Actually, the title is quite literal. Last night was Robbie Burns night. For the uninitiated (i.e. me and those not native to Scotland), you can find more information about the holiday here: https://www.visitscotland.com/about/famous-scots/robert-burns/burns-night/ Basically, it involves eating haggis, whiskey, potatoes, possibly turnips and so on. There is the reading of the haggis poem (seriously!) and […]
Blog
Um… Have a Poem?
As soon as I remembered to write today’s blog post, I started thinking of topics. And came up with nothing. Well, nothing interesting (because, honestly, who wants to hear about my breakfast debate and doing the dishes?). So have a poem. It’s not my poem. This is a poem by William Hughes Mearns entitled “Antagonish”: […]
It’s Not Exactly Writer’s Block
So, as some of you may know, I’ve been rewriting and older piece of mine to turn into a published novel and, hopefully, a series later on. It’s an urban fantasy/adventure type novel called Cat’s Paw (title may change at some point). I really enjoyed writing it the first time around and I think doing a […]
Hurrah for the Weekend
You may sing hey for the bath at the end of the day Like hobbits in books of yore But for me, I’ll celebrate instead The days when the week is no more Hurrah, hooray! It’s Saturday! I’ve done my weekly chore And now my plan is to keep tea at hand And perhaps read […]
Establishing Habits
Ah, so tempted to write hobbits… No, I meant to write habits. It occurs to me that I write. A lot. Yes, there are loads of writers out there who write. A lot. But I have written 19 full-length novels, a bunch of short stories, portions of other novels, poetry and a screenplay. Not to […]
The Return of the Day-job
I am no longer jetlagged. Well, actually, I could happily lay in bed for another couple of hours, but that’s just a result of having to get up early. Jetlagged, no. And my cold has gone away. Unfortunately, these things have only been exchanged for the return of my day-job. Yes, it’s true. Classes have […]
Jetlagged
Today’s post will be delayed because I am still jetlagged. Grumble.
On My Way
I’m heading back to Edinburgh today. I had a great trip, even got to have some snow. But my three weeks are up and I must return. Six months from now, I hope to be done with everything. I will start my writing career in a more official capacity. Done with academia. For now, though, […]
In front of the camera
In case you were curious, I’ve recently started doing YouTube videos. I’m going to be talking about the writing process, linguistics and writing, book reviews and whatever else comes to mind. So far, I’ve done videos on pantsing (vs planning) a novel, how to use sociolinguistics to give your characters more variety and a channel […]
Writer’s Folly
An unfinished screenplay I started, oh, about a year and a half ago. This was meant to be something of a Noises Off sort of thing, where we learn about what happens on a television set from the perspective of the writers. WRITER’S FOLLY SCENE: A cafe, morning, people standing in line for coffee. A bit […]
Lament for the Work Week
Because the Beatles song is too good to not do this… Lament for the Work Week Saturday all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they’re here to stay. Oh, I believe in Saturday. Monday I’m not awake as I should be. There’s a shadow hanging over me. Oh, Monday came […]
All work and no play…
Means that I write all day? I’m not sure that’s how the saying goes. But, oh well. In any case, it’s the first of January in a new year. I have a lot of organising and planning and scheduling ahead of me. I think it’s going to be a great year, though. There will be […]