Trifling Storyettes

A day in the life of... Wait, I'll finish this title later I jerk awake - Taylor Swift is yelling some garbled nonsense at me about writing my name on something-or-other. What is happening? Flooded with confusion and annoyance, I wish she'd shut the hell up! Slowly, painfully, it dawns on me that it is morning and Taylor Swift is not, in fact, in my room singing at the top of her voice but my alarm is sounding - playing music that I asked it to play, at the time at which it was instructed. Snooze. Close my eyes. Swear to myself I'll just take a moment to compose myself, definitely not fall back asleep. All of a sudden OK Go are taking their turn to scream at me and... oh, of course. Morning, alarm, waking up - I'm a bit quicker to catch on this time... Several rude awakenings later, I've somehow peeled myself off of the bed and made it downstairs, I find myself glancing over at my laptop - then quickly glancing literally anywhere else in the room. I'll get writi...

Here's a little story I wrote a while back for a flash fiction competition. It was a 50 word limit at the time and I really struggled getting it into that, so I've edited it to add a bit of length. It's a silly little idea that just came to me lying in bed one night and has no potential to be expanded into any lengthier fiction but I enjoyed getting it down. So, here it is: Life is a zero-sum game     Ella looks thoughtful for a moment, before saying "Why is it that whenever I hit a high I feel like I'm immediately dragged crashing back to earth?". Ash "Mm-hmm"s in acknowledgement, adding "And we can never reach the high together. Every time You are on the up I'm always on my way down. Why is that?"   The pair continue philosophising back and forth for a time, until an impatient stranger cuts in, "You've been on the see-saw for ages, it's our turn now!"  

I'll be honest, I had so many ideas for a post today. My mind was whirring with creativity, a great short story I could write or a discussion about book genres (like how Chicklit/Women's Fiction, as a genre, needs to get in the bin. I'll come back to that at some point, I have feelings on the subject). But I am EXHAUSTED. Restless legs, epic dreams, and filling in a load of autism assessment forms (well, just the one form really. Only a part of the form, if we're being honest) has absolutely taken it out of me. Honestly, you'd think being chronically ill would be a boon. Sitting at home all day with no commitments and no responsibilities or stresses? That's the life! But it sure can take it out of you 🥱 So, this is my lot for today. It's a blog post. I've done it. I've written a thing. I'm pretty proud of myself for that, not gonna lie. Until tomorrow! 

 Welcome to day 2 of my new blogging life, wherein I intend to go on a ramble/rant/introspective out-loud monologue style discussion of my reading habits? Whatever we call it, I'm sure lots there are loads of people out there who can relate to the issue of wanting to read ALL of the books right now, immediately, at the same time. After all, there are just so many books... and so little time. Even if you're a sponge on society who sits on her arse all day doing absolutely nothing productive whatsoever* *whoops, I mean disabled/chronically ill person, who is doing her damn best damn it. I need to be kinder to myself, I really do. My "currently reading" shelf... currently So, here I am. Twelve books on my "currently reading" and a TBR list that's unrelenting. I started questioning myself about it recently. Am I really  "reading" twelve books? Can I honestly concentrate on that many stories at once? Am I letting myself down as a reader, piling on s...

 Hello and welcome. If you're reading this and you're not my sister or mother... wowzer! Thanks so much for being here. I'm going to use this blog as a place to share some more longform thoughts about books, reading, being a person who reads - all that jazz - as well as to share some short fiction that I am finally going to force myself to write. Big shout out to my sister for prompting me to do this! I'll be aiming to get something  up and posted on this blog every single day, be it a piece of flash fiction, something longer I've been working on, my ramblings about some books I've been reading, or just my ramblings about what bloody hard work it is to make yourself write something on a blog every single day. We shall see. The first story I'm sharing is a little piece of flash fiction that I wrote in a burst of inspiration months ago, then found I was too terrified to show anyone. "A Criminal" was inspired by a real memory I have of my own criminal...

A Criminal Have you ever wondered if you’d be able to live life as a criminal? Every day looking over your shoulder, waiting, wondering. Is today the day? Is the jig up? Can I keep running forever? It feels like a lifetime ago, the day I stumbled off the straight and narrow. I was young and foolish - how was I to know how this would feel? One impulsive moment and my whole sense of self changed, I’m forever tarnished. Once a criminal always a criminal, the proverbial leopard can never change her spots. The day started like any other, I went through my routine. Shower, brush teeth, dress, I call goodbye as I walk out the door and head to get on with my life. A morning of drudgery, a busy lunch break getting in the gossip, then counting the hours of the afternoon. Nothing suggested the criminal act awaiting me. That afternoon I headed to meet Jacky, a friend of my mother’s, and we ran a few errands together. Some groceries from the corner shop, drop by the newsagents for the paper, and th...