Adam Lindsay Gordon, and how I’ve often wished there had been somebody to rescue him. Gordon’s poems are generally much more glum than his most famous few lines suggest, but I’m glad he’s known best for the hope than the despair. Stand Like Stone Cal knew it wasn’t […]
» Read moreToday I ask Dawn Meredith five questions about her new book! 1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how hard was it to pick a title? My book is called Rebel and is the first in the Flight trilogy. Titles are my nemesis really. It takes ages to find the right one and even then I am […]
» Read moreHere we are again, with a story prompted by the Improbable Press blog. It seems my mind lately is rather fixated on metamorphis. The Only Daughter of Time The sun blazed hot outside but within the colonnade the air was cool and fresh. Outside smelled of hot dust; inside of earthy stone and antiquity. Ruins, partially reconstructed for the delight […]
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