I'm very lucky to have brilliantly creative friends. One of them has transformed The Pirate Tree into a kamishibai form, which is a form of Japanese street theater that became popular during the 1930s Depression and the post-war period. It's becoming increasingly popular again and it's no wonder because it joins the best aspects of …
The Pirate Tree free activities
During the lockdown, I was busy creating free activities for readers of The Pirate Tree. You can now download them on my publisher's website (scroll down). You'll find a crossword puzzle, a labyrinth, a fun board game and more. Have fun playing and creating and do let me know how you like them!
Viva distractions
The 31 January was a magical day. I woke up in Swansea (in a terrible hotel, but that didn't manage to ruin the day). My PhD viva was scheduled for later that Friday. Needless to say, I was nervous even though I kept telling myself that I wrote the thesis so I knew what it …
Soldier #amwriting #poem #poetry
One of my pieces of writing I am most proud of is, strangely, a poem. I haven't written any poetry in a long while and even when I wrote poems on a daily basis, the process didn't feel as natural as when I write fiction. I struggled. I imagine every poet struggles to an extent …
What’s in a name? #pennames #authorlife
A recent conversation with a fellow author who publishes her books under a pen name opened an interesting question about pen names for me. I only know this woman by her pen name as we ‘met’ in an online writing conference. We’ve become sort of friends over the years. I say ‘sort of friends’ because …
Vine Leaves Lit. Journal is available for pre-order
The final issue of Vine Leaves Literary Journal is available for pre-order on Amazon and other retailers. It offers 240 pages of poetry, prose, art & photography, including two of my pieces. As the editor, Jessica Bell says of the vignette form, it "forces you to slow down, to distract your focus from the future …
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New stories
You can now read my short story, Dad's expiration date, on CafeLit. A ten-year-old boy, Max, who's always lived only with his mother suddenly meets his father. But there is something odd about him and Max has a sinking feeling that things will not end well. The last issue of Vine Leaves Journal, including my …
When you want to give up #amwriting
This has been a difficult year so far. I've had new tasks piled on top of the old ones at work and I also spent a lot of time writing and editing several writing projects. Most of the time I feel overworked and on the brink of giving up. Particularly when I open my inbox …
New publications
In my guest post at The Artist Unleashed blog I discuss my never-ending struggle with the 'show, don't tell' rule when writing and which tricks I use to overcome it. Share your experience with writing struggles here. The publication of the final issue of Vine Leaves Journal in which I'll have two short pieces published …
Writing in different genres
Writing in different genres doesn't seem like such a big problem. I've been writing short stories and poetry for adults and stories for young adults and middle grade since forever. Switching between genres didn't seem particularly difficult and I rarely noticed it consciously. I didn't usually write for all the genres at the same time, …
