Adapt and Overcome

May 17, 2016
Last time, I wrote that I would celebrate the anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth and death by writing a sonnet inspired in some way by the Bard. Rash promise! Once again, real life intervened, and I've spent much of the last few weeks sitting beside my elderly mother's hospital bed. She's slept through most of it and she isn't in any imminent danger, apart from being old, so I found myself with nothing to do. The time wasn't wasted, however. I don't feel able to concentrate properly on reading or writing in that kind of situation, but there was enough happening on the ward to supply me with characters, situations and reactions for future use.
    I hope these experiences and observations will make my writing more insightful. It might seem callous, but writers never really stop writing because their business is to capture life and turn it into words–even if they set their tales on a galaxy far, far away or have their characters threatened by creeping green goo. That's my excuse anyway. It isn't a bad way to sort out how you feel about things either.
    Between hospital visits, I've been able to check out Third Flatiron's new anthology, Hyperpowers, which has my story, 'Alien Dreams' in it. I'm honoured to be included in such an impressive line-up of stories. You can find it at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/630060 or http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EBBVCZK priced $3.99. A print version is due out soon. Take a look at http://www.thirdflatiron.com to find out more about this and Third Flatiron's other projects.
    By the way, if you're quick and unlike me, you have written a sonnet inspired by one of Shakespeare's, you can enter it in a FREE competition, closing on 31st May. Go to the Writers & Artists website for details.
 

Not Bard Work

April 20, 2016
You might have heard this already: on 23rd April it will be 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare, arguably England's or even the world's greatest playwright and poet. It seems everyone in the arts world or who is interested in it will be doing something to celebrate. I don't want to be the exception, so what am I going to do?
    The most obvious and easiest thing would be to go and see one of Shakespeare's plays or read some of his poetry but, let's face it, I can do that at any ...
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Alien Dreams in Third Flatiron Anthology

April 5, 2016
Do you like Science Fiction and other speculative genres? Yes? Then put 16th May in your diary. That's the day when Third Flatiron Anthologies' Hyperpowers issue goes live at http://www.thirdflatiron.com. My story, 'Alien Dreams' will be in it alongside 15 other stories chosen by guest editor Bascomb James, a respected author, lecturer and editor of Far Orbit anthologies. The hyperpowers theme covers space opera and military science fiction, so readers can look forward to tales that push the ...
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Give Yourself a Break

March 28, 2016
Research has once again show what writers have instinctively known for years–letting your mind wander and spending a few minutes skiving can make you more productive.
    One of the latest surveys to hit the headlines is that for the National Bureau of Economic Research. It confirms previous studies, such as that by the University of Melbourne in 2011, that workers who mentally play truant to surf the web or daydream for up to 20 per cent of the time, become up to nine per cent more product...
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Shows Promise

March 22, 2016
Sometimes I think life would have been so much easier if I'd been an overnight success. Some writers have their first novel taken up by an agent and soon rival publishers are fighting each other to offer the highest advance. Before long, they're on the bestseller lists, being feted by the media and doing a deal for the film rights. Undoubtedly, it does happen–rarely.
    Most 'overnight' successes have served a long apprenticeship in one way or another. They might have studied a degree or t...
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Connecting

March 15, 2016
Last week I responded to a request on a writers' forum for people to relate the catalyst that inspired a novel. I wrote about the incident that eventually led to Monkey-tail, which is awaiting a rewrite. I was on holiday with my husband in Cornwall when we saw a man fishing without a rod in the sea from the rocks. He constantly cast and drew in the line, so that my husband said he looked as if he was conducting the sea. I was rewarded for the tale by someone sending me a poem by William Carlo...
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As One Door Opens...

March 6, 2016
Would you rather have the good news or the bad news first? The good news. Right, here it is. Smashwords is holding its seventh annual Read an Ebook Week from today until 12th March 2016, and my books are all enrolled in it. That means you can get Discord's Child FREE (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/410566) and Discord's Apprentice (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542490) and Artists and Liars (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/322872) for half price. All you have to do is go to ...
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Yippee!

March 2, 2016
It took more hours than I care to admit and my jaw still aches from gritting my teeth, but I've done it! I've fought my way through a first draft of the story that didn't want to be written. It isn't fit for anyone else to read at present, but at least I have something I can work on and shape. If I had given up, I'd have nothing. Sometimes all you can do is plod on.
    When you're struggling through a patch when it's tough to find the right words–or any words, for that matter–it's all too...
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Avoidance Tactics

February 22, 2016
There's a story I want to write. I know the plot, I know the main sequence of events and necessary scenes, I know the characters and I have a deadline. I want to write it, really I do. So why do I have this urge to turn on the television? It will only irritate me and I know I won't write if it's on. Perhaps I should make another cup of coffee or check my emails again or do the ironing first, so the knowledge that a pile of crumpled laundry is waiting for me won't put me off. I even started wr...
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To Cut, or Not to Cut

February 15, 2016
Editing your own work is one of the hardest parts of writing. The trouble is, you know the story, so it's hard to tell whether you've given the reader insufficient detail or too much. Asking someone else to read it is always a good idea–preferably more than one person. Failing that, put it aside for a few weeks, if possible, so you can come back to it fresh.
    There are various 'rules' to stop your work being slow, which is usually taken to mean 'boring'. Generally, writers are told to cut...
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About Me


My writing career began as a freelance feature writer for the local press, businesses and organisations. Now a prize-winning playwright and short story writer, my work has appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic. I write as K. S. Dearsley because it saves having to keep repeating my forename, and specialise in fantasy and other speculative genres.

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