October 2017

Goals - week ending 3 November 2017

Here are my creative goals for this week: rig my art-nouveau door (i.e. make it so that it can open and shut) start the texture process on the doorway finish reviewing and editing my short story “Restored” Identify possible buyers for my short story Identify next most viable short story idea It’s not actually going to be my busiest week on creative tasks. I start work next Monday and want

Apple and oat muffins

You may recall my post about baking Nutella Muffins and overcoming mental blocks. You may also recall that I gave myself the creative task earlier this week of trying to learn a new muffin recipe. Well, I did… kind of. You see, I have a lot of apples. We tend to buy big bags of them because they are cheap and tasty. Nicole and I also like porridge. So the

Finished first draft of "Night Terrors" renamed "Restored"

One of the tasks that I set myself for this week was finishing the first draft of my short story called “Night Terrors”. The good news is that I succeeded, but not as I quite expected. Okay, let me explain, and note that there will be spoilers should you ever choose to read this tale. My initial notion for this tale was a horror story where a woman wakes during

Goals - week ending 27 October 2017

Here are my creative goals for this week: Put in place a design document for an art-nouveau doorway model. Finish the first draft of Night Terrors, my latest short story. Singing practice with my mate Jon (Thursday) Try one new muffin recipe (I’m thinking apple and oatmeal) In respect of the singing practice, I’m really trying to think of where I want to go with that. Back in 1988, I

On weekly to-do lists

Several years ago one of my bosses asked me to send him a planning email each Friday. The email would contain: a list of all accomplishments over the past week a

The Museum in the Doge's Palace, Venice  #TrafalgarTours

The Museum in the Doge’s Palace (itself a living museum!) is a tribute to the history of this city. It is not a massive museum, compared to the likes of the British Museum, but comparable to that you would find in many a castle in Europe. As you can tell from the following photos that I took, I was mostly enamored by the weaponry on display. The museum was the

#Nutella Muffins - on overcoming mental blocks

I love to cook and always have. However, one aspect of cooking that I have always avoided is cake baking. For some reason, it has always scared me.  The few times that I have made attempts, the results have been woeful. So I ended up developing a huge mental block where cakes were concerned. At the moment, I am yet to start my new job. However, Nicole has spent much

Submitted a new short story to Lamplight Magazine  @lamplightmagazine

Possessed of a writing frenzy, my second short story in as many weeks has been sent off. I have sent it to Lamplight Magazine. As with last week’s short story, it’s now just a matter of waiting to see whether they accept it. My biggest concern about my story is that it is not speculative fiction, but rather a dark reflection of current society. Here is their call for submissions