Every year I think how wonderful it would be to do NaNoWriMo. I'm convinced I could do it, and it would be marvellous to get the creative juices flowing in a way that's not borrowing someone else's ideas on one level or another. Unfortunately it's the one month of the year when it's completely out of the question for reasons of work. Again. I  ( Read more... )

I got a bumper box of CD recordings of Alastair Alexander** McCall Smith's Number One Ladies' Detective Agency this Christmas, and I listen to them while doing washing up, cooking and the like. They are soothing and oddly charming, though there's also something about them that occasionally makes me want to smack McCall Smith very hard around the ( Read more... )

Does anyone apart from me like Enterprise? I know it's generally considered a low taste among serious Star Trek fans, but I followed the first two series with great enthusiasm - it won my heart in the very first episode with its faulty translation software, twitchy tactical officer who no-one ever listens to and the charming inexperience of the ( Read more... )

I've been mulling over in my mind whether to go for this month's omniocular "Anywhere But Here" challenge, where we are provided with a variety of fascinating locations for stories. (And yes, this is a plug - if you're  not familiar with this comm, go and have a look - I promise you won't regret it).

It's a tricky one, this. I don't want to write about what ( Read more... )