I haven’t bothered to write down any New Year’s resolutions this year. I didn’t come close to attaining last year’s goals so figure what’s the point in recycling them, or worse, adding to them? I don’t need that pressure. Clearly, I need to do something different.   Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t go totally off the rails in 2025. I wrote a little bit, I exercised fairly regularly, and I mostly ate sensibly. I just didn’t do any in the volume or with the regularity I hoped I wou

For me, the new year starts when I go on leave from work. That was over a week ago. In that time, I’ve been seriously mulling over what I want 2025 to look like. The echoes of similar wishes for change last year hang over me like a guillotine and I feel like time is running out; I’m getting older.     But then again, I felt like that when I turned 30. And again at 40. In reality, we only ever have a moment  of time and that moment is now. I had now back then and I have now… w

I always say that I’m only scared of two things; doctors and dentists. For a person who spends a lot of time in the world of sci fi, horror and paranormal fiction, they seem like pretty pedestrian and boring things to be afraid of. But recently I have realised there is a third thing to add to that list... Failure.   It’s no secret that for the last four or five years I haven’t written much. I’ve tried to blame that on everything from work stress to perimenopause. The big hiat

I was recently asked to be a judge for a short story competition. Despite my full-blown imposter syndrome, I accepted the invitation as part of my ‘doing something differently in 2024’ mantra. Having entered several competitions over the years, I was keen to see the other side.   Let me start by saying that there are some great writers out there. Even the stories that weren’t in the running for the top 5 were still entertaining and swept me up in their storylines. It’s terrib

I definitely owe Doug a coffee. Instead of joining my pity party about no-one reading my writing, Doug pointed out the bleedingly obvious; I don’t tell anyone about it. Apparently, I haven’t posted on my Facebook, Insta or Twitter accounts about my blog and website. I was somehow expecting the universe to just magically funnel readers to my site.   I have to confess, I rely on the universe to do a lot of things for me; give me story ideas, find my true love, direct traffic to