Christmas is a busy time for everybody - so much to sort and plan. Presents to buy, wrap and send, Christmas cards galore, parties and activities at school, it's all happening at this time of year. We unknowingly added to this mayhem by getting married on the 21st...
Welcome to Friday Fiction. I have a real treat for you this week. Children's author Karen Inglis has kindly provided an extract from her book Henry Haynes and the Great Escape. It comes complete with beautiful illustrations - these feature in the book itself. I hope...
Quinoa (also known as Chenopodium quinoa) is an ancient grain that was first cultivated in the Andes by the Incas. Although not actually a grain (it is related to beetroot, chard and spinach), quinoa is eaten as though it were one, hence the label of pseudo-cereal....
Pasta sauces with hidden vegetables, lasagne, chilli and casseroles, the list of dishes that include that cupboard staple, the tin of plum tomatoes, is endless. These are hearty, healthy family meals too and ones that kids will actually eat. So what do you do...
Have you ever stopped to think about a moment in your life that changed everything? Whether it changed you as a person, the course of your life or those around you, that one moment was such a significant one that you will never forget it. This is what I thought about...
Welcome to Friday Fiction and thanks for stopping by. If you want to read some fiction, share some work, get help with something you are working on, meet new people, you have come to the right place. You will find a blue frog at the bottom of this post. Click on this...
I love writing this blog and I use it to discuss the things that are important to me. I also write articles that are more business related and at one point I tried to add these to this blog too. I soon realised that they don't really have a home here. My copywriting...
I grew up in a small town near Leeds and back then, the Capital city of England seemed like a million miles away. The first time I ever visited London was on a school trip at the age of fifteen, when we went to the Houses of Parliament and the Science Museum. It was...
Welcome to Friday Fiction and thanks for stopping by. If you want to read some fiction, share some work, get help with something you are working on, meet new people, you have come to the right place. You will find a blue frog at the bottom of this post. Click on this...
Teff is a cultivated grain of the ancient grass, Fragostis tef, native to Ethiopia since around 4000BC. This hardy and versatile food source produces tiny seeds (less than a millimetre in diameter). Grown in remote parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Teff thrives in all...
At the end of last month, I asked the question, ‘can you write a novel in one month?’ I signed up for NaNoWriMo and three weeks in to November, I hit the 50,000-word target. I won't lie; I went hell for leather on the writing front. I was so nervous about how it would...
Welcome to Friday Fiction. Today, guest author Pamela Thibodeaux provides an extract from her book, A Hero for Jessica. The link is open, as usual, for you to add your own work and read and comment on others'. He arose as usual on Saturday morning at five-thirty and...
Millet is a collective term for a number of small, seeded grains of the Poaceaoe Grass family. Thought to have been cultivated from as early as 8300 BC, this drought-resistant crop is the sixth most important grain in the world. The main types of millet grown are...
I'm in the middle of writing a novel for NaNoWrimo and so I haven't done any other fiction work this month. My novel in progress was sent to an editor before I started this challenge and so it was good to be able to put it to one side for a while and get on with...
Welcome to Friday Fiction and thanks for stopping by. If you want to read some fiction, share some work, get help with something you are working on, meet new people, you have come to the right place. You will find a blue frog at the bottom of this post. Click on this...
Sorghum is an ancient cereal grain that was first cultivated around 8,000 years ago in Southern Egypt. Grown widely in the USA, Africa and parts of Asia, Sorghum’s natural ability to tolerate drought makes it the fifth most important cereal crop in the world. In the...
You may recall that I recently wrote a post about whether I should sign up for national novel writing month. Well, in case you were wondering(!), I did sign up and ten days in to November, I have 30,000 words written. I got off to a flying start last weekend. My...
I'm delighted to have guest author, Emily Organ sharing an extract from her book The Last Day, for Friday Fiction this week. The link is open as usual, for you to share your own work, comment on others' and hopefully gain some feedback and ideas. George walked towards...
You may recall some time ago that I had a series of disasters when I started to make my own gluten free bread. I thought it would be easy - just throw it all in the bread maker and let it work its magic. Boy was I wrong. I set about discovering what worked and didn't...
The answer to this question is not so straightforward. Fiction covers a wide variety of genres and so there are books to cater for all needs. I like easy-to-read and light-hearted novels, with the odd mystery story thrown in. I read at night, by which time I am...