It's Festival Time!

June 7, 2018
Trust me to get my timing all wrong. At long last my play, Antarctica, is performed again, and where am I? No, not in the theatre. It was chosen for the final night of The Playhouse Theatre's One-Act Play Festival in Northampton, which featured nine plays altogether. Apparently, it was very well-received and the team involved in the performance enjoyed it, and that's the main thing. As it's been recorded, I will eventually be able to see it for myself, even if I missed out on the atmosphere of the night.
    Something else I missed was Delapré Abbey's book festival, which ran throughout the late May Bank Holiday weekend. Writers of many genres gave talks, workshops and readings, which I'm sure made it fascinating for anyone involved in the production, sale or consumption of books. I hope this is going to be an annual event, and that next year I'll be able to take part in some way, even if it's only making up part of the audience.
    Delapré's festival clashed with the biggie at Hay-on-Wye, but this is the season for festivals, so it's hard to avoid clashing with someone. Here's a round-up of a few others that are within striking distance of me, but will be well worth a look even if you have to travel a little further.

* Kibworth Book Festival - Leicestershire - throughout June
* Buckingham Literary Festival - The Radcliffe Centre, Buckingham - 14th - 17th June
* Greenwich Book Festival - Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich - 15th and 16th June
* BeaconLit - The Beacon Villages Festival of Books and Writing - Brookmead School, High Street, Ivinghoe, Bucks - 14th July
* Latitude - Henham Park, Suffolk - 12th - 15th July
* Cliveden Literary Festival - Cliveden House, Bucks - 29th and 30th September
* Althorp Literary Festival - The Stables, Althorp House, Northampton - 5th - 7th October

Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon 

 

Whoopee!

April 15, 2018
In fact, triple whoopee! I can at last put an end to Ro going around in circles, and get her on the road again in The Exiles of Ondd III. I know, I've said this before–more than once–but this time she's actually broken free. That won't mean a lot to anyone who hasn't read Discord's Child or Discord's Apprentice, but for anyone who has, and is beginning to get tired of waiting to find out what happens next, this is good news. I'm so relieved I could dance around the room, but I won't–pro...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon 

 

Dangerous Words

March 25, 2018
What are the world's most dangerous books? My vote goes to dictionaries. My reason isn't that they give you the means to express ideas persuasively, to pretend to a background or education you don't possess, or to understand people and ideas that would otherwise remain mysteries. The most dangerous thing about dictionaries is the way they steal your time.
    You innocently pick up a dictionary to look up a word that's been on the tip of your tongue, but before you find it, your eye is caught ...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Take Note

March 20, 2018
Some places still have snow, but as far as the birds and the daffodils around here are concerned, it's already spring. In fact, when the sun's out, it feels like spring to me as well. My advice to anyone venturing outside to see whether the birds and daffodils are right, is to take a notepad with you. This is a time of year that tends to stir inspiration, and it's a time of change. Without a notepad you risk forgetting the ideas and sensations around you.
    You can record things on your phon...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

Mother's Day Verse

March 11, 2018
In the UK, it's Mothering Sunday. This is the day when everyone is supposed to worship at their mother church, which is their parish church, or where they were baptised. Traditionally, people in service were allowed a day off to go home, and their mothers baked them a cake! Somehow the day has now become joined with Mother's Day, which was invented in the US to commemorate mothers and the hardship they suffered during the American Civil War, and takes place there in May.
    However it started...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Warm Wishes on a Cold Day

March 6, 2018
We're lucky where I live, we rarely get the extreme weather that's suffered in other parts of the country, but even here there have been a few inches of snow in the past few days–enough to persuade most people that they'd rather stay indoors.
    Snow can be magical, but it can also give everyday things a feeling of unreality. This got me thinking about how snow and cold affect the senses; how they change the light–especially at night, how sounds can seem muffled or echo, the way the air ...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

Living Language

February 26, 2018
A few days ago, I finished reading a book called Mother Tongue: The English Language by Bill Bryson. A linguistics study of the English language and the foreign, social and cultural influences on it might not sound much of a page-turner, but I found it fascinating.
    There are many facts in it with which to dumbfound your friends at parties, such as how many different ways William Shakespeare spelled his name, but to my mind, what is most interesting is how English has always evolved and ada...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Linguistics 

 

Hairy Heroes

February 20, 2018
Dogs have always played an important role in literature, and as the Chinese Year of the Dog has just begun, what better time to look at canine characters?
    Without his faithful hound, Argos, to recognise him, who would have believed that Odysseus had finally returned in Homer's The Odyssey? The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, without a big black dog, wouldn't have left Sherlock Holmes with much to investigate. Every age group and genre of literature from See Spot Run by...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

For the Love of Pancakes

February 14, 2018
When was the last time Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Day, was followed by St Valentine's Day? I can't remember if it's happened before. It probably isn't a problem for pancake lovers–sweet or savoury, they're free to indulge themselves, but for sweethearts it could mean some difficult choices. That's because the day after Shrove Tuesday is also Ash Wednesday i.e. the first day of Lent. If your loved one is giving up chocolate, cake or alcohol, what are you going to give them to...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Think Before You Click

February 8, 2018
Those who were born before the millennium might remember a time before computers adorned every desk, even word processors were a rarity, and electric typewriters were the serious writer's best friend. Actually, that's wrong–Tippex was a writer's best friend. More than three mistakes on a page–tippexed or not–and you were advised to start again. Worse still, because you couldn't save your files in umpteen different places or print off a pristine copy whenever you needed it, you had to ma...
Continue reading...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 
« Newer posts
Older posts »
 

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.

Make a free website with Yola