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#FridayFlash Close Encounters with Goldfish
For a person who was stone mad it was crazy that he never realised the volcanic crystal would kill the goldfish. It’s far from the slopes of Mount Etna those goldfish were reared. There was a funeral of course. He put them in the rockery which he had fashioned in the shape of that iconic…
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The Woebegone’s slaughtered dreams
This relates to a previous flash They say that the dreams of Woebegones are reality elsewhen. And so when the fever came it made no sense here but its seed was in the tortured body of the creature of ages. As they sliced him for revelation there came about in this world a kind of…
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Writing and Publishing: Who makes the rules anyway?
In the world of writing there are many rules; almost as many rules as there are for parenting. There are rules for grammar, structure, plot, point of view, narrative, character, use of adverbs, length, genre. There are rules for writing regimes, how often and when. There are rules for raising your profile, gaining an audience,…
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#FridayFlash Flash
Some characters from two weeks ago asked for another outing. Emily and Eddie were baiting lightning on the quay, and it was forked. Across the bay the flashes lit up midnight townlands in isolated glimpses as if God with torches was looking for his keys in the eternal driveway. Here. There. This way a bit.…
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#FridayFlash Lethargy
‘I’m bored of my despair’ said Sandra ‘I’m afraid of getting fat’ said Karen, licking the cream, watching the coffee swirl in the mug, holding the steam under her nose to help with the blackheads. ‘Shopping?’ said Sandra. ‘Bopping?’ said Karen. It wasn’t even raining. ‘Didn’t she die?’ said Sandra, looking at the actress on…
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Finding your keys: Creativity
I’ve written before about the process of incubation, about the subsconscious stewing and brewing. Writers recognise the feeling of tapping into the subconscious, the repository of half-formed ideas, distributed and layered memory. As we move through life we lay down the experience of millions of hours, thousands of millions of minutes of conscious experience, peripheral…
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Beautiful Blogging
I was very priviledged recently to receive a Beautiful Blogger Award from Claire King who is a writer, mother, blogger, tweeter and I have found, a helpful member of the writing community, willing to share her time. Recently shortlisted for the prestigious Bristol Prize, I wish her continued success in her writing journey. In accordance…
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Guest post on Write Olive
Olive O’ Brien is a children’s book writer who recently launched the second in her Perry the Polar Bear series. I was absolutely delighted and honoured to be asked to contribute my very first guest post ever to her blog Write Olive where she blogs about her writing journey. My guest post Childlike Thinking makes…
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#FridayFlash Ten Woebegones lie sleeping
This is my first #Fridayflash fiction. The Woebegone is a creature from my novel-in-progress Housewife with a Half-Life. This is a newly written spin-off. Enjoy! Although they were quite commonly known in the alternates; it was many years before I came across a Woebegone. They were – as most things are in this cobbled together…
Welcome to my Head above Water blog! I’m Alison, writer, mother and public librarian with a background in Communication Studies and Psychology. I have a particular interest in creative resilience, motivation and how nature and wonder can restore us. In my day job I run book clubs and creative events for children and adults.
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Alison Wells Author 