The first story in my new collection SEEDS is a flash-fiction piece entitled "Bloom." It follows an elderly couple on a road trip as they celebrate their anniversary and encounter a field of mystical sunflowers. As a special sneak peek, I am delighted to share it with you now.
Story Planning—How I Move from Inspiration to the Page
How I plan a story is very similar to how I plan a road trip: the car is packed, I have a full tank of petrol and I know basically where I’m headed, but the actual route I will take to reach my destination is anyone’s guess. My writing philosophy is something akin to, “Let’s
The Story Behind the Story—Red-Eye
My short story “Red-Eye” is one of four reprints included in my new collection, SEEDS. The story was my first ever short fiction acceptance and was originally published in the Australian Horror Writers Magazine, Midnight Echo #14 in 2019. This short piece which explains the inspiration behind it was originally published at Sinister Reads. It
In the Shadow of the Moon
The Advance Review Copies of SEEDS have been sent out and I am now waiting nervously for the first reactions. The following story did not make it into the TOC as it didn’t quite fit with the others, but it still remains one of my most favourite pieces of writing because I can still remember
A Nice Soothing Horror Story
A very quick update as I go through today’s to-do list: With the whole of Aotearoa, New Zealand plunged once more into a Level 4 lockdown and anxieties rising again, it might seem somewhat counterproductive to write about how consuming horror can help and heal. But that’s just what I’ve been doing. With huge thanks
Memento Vitae: Memories of Life
Memento Vitae is a creative writing project I have been working on in one form or another since early 2019. It became a part of my website in June 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Memento Vitae project is an exploration through pictures, poems and prose of how we attach memories to
It Feels “Write”.
This piece about living with chronic pain was first published on The Mighty in 2018, but it seems to have disappeared. As it’s still very relevant, but not something I often tend to discuss at length, it feels right to republish it here, with some minor updates/edits. As always, when writing a personal piece, I
Good Things Come to Those Who Keep Going
The last time I made a blog post was at the start of May, and I will be the first to admit it wasn’t an entirely “good” post. I was feeling glum and overworked and struggling to find ways to prioritise my time. I had even decided I was going to take a step back
Winding Down for Winter
Well now, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and I keep hopping over the fence and changing my decision, but the time has come to make a choice. Put simply: Writing isn’t making me happy any more. Or rather, to be more accurate, trying to make writing fiction a career choice isn’t making
Resting Book Face Reviews – MATRYOSHKA by Penny Jones
The most wonderful thing about Penny Jones' writing is it is impossible to pigeonhole her into any specific genre box. While her stories do often have recurring themes, she approaches each one with a fresh angle of attack every time. She is never predictable nor does she rely on tropes, her characters are as likeable as they are often horrible, and her prose has a delicious, dark beauty to it where dreadful events are described in layers of lyrical narration.