On Tuesday my writers group met up. We tried an exercise about writing slang. That started me thinking about how places have their own music, their own rhythm. This is the piece I wrote at writers group (go easy on me I wrote it in 5mins off the top of my head). Whatsup white n****, [...]
At University yesterday we were talking about the power of the individual and their ability to influence or cause change on a national or international level. To be a catalyst of change you need start a movement – gain followers. A follower is what turns a lone nut into a leader – if you see [...]
I always enjoy the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival, finding it inspiring and challenging all at once. My dream is that one day I will be one of the speakers. For now though I get to be part of the audience. Ideas Need Words – have a watch of this video – it is very [...]
I came across this guy on Flickr thanks to my niece Bethany Peters. Balakov reproduces classic photographs using Lego figures. I find this fascinating. A few pieces of Lego and good lighting gets you a classic Ansel Adams, which is probably not as easy as that sounds! My favourite photo is from Eadweard Muybridge – [...]
One of my favourite events at the Readers and Writers Festival is Poetry Idol Local poets perform and are judged by some of the celebrity poets who have come for the festival. There are also performances from the judges themselves, just in case the contestants were wondering what the standard should be. It’s always an [...]
I’ve started writing the sequel to In the Realm of the Golden Queen. You can buy a copy of In the Realm of the Golden Queen here The sequel is called (at the moment) – The Golden Queen Rides Out Alexander returns to the golden realm and … well you will have to wait and [...]
This is a video I found about writing by Daphne Gray-Grant. It has some great stuff about finding the joy of writing. You can read the rest of her blog here
I recently applied to publisher Thomas Nelson to be part of BookSneeze – where you get free books in exchange for a review on your blog. The book I offered to review on my blog has now arrived, Popes and Bankers by Jack Cashill The only problem now is finding time to read it amongst [...]
Something deeper and sadder is lurking here: the embarrassment of smallness This is a quote from an article about New Zealand thinking about becoming the seventh state of Australia, Behold, Newstralia. No, its not going to happen! It’s an interesting article about our psyche. I have to conclude with this quote from the article as [...]
schmeggege What a great word, with a great sound. It is from Yiddish and means nonsense or a fool. I was reminded of it by the Visual Thesaurus Word of the Day email. It would be well worth bringing it into general usage … and maybe signing up to word of the day?
