Sitemap - 2024 - Writing until the light goes out

Old habits die hard

Subscriber Showcase #2

"not the Sonnets"

You think you’re invincible — until someone arrives bearing kryptonite...

"Writing to Gisella" (3)

"Bruised"

"Vox Humana"

When not all your heart's in it...

"Writing to Gisella" (2)

"New Contexts: 7" - submission opportunity

January 1st is no different to any other day

"The man who bought a pier" - 2

Dismantling the wardrobe with a cucumber

"Writing to Gisella" (1)

The Fickle World of Competitions

Impromptu

"The man who bought a pier"

On the road?

Poems from abroad...

"Validation"

Two new books published

"So what?!"

Because writing should say something...

The Girl at the Lattice

I'll never run another marathon...

He has no redeeming features...

Drawn to the red lights of Notes and Posts...

Portsmouth - 1958-1962

1,000 volts anyone?

"Stan, Stan, the Crackpot Man"

Ancient history

The treasure you can bury in notebooks

"What you see in the shadows"

"It ain't over 'til it's over"

Writing - and the "sour sweet music" of Time

Welshman - a short story

Ursula - a short story

The Piano Player - a short story

A selection of poems from 'not the Sonnets'

Smoking in the Park - a short story

'Once Significant Others' - the opening

An excerpt from my novel 'The Opposite of Remembering'

A selection of poems from 'The Homelessness of a Child'

A selection of poems from 'The Myths of Native Trees'

Park 'n' Ride - a short story & winner of the 2023 Swanwick Writers Summer School Short Story Prize

An Irregular Piece of Sky - a short story

The Waiting Room - a short story

Downsizing - a short story

Crash: the last 30 minutes of a life - a poetic monologue

Closing his Account - a short story

The Big Red Button - a short story

'At Maunston Quay' - the opening

'17 Alma Road' - the opening

Cambridge from the outside

"Grimsby Docks"

On the arrival of buses, the darkness of Autumn, and the shocking of hearts

"Down the passage which we did not take"

You are most definitely not alone...

"17 Alma Road"

So, you think you're a Writer...

How not to critique...

"At Maunston Quay"

"Crash - the last 30 minutes of a life"

Sonnets 101 - 105

Remembering how easily you bruise...

"Dust, dancing"

Twins & Old Age Travellers

"Not another bloody day!"

"Once Significant Others"

a question of honesty

"Put to rest"

"Tilt"

Placing your bets

"The Red Tie" part 2

What happens at 2:30 a.m.

Candles

Back to the future?

"The Red Tie"

'Gimmickry': the Emperor's New Clothes of poetry

"Key to the door"

Time's tyranny and our inexorable march

On the pricelessness of being nominated

Can writing really make a difference?

Bitter Coffee

Choosing a favourite...

Superheroes

Thursday: sudden heart issue...

Subscriber Showcase #1

Abandoning the ghosts of ourselves

Duty Free

poems are sometimes like photographs

The Bacon Sandwich Dilemma

Tangled up in all those things I didn't write

The Dam Buster

When you write what you never write...

The view from Booths’ Café, looking down into the store

Impartial Certainties

Writers: you have to become 'a bit of a tart'

Something other than nervousness

2030 - a fiction

You should give up writing NOW...

Walkabout

When you scratch a writing itch...

Are you too old to snog?

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #8

Tortured by minutiae

Not all stories start with 'Once upon a time'. Life's not like that.

The Boardroom Table

"Never get old..."

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #7

What He Knew

"Follow these instructions; success is waiting for you..."

Gateway to history

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #6

It's a lonely business...

A Tolerable Answer

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #5

No-Man's-Land

"I may have found what I've been looking for..."

You've just got to figure out which ball to hit...

You're a writer? So how are you going to stand out from the crowd?

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #4

Writing? It's not as simple as pulling a lever...

Sometimes you find things that surprise you...

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #3

Not everything has to go like clockwork...

"I coulda been a contender..!"

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #2

When your 'other half' knows better than you...

Looking at things more closely...

Snow and the Snow Globe

New poems from w-i-p collection, "Less" #1

Let's type about talkos...

Anne

"And I'm going to write this much!"

Is this what guilt feels like..?

Why writing is like Peanut Butter...

The lure of the blank page

Vinno

So you think you're a writer?

April '24

The Hero

An untitled something...

Living the life of a slave

TL;DR

A Small Cardboard Box

Theft and sleight-of-hand: two skills a writer should perfect...

death of a gladiator

Okay, you've written a poem. So what?

Recommended Books

Chemistry and writers' retreats

The reviews for "17 Alma Road"

Don't Look Down

Our first Spring in a new house

A Walk in Roundhay Park

March '24

The Haunting of Ghosts - Elizabeth (the first...)

"I hear you're a writer..."

Sonnets 96 - 100

Lunch, unpacked

Through the looking glass

The Immortality of Writers

City-break

I am not really one for memoir...

"Mirror"

A small challenge to start the weekend

Fiction and poetry: capturing moments

There's one character who is in every novel...

The French story - 6

Sonnets 91-95

What does it mean to abandon unfinished writing?

The French story - 5

The French story - 4

To 'be a Creative'

February '24

Invite your friends to read 'Writing until the light goes out'...

The French story - 3

Sonnets 86 - 90

The catalogue...

Why Writing is like Sculpting

The French story - 2

Promises

Paperback or ebook?

The Haunting of Ghosts - Sue

The French story - 1

17 Alma Road

What am I supposed to do now? - 2

17 Alma Road

"Closing his account"

"The Big Red Button"

Sonnets 81 - 85

"At Maunston Quay"

"Park'n'Ride"

"Downsizing"

"An Irregular Piece of Sky"

An Irregular Piece of Sky

"Crash"

Writing as Life or Death...

"Which of your books are you most proud of?"

17 Alma Road

Blue

Anyone for tennis?

The Haunting of Ghosts - Rose

E-mail is undermining our ability to read...

17 Alma Road

Sonnets 76 - 80

The Haunting of Ghosts: Elizabeth

Let's talk about Fear...

February '24

17 Alma Road

Extra-curricular

Am I too old to become a Postgrad?

Sonnets 71 - 75

On retreat...

Fourteen

17 Alma Road

Sonnets 66 - 70

When It Happened

Westminster

Excuse me for breathing...

17 Alma Road

Through a Glass Darkly

Sonnets 61 - 65

A new cover photo - and a poem

Invite your friends to read "Writing until the light goes out"

Writing as 'Lived Experience'

17 Alma Road

Sonnets 56 - 60