December 2009
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A few posts ago I promised a comparison of the first series of True Blood and the first novel of Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead until Dark. The UK airing of True Blood has now finished and I thought I’d better get on with it before I forgot entirely. The purpose of the comparison…
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It’s been just over a year since I started writing this blog so I thought it might be appropriate to do a little reflection. When I started my intentions were several.1. To have a regular writing practice which would provide some much needed discipline and get me in a writing mood.2. To create an online…
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Should historical fiction be considered speculative fiction? OK, no, I know. I’m only asking because I want to talk about a novel that isn’t SF, fantasy or horror. The book in question is Slammerkin by Emma Donaghue. It was inspired by a true story about a teenaged servant who murdered her mistress. First of all,…
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This Show, Don’t Tell post from Drunk Writer Talk is one of the clearest examples of what the ubiquitous writing advice ‘show, don’t tell’ actually means. The penultimate paragraph was so well stated that I’m reproducing it here: Both women’s reactions really showed me something. Both were equally compassionate. Both felt terrible for the little…
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I was reading some discussions on some writing groups on LinkedIn the other day and found one about the use of the semi colon and whether it’s being replaced by the em-dash. The discussion was sparked by Lionel Shriver’s May 2009 article Dashed Bad Form in Standpoint. I love a semi colon, even if they…
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It’s been a week and a half into the new job and I’ve read two books! Probably could have done better if I’d chosen easier books, but that’s cheating. This morning, I finished Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, by Kate Wilhelm. This was an interesting read from a style perspective. It was published in…
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Well, it’s been a busy time lately, what with finishing up one job and preparing for the next. One last work-related out of town trip didn’t help either. Tomorrow I start my new job with all that entails and I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine. As I’ll be commuting, I plan to…
Boudica Marginalia 