How long until your inlet valve chokes up
with lint and grime? Oil seeps into every exposed surface, delays the build up of rust, but decline is inevitable. When did you last consider your cams...
Posts by Year
2024
The Days Stack Up
Recently, I was speaking to someone about journaling, and I casually mentioned I’d kept a diary consistently for over ten years. As I said it, it seemed wron...
Discovering My Allergy to Scallops
‘You don’t want to end up like me,’ the man on stage screeches. Laughter unstoppable now, like a falling body embracing gravity. ‘I’m serious. Why is t...
When I took my mattress my duvet and their dreams
I said I was keeping them for safety and I almost believed it. I laid down in the middle of the nearest woodland and named it Mine. I rigged canvas between t...
Gathering
We are racing against the dying of the day over fields flooded with twigs and silence towards a broiling bruise left by a canula, our tinny engine whine n...
Ego Death on the M4
I am driving home at night hands gripping the wheel empty tarmac surrounding me fertiliser stinging my nostrils The engine shaking all the space between my s...
Three Tips to Declutter Your Life
I love performing poetry at open mics and often write poems specifically for performance. This poem is one that is written for the stage, not the page. I rea...
A Manifesto for Art as Self Care
I’ve been thinking a lot about creative ‘rules’ and how arbituary they are. As it’s the new year, I’ve been wondering where I want to take my poetry and my c...
The forecast sighs
Amber and scarlet triangles describe the island. These winding lanes
2023 in Review: Personal reflections
Once again I closed off last year and started the new one by filling out a year compass booklet. Although the years are arbitrary, I find this time to reflec...
2023
2023 in review: Poisoning the Well
2023 was another year of unnecessary wars and suffering, with Russia and Ukraine rumbling on with no end in sight. Israel responded to a terrorist attack wit...
Return to Me
Once again, you find yourself barefoot, toes buried in eroded stone, your steps hesitant, sinking. You stand at the edge of your island, listening to my bre...
Perseids
Briefly, over lightly settled night, tungsten filaments flame out. Sunk in owl hoots and the scratching of small claws on terracotta pots, we feel the plan...
Better Now
A flutter of flame consumed leaves falls onto my crown, drifting embers.
The news was cancelled today
because there was no danger or threat, no unwanted developments. There were no murders because we melted down our knives and guns to build homes, schools and...
Dungeness
Nothing grows here but sea kale and spite. We walk towards a horizon that refuses to get any closer, under the sun’s pixelated glare.
Our Voices in the Chaos- now Free
In 2018 I was writing poems and putting erasure poems onto Instagram (much the same as today.) A small press called Selcouth Station approached me and asked ...
A Reminder to Myself
If you are reading this on a screen your face glowing cold and blue your hand reaching out across air, put down your device. Look around.
Ambient II
After Aphex Twin
Shhhh
Listen, in between these seconds plummeting like raindrops -
May and June 2023 Input
This is slightly late as I’ve thrown myself back into the world after a halting start to the year. I joined a gym, started going to more things and exploring...
Another espresso shot sky commute
I define myself by edges–my skin, car bonnets- but I am oh so permeable. Chest matching thumpthumpthump of potholes. Clemency lies between radio stations,...
On Threads
By now you would have seen there’s a new social network in town. Threads is a Twitter alternative made by Meta1 and closely linked with Instagram. I signed u...
Between them is a canyon
They sometimes shine torches over the strata of compressed time, with sweeping, shaking hands. Eternity is present in their half smiles.
Personal Thoughts on Submissions
I’ve spent a lot of this year purposely retreating from my typical ways of writing, to try and reinvent my practise. As such I made a conscious decision not ...
I love walking in the woods so much I’m going to change my name to Forest
Here, under the glitter of a multi-coloured canopy I am finding a new serenity, the peace of lives measured in centuries. I am removed from glaring lights an...
Omen at Fishponds Junction
Down the central reservation he strode, unbothered by exhaust fumes or concrete, face encased in a leather mask.
Roaming
Overnight, loam has been churned. A fresh furrowed field before me. footpath now forgotten, land lost thanks to vast machines that chew and crunch, split...
April 2023 Input
It feel like this year has flown by. April vanished in the blink of an eye. I enjoyed being fully recovered and starting to explore more of my new home. I al...
In these days of sushi terrorism
second hand bright ghosts collide, lighting up our motorways in sparks of emerald and indigo. Disruption in the supply chain is our mantra, repeated often to...
Recovery
Somewhere, possibly close, the kettle boils. I am waiting for my insides to knit together around an absence, watching petals a shade off clouds emerge on pha...
Flower Moon
It’s Easter and all the daffodils are screaming at the awakening ground- “Lazy arsehole!” “Good for nothing useless compost!” Rhubarb cracks fresh bones as i...
2023 March Input
For the first couple of weeks in March I was recovering from gallbladder surgery, so had a lot of time to read and reflect and watch things as I let my body ...
Fever
I woke up in a thousand different realities simultaneously, head stuffed with cloves/ industrial by-products and waste/ a single sustained tinnitus buzz.
Almost
and yes, I still gathered branches, and yes, I still wore my woollen coat, but it was unbuttoned, no scarf
2022-23 Winter Input
I’ve been meaning to do this for a couple of months, but during that time Christmas has come and gone, then I’ve packed to move house, moved to the countrysi...
Lights
The sky and each moment expands as I observe it. I’ve forgotten the season but the single layer of skin on my fingers remembers. I am an uncertain bri...
Part Time
I maintained the gears of the moon as a university job. On my empty days, I polished the levers, tightened the cranks and ensured there was enough oil to gua...
Fly Away
I am hauling all our rugs, books, house plants, our glasses wrapped in bubble wrap and old duvets , all our memories neatly boxed up, every object we own ...
Midwinter
Fresh frost has visited overnight, morning shudders, barely starts Our fallow fields now writhe with blight. Fresh frost has visited overnight, We have l...
Dawn Chorus
Blackbirds sing from the only tree left standing on land scrubbed clean. I am watching these buildings awake as hidden beaks and wings call to light;
2022 in Review: Personal Reflections
Following on from last week’s year in review post, which was more political in nature, I thought I would take some time to reflect on last year from a person...
2022
2022 in Review: Weaponised Nostalgia
Another year of political chaos, with three prime ministers, war in Ukraine and a cost of living crisis. It has been a lot. Instead of returning to relative...
Suspended Animation
During the second spring, gorse opened exploratory canary buds, lending a perfume of coconut to apathetic winds.
November 2022 Input
November rattled by. I thought I was going to read more due to the dark days and frost but actually I went to a lot of gigs and generally enjoyed myself. And...
Unwrapped
Her morning started with misty adolescent mooncore.
Slowing Down
After I got married at the end of September, I went on honeymoon to Croatia. It was bliss- two weeks of lying on the beach, reading books and occasionally sw...
October 2022 Input
I was on honeymoon in Croatia for the start of October, so I relaxed on a beach and read loads of books. It was great. It got me back into reading a lot more...
October’s Oxidation
Drains are clogged with circuit boards again. Flurries of rust flakes carpet the streets. All the air tastes of wet pennies. Every polished gear and lever is...
Resignation- A Coupling
I came into office because in my possession was an ancient grimoire, at a time of great economic and international instability from which a few will profit, ...
2022 August and September Input
September was almost entirely dedicated to wedding planning and admin. All our hard work paid off though, as the day was incredibly beautiful and full of imm...
July 2022 Input
In July I caught covid again, possibly for the third time. I’m not a fan of this illness! But it did mean I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands to consume...
June 2022 Input
Summer is here and I am wilting. This month I went out to a couple of gigs and loved it. I have missed live music, especially during the pandemic.
Midsummer
Our days are longest now, we hold the light solid between our fingers, like putty, before twirling, once more unstoppable. These are days we dream of deep in...
May 2022 Input
May went so fast. It was a fallow period creatively for me, I put nothing on this blog and didn’t send any poems out. I hid away from the flags and jingoism....
April 2022 Input
I can’t believe we are a third of the way through 2022. The tulips have bloomed and died back, warmer days are just around the corner. I haven’t done a lot o...
2022 March Input
March was another busy month as I adjusted to my new job and did lots of wedding admin. I also prepped and published a weird little game/ poetry pamphlet abo...
Construction
You imagined | a field transmuted | into endless red bricks. You | hammered a sign | into the soil and | walked away. Now we carve | out mud and sand | mix ...
2022 February Input
February has flown by on gales and storms. I’ve been really busy, performing two feature sets for Fen Speak and (Sm)art Festival, which were wonderful. I als...
2022 January Input
In the early days of this blog (5 years and almost 400 posts ago) I used to do monthly roundups. I’ve fallen out of the practice but have decided to revive i...
Books of 2021
Last year I got through 65 books. (I’ve kept a list here) Because I’m not really using GoodReads anymore, I thought I would curate a few of my highlights:
2021
2021 in Review: Who knows anything anymore?
Yet again, I sit down to summarize the year gone by and yet again I find myself struggling for words. It has been another year of chaos and contradiction, of...
Uncertain Art
I’ve been thinking about The Green Knight ever since I saw it a month ago. The film is a hypnotic blend of English myth, dream like strangeness and stiking i...
Cartography
I draw a square, to represent a former tobacco warehouse, converted by the council into offices, where I worked for a charity. On my desk, a spider plant st...
Art as Play
I’ve spent a lot of this year consciously learning what was previously unconscious. I lost faith in my writing, so I took a lot of workshops and attempted to...
Rustle
It starts with a whisper, muttered half phrases and small slanders shaking leaves, pushing wind chimes into gentle collisions.
No Neutral Stories
There’s a certain section of the population who tend to get furious when a tv show or film casts anyone but straight white dudes. These people tend to be rig...
Beautiful Entropy
https://youtu.be/yIHC-ZMhmHM
Thanks, Autocorrect
This was written in a slow single waltz before the next one
The early bird catches the worm
CW: Very brief allusion to suicidal thoughts
The Power of Interlinking
In a recent post, Austin Kleon writes about how other writers sort through their work:
Red Ink: Stuart Buck
This is a series where I interview poets about their process in regards to a single poem. Today we have the exceptional Stuart Buck, a brilliant poet, illust...
Never Finishing
I enjoyed Cory Doctorow writing about the lessons he has learned over twenty years of blogging. He describes how quickly the writing practise adds up and how...
Do we get political now?
you ask me, sitting on the smashed roof tiles and concrete slabs that used to be our home. We are drinking rainwater and petrol from a puddle, drying our t-...
Generative
we teach the AI how we scream feed it all our voices alone release all our agony our grief our childhood trauma ...
Red Ink: Elizabeth McGeown
This is a series where I interview poets about their process in regards to a single poem. Today we have the fantastic Elizabeth McGeown, who I have been luck...
Dawn Ritual
I spin each morning from dream silk allow soft light to pour in a torrent from my ears out into the aether.
Red Ink: Ankh Spice
This is a series where I interview poets about their process in regards to a single poem. Today I am honoured to have the incredible Ankh Spice, whose poetry...
March 2021 Recommended
This is a bit late because of Easter. Spring is in the air, the tulips have taken over from the daffodils and freedom feels tantalisingly close.
Count Down to Infinity
I’m working front desk at the Hilbert Hotel. A queue of guests stretches to the horizon, each person sighing, waiting to check out. Some lea...
The Date
After Kay Ryan
February 2021 Recommended
At the end of this month there was a burst of sunshine and the daffodils we buried in November erupted in their pots. This sudden explosion of sun and colour...
Writing Every Day
Some advice I hear repeated often is to write every single day. Like all advice, it’s a bit more complicated than it sounds. I think it is generally a good t...
No one could have predicted this
We’ve done everything we possibly can they proclaim on nightly broadcasts, shaking their fists for emphasis as if describing ineffective ancient magic runes ...
Red Ink: Liam Bates
This is a series where I interview poets about their process in regards to a single poem. Today I am honoured to have the fantastic Liam Bates, whose pamphle...
January 2021 Links
This January has been more miserable than most, grey and cold with a lockdown over us. It feels like a lifetime since further restrictions were announced. So...
Red Ink: Pascal Vine
This a series where I interview poets about their process and writing in reference to a single poem. Today we have Pascal Vine, an excellent poet, a captivat...
In bloom
I cannot look away from the whorl of galaxies tucked into each curled petal, the supermassive black hole that sits on top of a stamen, dragging all...
2020: A Playlist
I’m going to be featured in an upcoming anthology from Fevers of the Mind. The editor, David L O’Nan, asked for suggestions for a playlist of the music of 20...
Call it what it is
Due to the sickening events of yesterday in the USA, I found myself thinking back to when I was studying Weimar Germany in A level history. My main question ...
So Long 2020
Usually at the end of the year I write a little summary of what happened in the world at large. (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.) This year I really struggled. How d...
2020
Auld Lang Syne
We were meant to be children of the stars now, Richard thought to himself as he buttoned up his coat. Humans were meant to have escaped this lonely planet an...
Red Ink: Damien Donnelly
This a series where I interview poets about their process and writing in reference to a single poem. Today we have Damien Donnelly, who kindly invited me ont...
Circulation
We are unified euphoria, one organism joined together, twitching, harmonising, swaying.
Red Ink: Amanda Miller
This a new series where I interview poets about their process and writing in reference to a single poem. Today we have Amanda Miller, an amazing poet who sha...
Technical Support
Connecting…
Red Ink: Pauline Sewards
This a new series where I interview poets about their process and writing in reference to a single poem. Today we have Pauline Sewards, a fantastic poet I me...
Red Ink: Barry Hollow
This is the start of a new series where I interview poets about their process and writing in reference to a single poem. I’m delighted to start with Barry Ho...
Me Me Me
I’ve been lucky to get lots of stuff out in various places so this is a collection of links to my words elsewhere on the internets:
Six months from now
this winter will be a distant memory but the cold will have set into our bones, the marrow deep in our femurs will have wires of frost running through it.
October 2020 Links
I’m moving house this month and I released a pamphlet, so it’s all been a bit frantic. Still, here are some things I’ve enjoyed engaging with this month.
Welcome to C-Mart
‘Welcome to C-Mart. I hope you have a wonderful visit. My name is Cindy. If you need any assistance, you can just call my name and I will do my best to help ...
Guest Blogs
This website’s domain is my name, it’s my face on the front and I type the words. It lives to promote my work and is essentially a a massive ego trip. But I ...
New micro pamphlet- Refraction
In an effort to make something positive come out of this year, I have created a small pamphlet of poetry called Refraction. It features ten poems about swimm...
We have seen things
We have seen millions of years stacked upon another in sediment history etched into the stone, outlines and skeletons of creatures beyond imagination who us...
September 2020 Links
When I ported this site over and recoded it, I looked through old posts. In 2016 I made monthly link posts where I recommended things I enjoyed. Later, I mov...
The Garden
Surrounded by the long grass swaying in the breeze, the office seemed forever away. Helen could hear the gentle babbling of a stream somewhere nearby. Far up...
Productivity in a Crisis
From the always excellent Laurie Penny writing in Wired:
Rocket
shot into
Show and Tell
Miss Morris asked us to bring something special in and talk about it in front of the class for everyone else to share and enjoy and so in this cardboard box ...
Missed Connection
Were you the stranger dressed in electricity who floated above the tarmac without contact, who smiled in morse code, smelled of lavender and engine oil, who ...
Advert Break
The opening shot is a still lake, first thing in the morning. The sun has just started to beam down on the water. It is a mirror, reflecting the perfect blue...
Silhouettes
Drunk dancers stumbling over earth, we expect to leave no trace behind.
Into the Night
There was no sun. The news was full of theories about what had happened but there were no facts, just wild speculation. The government told people not to pan...
Recent Poetry Books I’ve Enjoyed
I’ve had lots of time to read poetry books, so here are a few I have enjoyed recently that I would recommend:
Off the Grid
When the earth was correcting our cabled bodies were sprawled irreparable, most sensory inputs disconnected, transmissions down, smashed by careless hands wi...
Masks
CW: Body harm
Ocarina
Do you remember the first time you saw those mountains? How they towered above you? Do you remember your unbounded freedom, how paths lay before you, infinit...
Awakening
Don’t climb up those ancient stone steps carved into the slope of our tallest mountain up to that egg that sits on the summit, the size of a temple. You don’...
Me Elsewhere
Hello, here is where you can find me elsewhere on the internet:
Statues continued
After yesterday’s post, I happened to be reading The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. He writes about the reaction to the protests about...
Colston and the Myths of History
Every country is deluded in how they narrate the past. No history is complete and each history is a story shaped to make the narrators feel better. But I thi...
The Sky is Damaged
From her vantage point of the second highest branch, Cassie saw it first, growing over the horizon like a bruise. She often spent afternoons by herself in th...
All change
You may notice my website looks a little different. I have moved it from Wordpress to Jekyll, teaching myself rudimentary HTML and CSS in the process. I chan...
Condolences
What good is this scattering over the grass, this gold and white confetti, these eyes opening at dawn and closing in the twilight? These are Freya’s flowers ...
Echoes and Edges Collaboration
Echoes and edges were kind enough to set my poem How to hear the hills to an incredible deep soundtrack as part of their live stream collaboration. You can w...
The end of an era
Taken from the review pages of Crack magazine, March 2020
FCIC10
PhaethonOfficial: We are here at the tenth Future of Computational Intelligence conference (#FCIC10). We sponsor a number of PhD students, excited to see the...
Some News
I’m very grateful to have a poem up on Nine Muses Poetry called Imposter. It’s a strange little piece and I’m glad it’s found a good home. Check it out he...
Virtual workshop and a poem
I joined a virtual poetry workshop yesterday run by the wonderful Tonic and wrote this: Fading
First crop of the year
These radishes distilled the sun, turning it deep scarlet.
Napowrimo 2020 Day 30- Burn
I expect these days to fade like photographs left on a windowsill. That’s the hope. The numbers will blur, the weeks will drain of detail and colour...
Serenity Study zine
I turned my poem from NaPoWriMo Day 27 into a little zine.
Napwriomo 2020 Day 29- Fragment
Today my mind is like confetti thrown to the wind, like a website with every space filled with adverts, all flashing for my attention, like a river delta as ...
Napowrimo Day 28 - Guilt
The sky is a confusion of clouds whereas just yesterday you could see the galaxy spin. We are out of coffee once again, the internet is often on the blink an...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 27- Serenity Study
After Solmaz Sharif
Napowrimo 2020 Day 26- We Are Mostly Empty
As we tumbled through the void, everything was calm and peaceful if you ignored the constant drone of spycraft. The air was pink electric and crackled with p...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 25- Some Advice
I wouldn’t open that door if I were you. Last year I stored the Atlantic ocean behind it, stuffed it into every corner. I only just managed to close the latc...
Napowrimo Day 24 - Ripples
“It’s been a while,” the water whispers as I enter, inch by inch, “but what’s a few million years between friends? I know why you abandoned me for land. I fo...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 23- Erasing
“I know how this goes!” I say to no-one as light starts to intensify, obliterating all detail. Trees will become indistinct shapes in the mist, never coalesc...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 22- An Argument
The sky sulks. Fresh insults rumble, shadows hide, small drops fall, before the clouds start shouting curses, throwing rain.
Napowrimo 2020 Day 21- Confessions
I know they have secrets to spill, given everything they’ve witnessed. I’ve tried different approaches, asking “How are you?” directly or “Did you see the ga...
Napowrimo day 20- Ritual
Thick mists and darkness linger. Crows try listlessly to call the day into being, to dissipate the vapour and somehow praise the unknown. One plummets, arrow...
A Response From the Black Box
One night last week, I thought I had a breakthrough. I was fiddling with a new set of code in the middle section of the input. I don’t work with the programm...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 19- The Movement of Boulders
Given the kindness and cruelty of time, a majority forgot those years where the tilt of the earth increased. Only a degree. Or more. Scientists spoke, we did...
Quarranzine
Malaka Gharib shared how to create a little 8-page zine about the whole COVID 19 situation, so I joined in last week. It came out surprisingly sincere. It re...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 18 - The Return
When I landed I felt the weight of myself rush back into my body like water through an open dam. I was thankful for no longer being a raindrop. I saw the sky...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 17- Waiting
My former body is discarded over a plastic chair, abandoned to numbness. Now I am these walls, the vending machine in the corner humming its constant mantra,...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 16 - Surface Tension
Between worlds the shine of the sea, the light that marks the dividing line between our world and our neighbours.
Napowrimo 2020 day 15 - Late fees
CW: death
Napowrimo 2020 Day 14 - Modified
Purple clouds transform and jitter over the emerald sky. My limbs are sprawled over silicone grass as I observe butterflies flit in and out of existence. Eve...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 13 - Things that have lost their power
After Sei Shonagon
Napowrimo 2020 Day 12- How to hear the hills
You will need a clear night, far from the city’s illuminated fears, when the dust from the milky way almost floats down around you.
Napowrimo 2020 Day 11 - Lies the television told me
Potential pervades- the message of every saturated Saturday morning American import, a call to action to try and fix a world held together by outlines and ac...
Napowrimo day 10- Prospects
Pious parsons pass pyres, proclaim pretty prayers, preach possessed portents.
Napowrimo 2020 day 9 - Hollow Passengers
The destination displays are corrupted again. Carriages and corridors converge on the horizon, a lifetime’s walk away.
Napowrimo 2020 Day 8 - Stagecraft
What is going on? I ask the walls every sixteen minutes. The plasterboard doesn’t reply but without checking headlines
Napowrimo 2020 day 7- No Trespassers Allowed
As one, blades of grass sharpen, becoming fields of swaying razors.
Napowrimo 2020 day 6- Symmetry
Marigolds bloom geometrically, thriving under this square sun. Dodecagon pupils dilate.
Napowrimo 2020 day 5 - Simulated
Seemingly infinite, the night sky is the most consistent falsehood. The moon is nothing more than a hologram, the stars just dead pixels in the screen constr...
Napowrimo 2020 Day 4- Erosion
On this day, a room darkened by a flash, unfamiliar faces are made abstract by developing camera technology. One is probably mine, now a stranger.
Napowrimo 2020 Day 4- Erosion
On this day, a room darkened by a flash, unfamiliar faces are made abstract by developing camera technology. One is probably mine, now a stranger.
Napowrimo 2020 Day 3 - Peas
It’s still magic. The emergence of green from damp soil, adder head coiling up, before unfurling, saluting the sun.
NaPowriMo 2020 Day 2 - ‘I only went to a psychic for an ego boost’
Lost to the comfort of burnt sage and bergamot, I do not remember entering or paying so I arrive to myself already sat in silks.
Free Books
I've made a couple of my self published books free to download.There's Amber Stars: One Night of Stories, which is my first book of linked stories and Remain...
NaPoWriMo 2020 Day 1- The People
We the spin, the shimmer. We the sway, the light, the contagion and the cure We the anointing and sometimes the penance.
The Oracle
Forgive me, I have lost my lexicon of the future. Now I search the tangled entropy of brambles and bindweed. Nothing useful emerges, only woodlice.
Quick thoughts on editing
From Warren Ellis’ excellent newsletter1 Which I highly recommend and you should all be subscribed to. ↩
Resonance
I joined a Facebook group 1 which has daily prompts. This one was written in response to the prompt: “How do you click: Write a poem filled with noise” poem....
Time’s gone weird
I have a fancy new profile picture thanks to Sam Cavender and his restored Mayima. Oooh medium format expired film. It makes me want to dig out my film camer...
Truth Bombs
This is the third story in a series I’m publishing monthly throughout 2020. More details here.
Reasons to stay at home
So we’re socially isolated for the foreseeable. It’s a weird time, but I’ve been amazed by how people are being incredibly generous. There is so much kindnes...
Contributor copy
It’s always nice getting a contributor copy, especially for something you would have purchased anyway. This little book flew over the Atlantic for me, I’m lo...
Encrypted (video)
Social isolation means I’m working through the backlog of things I have to do. So I uploaded this video of my poem Encrypted, which was kindly shot by Chris ...
Humans are more than money
Humans are worth more than the contents of their bank accounts. That should not be the only criteria we judge them on. Humans are part of society. Humans ar...
These Poems are Not What They Seem
I’m delighted to have a poem included in an anthology of poems inspired by Twin Peaks, called These Poems are Not What They Seem, published by APEP publicati...
Squeamish
This is the second story in a series I’m publishing monthly throughout 2020. More details here.
Complications
This essay from Jack Underwood blew me away, because he nails down thoughts I’ve had before but have struggled to put into words. He describes poetry as a ne...
Evening
Night falls so quickly it breaks apart on impact. Dark shrapnel scatters.
On the radio
I was very lucky to have a poem on BBC Radio Bristol’s Upload show. The poem is called Encrypted and was written for Tonic, which is an amazing night. You ge...
Assorted news and links
Theres a new poem of mine up on Fevers of the Mind. Its called Failed Hypothesis, go here to read it.
Sirens
Just before the door swung open, Amber was certain she could hear voices. When she walked into the small office, they had lapsed into silence. It had sounded...
New serial book announcement- This Was Meant to be the Future
Blimey, it's the year Twenty Twenty, a year that sounds incredibly futuristic. We're past the setting of Blade Runner. The world is different and weirder in ...
Bedminster Lantern Parade
It’s my 200th post on this here website! Hurrah!
2019: books of the year
In 2019, I read 66 books, but a lot were poetry chapbooks or graphic novels. You can see most of the list on my GoodReads page if you want.
2019: year of contradictions
I’m late to the party with my year wrap up. It’s already the roaring twenties. 1 But I still think it is worth looking at where we have been so we can look t...
2019
We’re here
John Green’s podcast The Anthropocence Reviewed has been a consistent highlight this year, but the latest episode on Auld Lang Syne is particularly moving. T...
Tis the Season
Come sip the festive juice. It tastes of cinnamon, cloves, something strange you can’t discern. Join us in the circle as we chant, Tis the Season, Tis the Se...
Brace brace brace
-and the clouds gather above your head, darker than you thought possible, bringing sudden night and you are now aware this field is too exposed and how you s...
Inside my commonplace book
Recently on Twitter, I replied to this tweet about keeping a private anthology.
This election
I’ve been avoiding the election cycle because its just so depressing. Lies after misinformation after racist dogwhistles after lies. It’s disheartening to se...
Move fast and break things
We’ve found a way to monetize breath.It’s simply a game changer. Can you feelthe paradigms shifting under your feet?We are shaking up the world like a snowgl...
Accidental plagarism
I read a poem at an open mic a couple of months back. I was quite pleased with it. Only recently did I realise the central image was almost the same as anoth...
Songs for November
Pauline Seawards shared this and I just had to share it as well.
November
The cold makes a home deep inside your weary bones. Frost glimmers and grins.
New poem at Highland Park Poetry
Hello, I’m really pleased to have a new poem at Highland Park Poetry called Fluvial Dreams. All the poems are water themed. Check it out here.
6 Ways to Promote Your Book
Be active on social media. Don’t just endlessly spam your book, engage with different conversations. Make book marketing personal! Get a professional t...
New Book Announcement- Our Voices In The Chaos
I’m really excited to announce my debut chapbook is being published by the fine folks over at Selcouth Station. It’s called Our Voices in the Chaos and is a ...
Escape into Another World
There is a persistent view that refuses to be shaken that science fiction and fantasy are pure escapism. Usually, this view is from people with limited exper...
Brand Ambassador
we are just hear to tell the truth / tell the good as well as the bad / counteract all the lies / get our message out there / provide some much needed perspe...
How to Be Free
Draw a line before your flat door. Put up a sign saying Do Not Cross. Disconnect your phone, gas, the broadband, electricity. Tear up the quarterly newslette...
Subject: My Demise
to: Computersciences@bru.ac.uk
Be quiet and listen
Open mic nights are wonderful spaces. They are brilliant places to try new work in front of audiences and get instant feedback. But more than that, they are ...
NaPoWriMo Lessons
I’ve done NaPoWriMo for the last three years. I’ve found it hugely useful to create new poetry and improve my craft. The process of writing thirty poems in t...
Napowrimo 2019 day 30
Faster Than Light
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 29
Rewritten
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 28
An Invitation
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 27
Emergency Protocol
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 26
Conversion Rate
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 25
Tempest
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 23
The Kite Festival
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 22
Ordinary Omens
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 21
Thread
NaPoWriMo 2019- Day 20
Seduction
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 19
Spinning
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 18
Liminal
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 17
Unmoored
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 16
Language
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 15
Always More
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 14
Oblivion
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 13
Thirteen
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 12
Aeolus
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 11
Observations in the Dark
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 10
Sequence
Napowrimo 2019 Day 9
Demolition
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 8
Remnants of Shock
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 7
Playback
NaPoWriMo 2019 day 6
Möbius
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 5
Dissonance
Napowrimo 2019 Day 4
Below
Napowrimo 2019 Day 3
Downpour
Napowrimo 2019 Day 2
Seeds
NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 1
For the last couple of years I've taken part in NaPoWriMo, where I try to write a poem every day in April. I've really enjoyed the process. It's got me back ...
Matter
I slipped off the viewing platform, slid under the flimsy handrail fell down or forwards or up towards the black hole.I cursed flimsy safety measures but k...
Hunted
With apologies to Emily Dickinson
Making the familiar strange
I though I was a good typist. I’ve written on computers all my life. I type fast. But the truth is half my time is spent correcting errors. I write fast but ...
Sharp Objects and genre blindspots
Genre fiction is often used to describe science fiction and fantasy, but everything fits into a genre. People tend to dismiss sci-fi as not belonging to the ...
Starting again
Towards the end of last year, I finished two major projects I had been working on for ages, a short story collection and a poetry collection. I finished them...
Thoughts on ‘Annihilation’
For my first book of the year, I sped through Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation, the first in the Southern Reach Trilogy. It is classified as science fiction, b...
Resolutions
I’ll finally tidy up this place and keep it neat. It’s too dark! Too many cobwebs and not enough flaming torches. I’ll stop leaving tomes half opened on the ...
2018
Best of 2018
It’s that time again when I examine what media I’ve consumed over the past twelve months and pick my favourites. Defining the best of anything is an entirely...
2018 in Review: A Poem
In previous years I’ve written rambly, angry blog posts that tried to make sense of the world around me and mostly failed. This year I’ve given up trying to ...
Why Writers Should Exercise
The problem of writing is that you spend too much time in your own head. Even if you do it as a side hobby as I do, you can spend a lot of time imagining fut...
Recent Published Writing
Some funky spiral stairs in Oxford. Irrelevant to my writing but they looked cool.
Flash Fiction: Reasons Why I Believe I Am Dying
My food tastes of rubbish. Every day, I am brought the most sumptuous feasts imaginable, the finest Kobe beef, caviar and gold encrusted truffles. All of ...
Ten Miserable Years of Austerity
Like the rest of the UK, I’ve been steadfastly ignoring anything to do with Brexit. It’s like there’s a ticking time-bomb hanging over our heads and we are d...
A haiku
Soft wind and raindrops play a tune on dying leaves. I have all I need
No Such Thing as a ‘True’ Artist: Persistent Myths That Need To Be Retired
I was inspired to write this post when I saw this image by artist Sean Landers:
Upfest
Houses have faded to grey. Colour slumbers. We drag our feet down monochrome streets, blinded by persistent monotony, unable to see the edge of the pavement ...
The Sound of Silence
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Quaker wedding. 1 As part of the ceremony, we sat in silence for close to an hour, punctuated now and then by someone spea...
Signal Vs. Noise
16 AWFUL THINGS HEADS OF STATE HAVE TWEETED TODAY THAT YOU WON'T BELIEVE! GLOBAL WARMING WILL BE 'FANTASTIC FOR BUSINESS' SAYS POWERFUL SOCIOPATH! SOMEONE DI...
The Power of Paper
There’s a magical tool that allows you to focus right in on any problem. Or you can broaden it out and use it to explore the inner workings of your mind. It ...
Whiplash and the Dangerous Myth of the Suffering Artist
Spoilers lie ahead.
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 29
Astonishing
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 28
Mountain
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 27
Dance
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 26
Dubious
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 24
Chemical
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 23
Pinch
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 22
Gratitude
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 21
Desert
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 20
Ethereal
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 19
Dizzy
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 18
Found
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 17
Escape
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 16
Spiders
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 15
Wilderness
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 14
Parallel
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 12
Garrulous
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 11
Scattered
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 10
Unwritten
Napowrimo 2018 Day 9
Control
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 8
Aquatic
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 7
Gleaming
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 5
Boundary
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 4
Discovery
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 3
Apologise
Napowrimo 2018 Day 2
Grey
napowrimo 2018 Day 1
I’m doing this again. Last year I quite enjoyed the process of creating a brand new poem every day in April so have decided to do it again.
Creative Anxieties: Fear of not writing enough
This blog post is late. I was meant to write it last week, but life got it the way, as it always seems to do. It's not just this week's though; the self-impo...
30 things I don’t know at 30
There’s a certain kind of article you stumble across now and then which consists of important things people have learnt about life. Usually these are linked ...
Making it up as you go: Twin Peaks and Welcome to Nightvale
Spoilers ahead
Advice to Myself: Writing and Resolutions
At the start of the year, we tend to set goals and resolutions. This year is going to be the year I start eating healthy, the year I finally learn guitar or ...
2017
Best of 2017
Much like I did last year, I thought I’d take some time to linger on what I enjoyed this year. I’ve already written up my thoughts on the terrible events in ...
2017 in Review: Laughing at the Naked Emperor
So the year isn’t technically over yet. There’s still a good couple of weeks for things to go completely south. I’m travelling first thing next year so I tho...
Flash Fiction: The Problems of Renting
Hello? This is Frank. I came in yesterday to pick up the keys for flat 65. OK? I don’t see why you have to look it up on the computer, it was only yesterday....
What I learned on my break
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? How are you? Are you still doing that thing with them and everything else? Oh really? Good to hear.
Lies, Dreaming
I’m delighted to feature again on the latest Lies, Dreaming podcast from the brilliant people at Poetry as Fuck. It’s a small little story about lost treasur...
Taking a Break
I’m currently in the business of moving across the country. I’m packing up my whole life into boxes. Every time I move I forget how all consuming and stressf...
There is No Exit: Flash Fiction
A quick flash fiction written from a prompt from Chuck Wendig once again. This time, the prompt was ‘There is no exit.
Suspend the outside world for a while: Thoughts on Glastonbury Festival
Posts on this blog have been a bit scarce for the last couple of weeks, mostly because I spent a several days in a field in Somerset. I listened to music, wa...
The Thief of Moons: Flash Fiction
A story written from a prompt by Chuck Wendig at Terrible Minds. This week we had to pick a title, so I chose the Thief of Moons. Enjoy!
Battle of the Ages in the Election
So there’s an election on Thursday. You might have heard of it. You probably have your own opinions one way or another. Maybe you don’t care. But either way,...
Dispatches from the Uncanny Valley
Kodomoroid communication android by Osaka University and ATR Laboratories, Japan, c. 2014. Photo by Melissa Wiseman
White Noise
Hi,
A Debate: Flash Fiction
KATIE NEWSINGTON: Welcome back. A new study suggests the moon has a more abundant mineral content than previously realised. Interesting stuff. Joining us to ...
Oak Tree Manor: Flash Fiction
Another story from a prompt at Terrible Minds. This week was a mash-up of genres. I got ‘Haunted House’ and ‘Body Horror’. Enjoy!
Everything is a story
One of the things reading a lot of fiction teaches you is that everything we rely on in the real world is made up. We are narrative beings and we rely on the...
At the End of NaPoWriMo
I wrote a bit about the process halfway through, but I’ve finally finished NaPoWriMo, where you write a poem every single day in April. I had foolishly thoug...
Jerusalem, Ambition and the Power of Ideas
It’s taken me three and a half months, but I finally finished Alan Moore’s magnum opus Jerusalem. Made of a number of interlinked short stories set in North...
NaPoWriMo Halfway through
For the month of April, I have tried to write a poem a day for NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month.) It’s been surprisingly difficult to find a differen...
Tourmaline: Flash Fiction
Flash fiction created in response to Chuck Wendig’s prompts. Enjoy!
My accidental novel: Thoughts on first drafts
I accidentally wrote a novel. Well, it certainly started that way. I started working on a short story in December, setting out a really basic outline and run...
Jabberwocky Remixed
Inspired by Poetry as Fuck and Imaginary Advice, I spent a morning remixing* Jabberwocky* by Lewis Carrol. Because…? I’m not really sure why. Anyway, here ar...
Distraction by Design: Observations on Television
Over three years ago, I stopped watching TV. I didn’t have one in the house I was in, so I just stopped. At first, it was strange to not constantly have nois...
The New Religion of Brexit
Finally, after 9 months of legal battles and back and forth in parliament, it looks like Article 50 is about to be triggered and the UK can start its negotia...
Good Boy: Flash Fiction
[Prompt from here]http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2017/03/03/flash-fiction-challenge-right-vs-wrong/
‘Hope in the Dark’ is more relevant than ever
If you are a woolly liberal like me, someone who believes in compassion for all and the importance of civil liberties, then these are dark times. The prevale...
To Forbidden Passengers: Flash Fiction
I wrote this from a Story prompt given by Chuck Wendig, over at Terrible Minds I hope you enjoy!*
George Saunders and Normalisation
In these days of increasing insanity in the world of politics, I find myself thinking more and more about the fiction of George Saunders. He understands that...
Step Away from the Internet
Every few months or so, an article comes around that reminds me I’m spending too much time on the internet, looking at pointless things and wasting time. Thi...
Alternative facts and the rule of misinformation
Bloody hell, what a terrible phrase ‘Alternative facts’ is. Similar to last years ‘post-truth’ that the UK media were so fond of last year, it seems the Amer...
A Press Conference
I am here today to announce there is nothing wrong. Nothing at all. Everything is fine. Rumours you may have heard to the contrary are simply that- rumours. ...
Enduring art (Same as it ever was)
I was listening to the rather excellent Book Shambles podcast the other day. It is a rambling discussion about books and literature, usually with a guest to ...
A response to Laurie Gough
In another example of running a controversial story to get clicks, the Huffington Post published an article by Laurie Gough that argues that self-publishing ...
2016
Best of 2016
2016 was a curious year. Politics ate itself and the internet took over all discourse. But personally, it was pretty good. I published two books, one a colle...
2016: The Year the Internet took over
What a year. It started with David Bowie dying and somehow went downhill from there. A rabid media stirring up hate forced the British people to shoot themse...
Pulp vs. Perfection
On a long coach journey back from Leeds a couple of weekends ago, I listened to Chris Gethard’s podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People. I was recomm...
November Link Round up
Now the nights are drawing in and daylight is a distant memory. We surrender ourselves to the dark and cold, waiting and hibernating until spring.
Podcast
Hello
Surveillance, the Investigatory Powers Bill and Remain Vigilant
Last week, I published a new ebook. Called Remain Vigilant, it consists of two linked one act plays set in the same fictional government agency that deals wi...
Remain Vigilant
I have a new ebook available. It’s called Remain Vigilant: Two Linked One- Act Plays. It’s available from Amazon or Smashwords. Smashwords is pay what you li...
Optimism, empathy and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Science fiction is an escape from our mundane reality to another shinier, brighter alternate world. There’s a whole universe of unusual aliens to discover. I...
What does it matter?
In the shock generated in the wake of the US election, one refrain I keep hearing from people was what does it matter to us? Sure, people feel bad for the US...
October Link Round Up
Summer is a distant memory now. We huddle around the fire for warmth and watch the leaves slowly drift to the ground. It’s chilly outside. Best to draw up th...
The importance of a creative routine
One of the most important changes I have implemented in the last couple of years has been a creative routine. I find it helpful to work regularly towards a g...
Nick Cave and music that is too difficult to listen to
I finally got round to listening to the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album Skeleton Tree. It is an incredible listen, but also quite harrowing. After tw...
‘The Shock Doctrine’ and the Modern World.
Oh boy. If ever there was a book that was designed to make you furious about the current state of the world, this is it. Although The Shock Doctrine was publ...
‘With us or against us’: Brexit and The Daily Mail
So I was going to write about something else entirely, but then the I stumbled on The Daily Mail on Twitter. I try to avoid it when I can because it is alway...
September Link Round up
Summer has flown away, the trees are turning and autumn has hit with a punch overnight. All of a sudden it’s a bit grim outside and we hunker down, gather st...
Rediscovering poetry
When I was a teenager, I wrote poetry. Well, maybe that’s the wrong word. It was half-baked doggerel chopped up into lines that showed how really angsty I wa...
A report into the spread of M3W
Thank you all for attending in such trying circumstances. Dobson sends her apologies.
The Ambiguity of Captain Fantastic
Captain Fantastic is a brilliant film. Sensitive and compassionate, it tells the story of a family isolated from society, who are forced to go cross country ...
August bits and bobs
I was away for a large portion of August, with my phone deliberately turned off. I was in the Isle of Skye and saw amazing things, like the sunset above. As ...
Theatre and the Art of the Possible
I’m just back from a week in Scotland. I spent a couple of days at the Edinburgh Fringe, then onto the incredibly beautiful Isle of Skye.Then back to Edinbur...
Writing Fast and Sloppy
So this is a post on freewriting and i am carrying on writing without stopping and i can’t stop i just have to keep writing writing got to keep writing and-
Stranger Things and the art of Pastiche
There be spoilers ahead
July Links: Summer was on a Tuesday this year
I’ve been really busy this month with all good things. I went to three music festivals, canoed down the Thames and generally had lots of good times.. But in ...
Just Walk Away: On Cynicism and Subjectivity
I was at Tramlines music festival in Sheffield at the weekend. There was sunshine, there was music, there was booze. Lots of good times were had. One of the ...
Free speech, Twitter and ‘So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed’
Free speech is hard, especially on the internet. You should have the ability to say almost anything without fear of legal repercussion. Other than words that...
Ponyo and Adaptation
Ponyo is a joyous film, a celebration of childhood and youth with beautiful visuals. It’s pure joy from start to finish, with inventive twists and a unique s...
June Links - No Politics, I Promise
https://www.youtube.com/embed/nKF_0dEY2Oc
Always more to learn: Thoughts on ‘Wonderbook’
I’ve finished reading Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff Vandermeer. It’s a great read, full of useful information and...
A short play not at all inspired by recent events
I wrote this for More in Common from the Royal Court, which is well worth checking out. It was written fairly quickly so it’s not perfect.
Brexit and the story we have been told
Given the clusterfuck that is happening in the UK at the moment, I’m probably going to be doing a few more political posts in the future. Just a heads up as ...
Love, not hate
On Saturday, some wanker walked into a nightclub in Orlando and killed 50 people with a rifle, injuring many others. It was an act of hate against the LGBTQ ...
A Knock on the door
I wrote this in response to a prompt over at Terribleminds.com. It’s a bit rough, but I hope you enjoy Shake-Up
Feeding my writing through a digital shredder
About a year ago, I got frustrated with my writing and decided to mess around with my first drafts and discarded attempts at stories. They had been languishi...
May Link Round-up
Another month gone already. It feels like no time at all since I wrote my last link roundup, but here we are again. This month I’ve mostly been reading The B...
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
I’ve been a fan of David Mitchell since reading Cloud Atlas in my early twenties. Since then, I have enjoyed almost everything he has written, so I was excit...
‘Show Your Work!’ Six weeks in
I mentioned in a previous post how I was inspired to share more of my writing byShow Your Work! by Austin Kleon. This little book has been surprisingly helpf...
Radiohead and the importance of letting ideas gestate
I’ve been hugely excited to listen to the new Radiohead album A Moon Shaped Pool. It’s really good, thankfully. There’s lush, layered sounds and a strange ty...
Links and Things I liked in April
Here, in no particular order, are some things I enjoyed over the last month:
‘Birdman’, Superhero Films and Spectacle
Riggan: How about Jeremy Renner? Jake: Who? Riggan: Jeremy Renner. He was nominated. He was the Hurt Locker guy. Jake: Oh, okay. He's an Av...
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan- Book Review
I picked this short novella up recently and devoured it in about a day. Having previously read some of Ian McEwan’s later novels such as Saturday and On Ches...
The Work Never Stops
After I published my first book of short stories, Amber Stars, I took a week off writing. I enjoyed the achievement of actually finishing a project and publi...
Newspaper Blackout Poems
In the past month, I’ve been messing around with a strange form of ‘writing’ called blackout poems. I was inspired by Austin Kleon, who helped popularise the...
Zaireeka and the live experience
The live music experience is still thriving, even as CD sales fall. For many bands, it is the primary way of making a living. It seems odd that even as we de...
Thoughts on ‘High Rise’
Last Saturday, somewhat spontaneously, I went to see High Rise, the newest film by Ben Wheatley. I’d previously seen Sightseers and A Field in England and en...
On Writing and Publishing a Book
Last Good Friday, I found myself hunched over the computer, fiddling with styles and formatting while outside was bright sunshine. It was all in aid of getti...
Marbles and Creation
Why not take five minutes out of your day to watch this: