It has been my privilege over the past years to lead an SSU for Medical students in Exeter and Plymouth (UK) on the theme of Medical Facts and Myths into Historical Crime Fiction. Khalid Hasssan, one of the students has kindly offered to share his thought provoking essay with the crime writing fraternity (and sisterhood)…. Read more »
‘Go Gothic’ Writing and Film Competition Winners Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who was inspired to enter the competition. Entries were received from places such as the USA, Greece and Poland as well as from all over the UK. More details, examples of the winning entries, and photos will follow over the… Read more »
Go Gothic – Tavistock’s Gothic and Steampunk Market in Tavstock’s Butchers’ Hall on Saturday October the 19th, 2019 are offering tables free of charge at the market to 5 fiction writers, whose novels contain a Gothic or Steampunk element (adult, young adult and children’s fiction) and an additional 2 tables for non-fiction authors whose works are… Read more »
The Secret Soldier John sipped his free, but bitter tasting acorn coffee from the thick china cup. He’d also filled his canteen with milk for his journey. Icy gusts of wind blew the fine rain onto the Exeter St. David’s railway station platform, but he didn’t mind because the pretty girl with her fair hair… Read more »
The American Boy The 1812 War with America brought a ‘torrent’ of American prisoners-of-war to swell the numbers already incarcerated at Dartmoor ‘Depot’. The first 250 arrived in 1813 and remained there until 1815. The youngest American prisoner was John Seapatch, who was twelve years old. He was born in Massachusetts and according to prison… Read more »
The Last Dance – Tango, Jive, Hip-Hop or Waltz? Introduction: An activity aimed at stretching your creative imagination, and to encourage you to dip your creative feet into a new pool of ideas. Instructions: Pick a type of dance that you have never tried and a short piece of music to go with it. Listen… Read more »
Creative Writing Cocktails: Shake and stir your creative inspiration by Myfanwy Cook is now available as a Kindle edition https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Writing-Cocktails-creative-inspiration-ebook/ “This series of short and structured activities is designed for you, or your writing group, to explore different settings, prompts and ideas and for you to experiment and have fun by stirring and shaking up your… Read more »
The ‘true’ scent of Austen’s London Did Jane know about the Albany? If so what did she think about it? These were two of the questions that popped into my mind arriving back in Piccadilly. The Albany doesn’t have a street number, but it is just known as ‘The Albany’, or ‘Albany’ (Albany Court Yard)…. Read more »
Having turned right into Clifford Street there is a rather elegant red-brick 18th century house of the type that the Middleton family in Sense and Sensibility might have lived in. You could almost imagine them stepping out through the doorway, with its Ionic columns, into the bustling Mayfair street intent on some frivolous outing. We then… Read more »
