The Playing Field – A Short Story

The field stretched out four acres behind the schoolhouse. Two long rows of evergreens spanned from one end of the field to the other, creating a sense of protective separation from the school grounds and the outside world. It had been snowing incessantly for three days so that the grounds were white. The tree branches,...

Quote for the day

 I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life... I...

Writing Prompt: The morning after…

All sorts of things happen to people when they've had a few too many drinks. Lord knows I've had my fair share of memory hiccups. I've lost my favourite scarf twice, woken up with a cigarette burn on my wrist (on the inside where it really hurts), found a blue woolen glove in my handbag,...

Writing Prompt: Snow Day/Moonlight

It's funny how different people react to the harsh weather. I looked out the window and saw the fields behind my house covered with snow. The hillside wore a white blanket, inviting me to slide down on a sledge. When I went to the front of the house, the street and gardens were hidden and...

Writing Prompt: Anything at all

I often ask myself, if I could do anything at all, if bills and time were not a factor, what would I do? The answer hasn't varied too much over the years. So, how would I spend every waking moment of every day? I'd shut myself up in my office with a coffee maker, my...

Writing Prompt: The Book List

As you may have noticed through some of the other pages on the site, I've started a new book list for 2009. As I go through them, I'm writing down what I finish and adding a review. So far, I've read "Candide" by Voltaire (for the 20th time), "Fire in the Blood" by Irene Nemirovsky...

Closing off the book list 2008

Well, I gave it a go and here is how far I got in 2008: 1. A Certain Slant of Light - Laura Whitcomb 2. The Road to Avalon - Joan Wolf 3. Rope Burns - F.X. Toole 4. We Need to Talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver 5. A Confederacy of Dunces - John...

Quote for the day

Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts. - Robert Fulghum

Writing Prompt: Creating the perfect fit

My tastes in books tends to be a bit eclectic. I have Japanese thrillers, historical fiction, contemporary British, history, philosophy, fantasy, horror and science fiction (to name a few).  There is no predicting what will capture my attention on a given day when I wander into Waterstone's on Princes Street. When I go in, I...

Desire – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Where true Love burns Desire is Love's pure flame; It is the reflex of our earthly frame, That takes its meaning from the nobler part, And but translates the language of the heart.