I see that the BP bosses are now facing charges of “gross negligence or wilful misconduct” – does the same apply to Eng-er-land Manager Fabio Capello.
After last night’s lacklustre performance (the poor souls are only paid £160K per week) as the “importance of being earnest and ethnically northern” commentator intoned; “they’re frustrated; they look haunted by the England shirts; they’re playing poor club football in international shirts” I’m now looking to Lord David Young to look into my ‘Elf & safety.
It is because we don’t have one of these that English is the global language. In the English language, the rules are, as often as not, more honor’d in the breach than the observance.
The past week has seen the conclusion of two popular (probably influential, arguably seminal) TV series, the BBC’s Life on Mars/ Ashes to Ashes and ABC’s Lost.
Both series dealt with strikingly similar themes (I’ll put them under the broad heading of “letting go”) and both have, in their respective runs, exhibited many of the strengths and weakness of the TV cultures in which they were created. For me, the end of Ashes to Ashes was, mostly, a model of taut economy in the handling of emotion, while Lost slightly slapped the emotion on with a trowel, but both were satisfying conclusions to their shows – well, for all but a certain type of fan. Continue reading →
A short story is ‘a world seen in a quick glancing light,’ so said Alice Munro. It’s a ‘glance at the miraculous,’ according to Joseph O’Connor (in his introduction to the 1997 Fish Anthology). It allows ‘a glimpse into the moment of a life,’ says literary agent Lucy Luck on The Story Website. Glances and glimpses – are these what make a short story really work?
I’ve been pondering on this recently, not least because the VWC’s champion of the form, Jon Pinnock, has nobly accepted the challenge to compile a VWC anthology, and has called on members for submissions. So what’s he looking for?: poems and short stories of no more than 2500 words that are ‘good enough’. I’m reminded of Zadie Smith’s plea, on announcing her decision not to award a prize for the 2008 Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition: ‘We have only one principle here: MAKE IT GOOD.’ But what’s good? Continue reading →
Bestselling and highly acclaimed crime novelist Leigh Russell paid Verulam Writers’ Circle a visit recently. You can read a little about the night HERE
If you’re searching for a warm climate to help your writing grow, you could try Scotland… It worked for me.
(and I thank Mr Barley for the previous post, leading to this seamless transition) … how about this on the Cringeworthy Scale - A blast from the past - ?
Ever said something so embarrassing it ranks as a full 10/10 on the cringeworthy scale?
I just have. Find out more on my Desperate Househusband blog:
www.stevenbarley.com/barpostcringe.html
In case you didn’t already know, there’s a new trailer out for “Mrs Darcy vs The Aliens”! More details here. And if you happen to be on Facebook, Mrs Darcy now has her own fan page, and she’d love you to join her there.
On the off chance that your reaction is “Mrs Darcy what?”, you can find the serial itself here.
