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We blog unpublished fiction in serial form.

We aim to tell good stories well.

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Is there an image in a book that’s really stuck with you, stayed in your head like something from a particularly vivid dream? I think Holden in the merry-go-round in The Catcher in the Rye, or the face at the window in The Woman In Black. Or maybe the sleeping dragon in A Wizard of Earthsea. There’s something about it being slightly startling, painterly, odd. Anyway tonight in Sweetness and Light Rose sees a Clive’s startled head on the walk like a hunting trophy. Link in bio #literature #instaliterature #lovereading #book #writing #instabooks #instareading #instawriting #bookstagram #bookish #literary #writers #booklover #bookblogger #author #writerscommunity #iamreading #booklovers #bibliophile #books #freebooks #bookchat

What do you think of novels with two timelines? I think to work well the two stories need to interact, effect each other. In Possession, the two love stories almost seem to move each other on. I actually can’t think of another book I love on two timelines - I wonder whether it’s too hard to pull off or more literary writers are snobbish about it? I also think you need a really different voice for each timeline so the reader’s not confused and so there’s a payoff for them (two different stories for the price of one!) and you need to keep the energy of plot movement in both. Anyway, chapter 14 of Sweetness and Light is up, and we’re back in the seventies... link in bio. #literature #instaliterature #lovereading #book #writing #instabooks #instareading #instawriting #bookstagram #bookish #literary #writers #booklover #bookblogger #author #writerscommunity #iamreading #booklovers #bibliophile #books #freebooks #bookchat

What do you think makes a story build in ominousness? What subtle things can take something from everyday into creepy and threatening? In images it would be strong shadows, slight distortion, a sense that something is just a little off - we are, as prey, highly tuned to these visual clues that something’s not right. Can we use the same tricks in literature do you think? Anyway, chapter 13 of Sweetness and Light is up - see profile #literature #instaliterature #lovereading #book #writing #instabooks #instareading #instawriting #bookstagram #bookish #literary #writers #booklover #bookblogger #author #writerscommunity #iamreading #booklovers #bibliophile #books #freebooks #bookchat

Back to 1975. Hand on a minute ... who’s Ralph???! Latest instalment of Sweetness and Light is up - see link in profile. #literature #instaliterature #lovereading #book #writing #instabooks #instareading #instawriting #bookstagram #bookish #literary #writers #booklover #bookblogger #author #writerscommunity #iamreading #booklovers #bibliophile #books #freebooks #bookchat

The new Phillip Pullman (and a spaniel). It occurred to me how hard it is to write a character at different ages convincingly and I think he does it so well. He also writes about that sense of ‘otherness’ - waking up from a dream that feels more vivid than real life, believing something you don’t intellectually approve of - excellently. At 51% and don’t want to get to 100%. #literature #instaliterature #lovereading #book #writing #instabooks #instareading #instawriting #bookstagram #bookish #literary #writers #booklover #bookblogger #author #writerscommunity #iamreading #booklovers #bibliophile #books #freebooks #bookchat

How sure of our own memories can we be? What’s true and what’s a story we’ve told ourselves? How much can we trust our own version of the truth, never mind someone else’s? The best narrators in fiction keep us in that sweet spot between trust and doubt. We don’t believe all their lies - we don’t even know which are lies- but we know they own them. We might not trust them but we trust the author. In tonight’s instalment of Sweetness and Light, Rose has a frightening encounter with the ghoulish Clive, overhears a disturbing conversation... and learns how to skin a mouse. Link in profile. #literature #instaliterature #lovereading #book #writing #instabooks #instareading #instawriting #bookstagram #bookish #literary #writers #booklover #bookblogger #author #writerscommunity #iamreading #booklovers #bibliophile #books #freebooks #bookchat

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