Part One is here, and is about me. I’ve split this into two so practical readers don’t have to slog through a personal post. (N.B. from the future: I’m represented by an excellent agency. Decision made.) ~~~ Idea I provide my fiction for free, including print copies. I hire artists and other professionals necessary to […]
Part Two is here if you want to read about the donation model and not introspection. (N.B. from the future: I’m repped by a fab agency. Decision made.) ~~~ It’s none of your business where my writing is on the path to publication, but I feel like sharing. At the moment, I’m just another frustrated artist […]
I started writing a story on the blog a few weeks ago, about strange soporific trees. It’s now plotted, and will most likely be my next attempt at a novel. It’s as-yet untitled. I’ve included the above painting in this post because she looks just like I pictured Eleanor. The first chapter appears below. Some further […]
Existing (carried over from previous post) There was a tree, in our woods, that would send you to sleep. We learnt to cultivate it – my mother’s family – to crossbreed it with oaks so the trunks grow strong and knotted. The original we cut down decades ago. A mimeograph of it hangs in the front hall; my […]
As this short story develops, I’ll post edits. I imagine this will help regular readers see how I approach editing. Drafting There ‘s was a tree, in a our woods, tht that lets that will would send you to sleep. We learnt to grow cultivate it – my mother’s family – to cor crossbreed it with oaks so the trunks grow […]
You imagine what people will say, but they always say things you never expected, because word sludge is pulled through their sillystraw brains in an entirely different set of loops than through your neural spaghetti, right? Because each person is a universe, and Cosmo can’t tell you shit about what your man thinks. I brace myself, […]
I used to sneak frozen orange syrup. My mother liked her juice watered-down, so the only reason I got in trouble was because I couldn’t open those paper cans without making everything sticky; they had to be thrown away. Frozen orange concentrate tastes like stars. I can’t eat more than a spoonful. I was worried […]
Most authors should cut. They embed tiny fragments of complex, fragrant chocolate into warm bread dough so sparsely they can barely be tasted–then draw a line through the points with a butter knife to emphasise their effort. Here! Look! Here are the good bits. I meticulously fashion a mask of silver thread and beaten gold, jewels […]
I’m not. I can’t. Really. Thank you for the lovely words. Thank you for the things you told me. They’re not true. You told me it’s beautiful. I don’t know how that happened. I worked hard, yes, I did, but you. You said it was beautiful. I can’t have done this thing I’ve already done, because that […]
September 21, 2012 by Alice M.
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