I am a Grammar Nazi. I am one of those infuriating people who can't help pointing out the redundant commas, misplaced apostrophes and spelling mistakes in any written document. Some of the authors are appreciative. Others immediately cross me off their Christmas party invite list (I'd point out all the errors on the invitation, for…
Music to Write By
If I'm lucky, every week I spend a number of happy hours by myself, writing. Music is often my only companion. If I'm really concentrating - trying to craft a particularly tricky sentence, or juggling a complicated plot sequence, I turn it off, but most of the time it is the perfect accompaniment. I'm like Pavlov's dogs: the minute…
How to Write a Successful Media Release
A bit of practical writing advice today gleaned from my years working first as a journalist and then in PR and Marketing. Perhaps you work for a community organisation and you want your local newspaper to publish stories about your work. Maybe you are a member of your local theatre / kindergarten association / sports club…
A Posy of Poems
It's been a while, but here I am at last. Some time ago I wrote a post listing some of my favourite books. I badly need to update it and will do so before too long. But today, given it is National Poetry Day here in NZ, I want to talk poetry. I love reading poetry…
A Gift from France
Our family has expanded this week. We have welcomed 16-yr-old Joséphine, an AFS exchange student. She is from Dijon and has come to live in New Zealand for just two months. She'll go to school here and hopefully get a taste of the Kiwi lifestyle. She has fitted right in and it feels like she…
One Down, Eight To Go
Nobody, not even the rain, has such small paws. Sorry E.E. Cummings, I have ever so slightly edited a line of your masterpiece (the wonderful poem "somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond") in honour of my cat. I have two cats - Sam (who is always presumed to be a boy, but is in fact Samantha)…
The Bank of Words
Robert Southey said: "It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn." Short fiction - good short fiction - can have an emotional impact and resonance not found in quite the same way in longer fiction. That is why I love it. The trouble is, it's fecking hard…
Elizabeth Goes Shopping
One day Elizabeth woke up and decided to go shopping. She dressed in trousers and an anorak and wrapped a paisley scarf around her hair. After breakfast she ducked through the kitchen, out the gates and was on the No. 32 bus before anyone had noticed she was gone. First stop, Boots the Chemist for…
Crossing Over
Just for fun: I've written the same story, first in under 150 words, and then in under 300 words. I've entered both in different Flash Fiction competitions. Which do you think is best? Why? Crossing Over (150 words) We spear through the pre-dawn. As we shoot down the last hill before the pier, all wheels…
Brightness
It is Miss B's birthday today. I wrote her a poem not long ago (see "My daughter's bedside, 3am." Today, however, I bow to the superior talent of New Zealand poet Denis Glover (Dec 1912 - Aug 1980). For you, my darling daughter. Happy Birthday. Brightness I am bright with the wonder of you And the…
Patricia Bell, Author 