It’s almost time to put the bins out and I had nothing prepared to post. So, here’s a picture of somewhere that means a lot to Laura and me. We haven’t been there for over a year. I miss it. I love the mountains and their clear air. I miss sitting in the sun on […]
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Recent writing….
I’ve moved to Naples with Elena Ferrante
In the wake of the recent news about huge job losses in closing retail chain stores I had started a post about guaranteed jobs. But it will take a bit more research and thinking to make it hold as an article worth reading.So, instead, here’s a post about Elena Ferrante. Or, to be more precise, […]
Being original means being yourself. End of lesson.
There’s a long tradition of proclaiming there is nothing new under the sun. From the seven basic plots from which all stories are built to countless films and TV series whose characters, settings, and storyline seem interchangeable. It’s enough to make a creative despair. Until, of course, you realise that it is not a new […]
I stuck to my resolutions – that’s a first
Here’s a brief report for January:17600 words of the novel written (at a minimum of 500 words every day)30 days of yoga30 days of posts to this siteBooks finished (from the list of 10):• The Case for a Job Guarantee — Tcherneva• Knife of Dreams — Jordan That’s an unusually fallow month of reading for […]
A pre-update update
Getting ready for tomorrow On the 16th of January I wrote a post about the things I have committed to this month. I promised to give an update at the end of the month. That’s tomorrow. I’ll roll in an update about books read and bought, too. Today’s post is a little preparation. It’s Saturday […]
Stop hiding behind mannered writing
Come out from behind your disguise The more I read Verlyn Klinkenborg’s Several short sentences about writing, the stronger it resonates. I am even reading the book front to back. Richard Ford, in a review of the book, wrote “You don’t even need to read it front to back (probably you couldn’t, anyway).” I took […]
Is it me or just the weather?
OK, it’s the weather It may be wishful thinking — or some misplaced arrogance — but I think I notice the small, weird changes in the weather that creep up on us. Mostly, this is down to my age, of course, and the fact that I have memories of a time when weather patterns seemed […]
The only essential tool you need for writing
And you can take it everywhere I think you’re finally on the road to successfully writing — not to be confused with being a successful writer — when you switch from thinking of all the things you need in order to write to realising all the things you don’t need. Judging by many of the […]