In this week's People's Friend again, and very glad to be there (in fine company). It's the latest in a long line On Reflection inspired...

A memory from 2017. I'd been contributing to this book for a lot of years before I became the sole contributor. 2017 was the first book...

This week's on-the-spot ten-minute exercise was base on the prompt "A place where things might happen". In building a story, I thought we...

Sometimes, our fictional characters might read a little flat. It's difficult enough to create them and decide what they are doing without...

She reads the shame on my face Recognises a generation marked By the pushing of large, scarce, Copper pennies across The high counter...

If I encourage writers to write about individuals they know, or knew, I will generally get one piece of work in return. If I try the same...

Anyone care to offer some writerly opinions on this year's McCash Scots Language Poetry winners? (From The Herald Magazine, July 15th)

These arrived today! Tools of the trade, donchaknow? Looking forward to sharing the wisdom of the articles and the latest info on what...

The title is a reference to a Bowie song, and also to the writing practice of adopting a persona. In his poem The Work, Niall Campbell...

Julie and I went to see Tom Urie in Meet Me At The Knob at Oran Mor. He was, as always, amazing. The play is based in the days when...

In this week's People's Friend -

... a stone memorial to a world that once was wilder ... growth ... a castle that has outgrown its ghosts - but never the pigeons ... the...

In the podcast Poetry Unbound Padraig O' Tuoma (https://www.padraigotuama.com) talks about his love for certain words, but the...

A Note - Written, In Turns, By Two Girl Cousins Who Are Sleeping Over And Don't Want To Be Heard Talking (But Who Left The Note Under A...

I met Maddy (or Maddie, or Magdalene) when I stopped in a new place for lunch. Her energy so impressed me I did what I rarely do, I told...

The flash fiction prompt for the next issue of Mslexia is 250 words on "Rejuvenation". I can't send this in because I'm not a "woman who...

From The People's Friend 15 04 23

Two issues gone out into the world, and subscriptions for A Kinder World have reached (gasp!) double figures! It's also being posted...

This took a while to get to publication. Remember Pop-its? And Fidget-spinners?