One of the things I've always loved about fantasy is the JOURNEY. Journey: an act of travelling from one place to another. This can be literal -- epic fantasy is full of tremendous and inspiring journeys from A to B. None is more iconic of course than the journey of Frodo and his companions in … Continue reading A-Z of fantasy: J is for Journey
I really like standing on top of things... It's a compulsion. I don't know where I get it from, but if there's something to clamber on top of -- wall, post, clifftop (cliff edge), tree stump, fallen log... I can't help myself. OK, so I obviously didn't take this photo, but it was the first … Continue reading On top (of Bodmin Moor)
Welcome to the next installment of Travelling in the 90s, which comprises extracts of my 1993-1994 first ever overseas travel journal. Many things have changed since then. Many things have not. It's Christmas Eve and we're heading to St Paul's cathedral... *** [Sunday 26 December, 1993] Friday was a cold, windy day, and we were … Continue reading Travelling in the 90s – road trip UK
The past couple of weeks have been a challenge on the creativity front, owing to a few different factors, one of which has been the bad behaviour of my netbook computer -- which is the machine I've been taking to cafes. Basically the battery has more or less died, giving me little more than 1.5 … Continue reading Sunday journal ~ entering the world of Mac
KAE I have made a grave mistake. We came north with such high hopes, Effu and I. We two together were going to conquer the world and make a fortune doing it. "Opportunities abound in the north," someone said. Who said it? I cannot remember. It doesn't matter. They lied. All I have encountered in the … Continue reading D&D Chronicles: More death and some vengeance
On Saturday I attended the inaugural Conflux Writers Day -- a day of short talks and workshops on various aspects of writing, held in Canberra. Organised by the Conflux team, headed up by Australian SF author Nicole Murphy, the Conflux Writers Day was also the prelude to the annual Aurealis Awards, which are Australia's premier … Continue reading Harnessing creativity at Conflux Writers Day
I've been experimenting with my voice recently. My singing voice, that is. It all started when I got talked into participating in a "Singing Solo" workshop as a spin-off to SoulSong -- the community choir I joined last year. I don't have aspirations to sing solo. For one thing, no matter what anyone says, I … Continue reading Songweaving solo and not solo
My main creative achievement for this week has been a new opening scene for project WIP. Not precisely what I was planning to do, but fun nonetheless. It came about because I was writing some notes about the middle of the book, sharpening objectives, motivations, stakes and so forth, trying to figure out where and how to … Continue reading Sunday journal ~ new opening scene
My March reading experience has been rather interesting. I kicked it off with a read-through of the messy first draft of mine own work in progress. I ploughed through a good chunk of it during a retreat weekend at the start of the month, then finished it off over the ensuing week. I've already discussed … Continue reading March reading: psychics, farmers and superhumans
I didn't realise until the past couple of weeks just how much I like silver. I've had some tucked away inside a display cabinet for about 10 years. Mostly silver plate, it came from my grandmother's collection when she died, a few items I picked up after the more impressive pieces were selected by the elder … Continue reading Inspiration in silver
Ellen Gregory 