What Fictional World Inspires You?

What Fictional World Inspires You?

Twenty years ago, I began escaping into the fantastical world of Robin Hobb’s multiple trilogies. I wouldn’t dare start the first book of each set until I knew the third was published. I was so absorbed in this fantasy world, I couldn’t face an unfinished story. In...
How Would You Handle Being Interviewed?

How Would You Handle Being Interviewed?

An adrenaline shot excites my heart, but my throat tightens; I’m unwilling to talk. Why is someone interviewing me? I’m not planning to re-join the ranks of the employed anytime soon, so this can’t be a job interview. But maybe I’ve become a famous author, or...
How Important is Your Baggage

How Important is Your Baggage

In a child’s bedroom peppered with an explosion of popular tiny plastic toys, tucked at the back of the walk-in wardrobe, I keep a large, battered, old trunk. Its clasps are so rusty that I hurt my fingers when I try to prise them open. I put this decrepit trunk in...
Stories by Numbers

Stories by Numbers

Following the recession of the early nineties, I felt the weight of parental expectation to ‘make the most of your potential’ and choose a proper job. Unlike their wishes for me, my parents’ careers had veered from law to fruit farming and hypnotherapy meandering back...
How to Beat Your Monkey

How to Beat Your Monkey

How’s that monkey doing? The one sitting on your shoulder? Is he gorging on your procrastination? Have you given him some morsels from social media, or the contents of a few special-offer emails, or let him snack on some celebrity gossip sites? He’s hungry, isn’t he?...