I write this on the early train to Sydney. It’s my first day back at my new job, at a major publishing company, after Christmas. It’s the second of January 2019 and I already know this year is gonna rock my life like no other… But lets not get ahead of ourselves. This post is …
On Reading ‘A Strong Urge To Fly’ by Alan Baxter
I read ‘A Strong Urge To Fly’ from Alan Baxter’s collection Crow Shine last night on the train home from Sydney. I’d started in late in the commute and finished just before getting to my stop. A good thing too, because I was so engrossed I would have had to sit on the platform in …
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Writing Practice, Like Actual Practice
I’m a lazy writer. Sometime in the last year, I don’t when, I decided I didn’t need to work at writing anymore. I had a few publications under my belt, heck, I’d won a competition. My work was good, I was good, everything was good. And so I got complacent. I stopped getting …
VLOG: Editing Short Stories
Last week I spent a beautiful sunny Thursday editing one of my short stories. I'd gotten some great feedback from some writer friends and was ready to get stuck into the editing process. If you want to hear about how I write short stories to begin with, I have a video on that too. Happy …
4 questions to ask before you give up on a story
I get it. Rejection is tough. Sometimes you start to wonder, is my story good enough? Is it good at all? Should I just give up and move on to the next thing. I’ve talked about rejection before. I’ve talked about how sometimes a rejection letter can be the most motivating thing you receive, I’ve …
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Announcement! Writing Services
Hello Dreamers, I have some exciting news... I've opened a new Etsy shop. I know, I know, I already have an Etsy shop. Well yes, Hearsay Designs is still open and serving all your statement jewellery needs. But I wanted to start offering writing services to people like you (creative writers) and small business (like …
Writing Exercise: The Buffy Effect
I was watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer recently and it occurred to me that it would make an excellent writing exercise. Writing exercises are great to have in your back pocket for when you need an extra boost of inspiration. Exercises, whether you follow them exactly or not, get you thinking critically and …
You Reap What You Sow
I was listening to the Being Boss podcast yesterday and they were talking about magic. Specifically, they were talking about how saying what you want to do and achieve out loud can make the thing manifest. Or at least it may feel that way, since saying it out loud may subconsciously make you work harder …
Arranging Short Story Collections
Hello Dreamers, I've been knocked out with the flu for the last week so forgive me if this post is a little incoherent. Last month I wrote and submitted my first short story collection and I wanted to tell you how I went about ordering my stories for submission. I'd expected it to be a …
How I wrote a crime story when I’m a fantasy writer
When I won the Thuderbolt Prize for Crime Writing last year a lot of people started to think of me as a crime writer. If any of you have read my other published short stories you’ll know I’m much more of a speculative fiction writer. So, how did I come to write a crime story? …
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