Blogs

I once heard that there is no greater failure as a writer of not letting go of a story that you cannot tell if you never experienced it as a mirror from your own life. I'm sure some of you have heard about my story concept from long ago about 'Schism' and that I would dedicate myself completely to finishing it to whatever end. I never realized all that time ago I was dealing with a newborn who had not experienced life enough to put forth a story...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0008ncz/darren-mcgarveys-scotland-series-1-3-west-dunbartonshire-worst-place-to-be-a-woman I live in Clydebank. That’s in West Dunbartonshire. The place where women in Scotland are most likely to be beaten up. Poverty is not gender blind. Women, for example, are 60% more likely to be carers than men. Women (and men) living in poverty are far more likely than their more affluent neighbours, such as those...

This is a tale of three penalties. Two of which were give. One for Rennes, in the first-half, and two for Celtic in the second-half. Celtic started well. That’s always a bit worrying, usually, after a bright start, they usually concede, especially when playing away from home. Rennes had beaten PSG in the French Cup final last year and in the league this year. They sit second to PSG in the French league. In other words, they are no mugs. The...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00084tb/rise-of-the-nazis-series-1-1-politics https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0008c79/rise-of-the-nazis-series-1-2-the-first-six-months-in-power I wasn’t sure about the three-part series Rise of the Nazis . Documentary-dramas rarely rise above mediocrity. I was brought up on the gold standard, World at War series, shown on BBC. Then, of course, we’ve got Bruno Ganz’s portrayal of Hitler, cut and...

There's a whiff on autumn in the air - a time to reflect and drink the golden dregs of summer. I'm back to school - and as much as I enjoy it can relate to Jane Hyphen's chilly take on September - our misty poem of the week! https://www.abctales.com/story/jane-hyphen/september-chills Don't you wish you had airyfairy as a neighbour? I do, with her yellow blinds, cat and friendly assistance - not to mention her up-coming tattoo. My grandaughter...

If like me you like to read and also do a bit of writing, then this is a book you should read. I like the measured approach of Francine Prose, Reading Like a Writer . Benjamin Percy gets it from the word go. Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions of Writing and Life prioritises writing before life, but, hey, nobody is watching and nobody is perfect. You can do both. Benjamin Percy bombed on creative writing courses, or workshops, as they...

Lullaby, the bestseller and Prix Concourt, winner, written by Liela Slimani, sticks the ending at the beginning. I got to page 65, before giving up. I couldn’t shake the thought that I’d turned my back and that it had been written by software programme as nearly all books will in the future. The baby is dead. It took only a few seconds…The little girl was still alive when the ambulance arrived…Eyes bulging, she seemed to be gasping for air. Her...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0008c6g/conspiracy-files-the-billionaire-global-mastermind George Soros is a billionaire. In 1992 British taxpayers handed Soros over $1 billion. Soros gambled that the British pound would continue to fall in value. He shorted the pound in the currency market and won his gamble. Britain’s financial loss was Soros’s gain. Soros also happens to be Jewish. Remember the Protocols of the (Learned) Elders of Zion...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0007zb6/a-black-and-white-killing-the-case-that-shook-america-series-1-episode-1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0007zbb/a-black-and-white-killing-the-case-that-shook-america-series-1-episode-2 This is a two-part investigation into a killing. The viewer is left in no doubt that a white man in his mid-forties, Russell Courtier, in his Jeep, ran over and killed a black man, nineteen-year old Larnell...