My Writing Odyssey

Some elements of my work give me the opportunity to let my thoughts wander off on their own for a while.  Sometimes this isn't a good thing, as they have a tendency to go down routes that leave me feeling bitter and angry.  But sometimes it can come back with some interesting results.  (Just in case my boss is reading this - I was still working hard!!!) I have been thinking a lot about respect, and even more about forgiveness, over the last year.  Forgiveness, as I consider myself to be Christian, is something I am supposed to do regardless of the wrongdoing, but I have found that I am particularly bad at forgiving people.  Probably because I have a long memory for grudges, and have a habit of picking things back up.  One of my favourite phrases is 'always forgive your enemies - it's the last thing they'll expect.'  It would be nice if I could practice that a little more. Respect is a little easier.  I have always maintained that respect should...

We interrupt our scheduled blog posting (involving a fantasy series) to bring news of a new competition from Mslexia for budding female novelists. Whilst on the way home from work today I received an email from women's writing magazine Mslexia.   This is usually a nice surprise, more often than not containing some thought-provoking survey about how some aspect of life (mental state, viewpoints on adult material, etc) affect my writing.  Oddly enough, they are fun to do when I have a few minutes free, and like I said, they can be thought-provoking. As a bonus, participants in the survey will have the satisfaction of knowing they contributed to the next issue of the magazine. But this was a different email.  Like all good writing publications, Mslexia regularly holds good writing competitions for its readers to participate in.  This time they are holding a Novel-writing competition, offering a first prize of £5,000.  Three finalists will also be offered free p...