A 'diary' entry from playing the solo RPG One Day at a Thyme. It seemed the heatwave was a portent of something more. We had an unscheduled solar eclipse today. Really, that’s all I need. People are running around in a complete flap, trying to decide what disaster is about to hit and completely ignoring …
The vivid, intense blues of Sydney Harbour, reflecting the delicately cloud-dotted sky above it, looked like someone had applied some Photoshop filter to real life. The sun danced off the waves, refracting diamonds across kilometres of water. Ferrys, yachts and kayaks skittered across its surface, while gentle waves lapped at the white-gold sand of the …
Jenna pulled into the driveway of her new home, killed the engine and sat for a minute, looking at the deceptively peaceful house in front of her. She still had no idea why she’d bought it, other than it being so insanely cheap she’d been able to buy it outright and still have savings left …
Jenna followed the deputy head down the echoing, locker-lined corridor of yet another new school. Her parents said they were likely to be here for a while, so she needed to make a bit of an effort to fit in. Like that was easy. The woman in front of her opened a door and looked …
He gazed wearily at the furious woman before him, "I suppose you're here for vengeance too?" She blinked, "Yes?" "You're not sure?" "Well I want my bill paid. If you count that as vengeance, then yes, if you count it as a very stupid way of doing business, then no." He sat up, suddenly interested, …
This is the exercise from the final week of the Virtual Writing Academy. Stumbled across the whole playlist one day and had an absolute ball doing the sessions. Delaney jerked, jolted from the delicate task of breaking out of the museum archive. The cops were here. She heard the sirens, flinched from the flashing red …
They began walking slowly down the path running beside the wall. Isobel paused and turned to the maid. “Oh, please take my sewing back to my sitting room, I don’t think I’ll be doing any more this morning, and my guardians will be here soon enough to chaperone us.” Duncan added, “And if anyone takes …
An exercise from Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guinn that looks at the same scene from a bunch of different points of view... Rose bent for one final check in the dressing table mirror, adjusted an earring that had somehow twisted, then joined her godmother, Mariana, at the door. Mariana gave her a fond …
Another exercise from Ursula Le Guinn's Steering the Craft book. This time, to write something gorgeous. To play with the language and not worry about getting too ornate. Calypso arrived at Bondi as the early morning exercise crowds left for work, while the backpackers were still in their bunks after another night of beers and …
Isobel smiled sweetly at the maid holding her morning dress out for approval, “No.” The maid darted a scared look between the princess and her disapproving governess. “Your Highness, you must be suitably outfitted for your first meeting with your fiancé.” “And I will be, but since he’s not arriving until mid-afternoon and I’m not …
The DNA of Stories 