Short Fiction
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Animal Verbs
One curiosity of language, both in English and Spanish, and I’m sure in other languages, is the use of the names of animals as verbs. Gatear comes from gato: cat in Spanish, and it means to crawl, so to move around on four legs. Or in the case of humans, 2 arms and 2 knees. Continue reading
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Cheerio for Now
First of all, thanks so much for reading the blog and listening to the podcast this season, and the previous one too! It’s been so much fun to give myself writing and creative challenges. And so gratifying to hear your positive comments, and indeed constructive criticism. For those of you who I don’t know but Continue reading
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26
To round off the season, (well, this is the penultimate post), I’m setting myself a challenge. I’ve imagined the first lines of 26 different stories. Each starting with a different letter. The idea is that they will become a collection of 26 short stories of varying genres but with a central premise. Canterbury Tales in Continue reading
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W-Wh
All my posts this season are “inspired by” a letter of the alphabet! – What? – What what? – I can’t understand you – Why? – You keep breaking up – Where are you? You sound like you’re in a cave – Where am I? Is that what you said? – Where. Are. You? – Continue reading
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Z-Zig Zag
All my posts this season are “inspired by” a letter of the alphabet! Zig, Zag. Zigzagzigzagzigzag. His head was spinning. He’d got home rather the worse for wear, zigzagging on his route so that he had probably taken longer to get there than he would have ordinarily. Throwing himself onto his bed, or rather, falling Continue reading
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N-Novella
All my posts this season are “inspired by” a letter of the alphabet! The following extract comes from my novella A Far, Far Better Thing. It is a trilogy in one novel following three generations of women and it plays with literary genres. A Far, Far Better Thing ebook A Far, Far Better Thing Paper Continue reading
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K-Knock
A very short story. All my posts this season are “inspired by” a letter of the alphabet. Knock. Who’s there? Knock. I can hear you saying Knock. Who’s there? Knock, Knock. Yes, OK, I already asked “Who’s there?” Knock, Knock, Knock. She called out, No, you’re only supposed to say it twice, remember? You’re daft, Continue reading
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P-Perhaps
A Very Short Story All my posts this season are “inspired by” a letter of the alphabet! Perhaps it would be today. The eternal optimist, she woke up every morning thinking… Perhaps. It was a good way to wake up, a positive way, as if every day were a new leaf of the book that Continue reading
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X-Xylophone
A very short story. All my posts this season are “inspired by” a letter of the alphabet! I was born among the green and the brown. And sometimes, from beneath my mother’s boughs, I saw the blue. She named me Rose. I grew, little by little, as every living thing does, putting out feelers to Continue reading
Espanglisher 