Posted inWriting Prompts
Confessions of a Repentant Reader
If you’re a writer, you’ve probably already discovered the delightful rabbit warrens that make up Substack. What’s not to like? You can fritter away those hours when your magnus opus…
Posted inWriting Life
Literary foundations
John reviews his "best books" in the light of the recent Guardian lists of great literature. These titles, he says, form the foundations of his literacy and literary interests.
Posted inWriting Life
The surprising value of reviewing books
Now I’m not claiming for one second to be some literary critic, but I can tell you that since making the decision to write a review of my books, my…
Posted inWriting Life
On social media, brain rot and story-telling
Social media is robbing us of the ability to concentrate. It's not only changing how we communicate—it’s reducing attention spans and creating what is becoming known as ‘brain rot.’ Research…
Posted inWriting Prompts
The Angel Looking Over Your Shoulder
In the beginning, I wrote simply to record the experiences of my life in some meaningful way. Memories faded, or changed, or were lost and I wanted to record the…
Posted inWriting Prompts
Upstairs Downstairs Books
Good news: If you want to be a writer, you need to be a reader. This means you are “forced” to read tons of books all the time! Bad news:…
Posted inWriting Life
When in Doubt, Go To the Library
"When in doubt, go to the library.' — JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets I've recently been reading Ali Smith's Public Library, and it made me think…
Posted inAuthors
Patricia Cole reads from A Greek Summer
Patricia Cole, a founder member of Pens Around the World reads an extract from the beginning of her novel A Greek Summer, published in 2018 (under her maiden name) as by Patricia Frew.
Posted inWriting Prompts
A Pensive on Writing Place
Use the opening passages from these novels to inspire a piece of your own writing. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez starts in a village: Macondo was…