Take Two

February 18, 2014
One of the great things about being a writer is that sometimes work you did a long time ago rewards you out of the blue. This week I had a request to publish my story, 'Blind Alleys', from the organisers of the Yeovil Literary Prize. It was commended in the 2012 competition, and I had thought that was that. Now, I have publication in an anthology to look forward to in the autumn. It will bring together the winners and commended entries in the short story and poetry sections of the competition from 2012 and 2013. I'll post more details as I get them. Information about this year's Yeovil prize can be found at http://www.yeovilprize.co.uk.
Meanwhile, anyone who's interested in the background to 'The Bitter Harvest' can read about it at Alfie Dog Fiction, where that story and three more are available. It involves a real-life mystery!

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

 

Composition and Composure

February 12, 2014
Last week, National Grid dug up the street where I live. Traffic drove over the footpath spreading claggy clay mud everywhere, the drill sounded like a headache and my concentration packed its bags and departed for somewhere sunny. It was time to do something to stop me making excuses and kick me into action. Luckily, I had an invitation to an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Christopher Fiddes, organised by Primrose Gallery and held at The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Museum, 78 Derngate...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

My Ideal Career

February 2, 2014
I did one of those online quizzes this week that's supposed to discover what the ideal job is for you. It's only a bit of fun, but (surprise, surprise) it turns out that the perfect career for me is as a writer. How they came to that conclusion by asking whether I preferred The Lord of the Rings or Star Trek, and whether I'd rather take food or a friend with me to a desert island I don't know. All they really needed was to ask four simple questions. Am I a control freak? (I like making my cha...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

My Four-legged Friend

January 26, 2014
Alfie Dog Fiction is my new four-legged friend. Four of my stories are now available on the site, priced 39p each. They range from literary and historical to feelgood. Here are the blurbs.
'Bare Earth'–Keen gardener, Peter, has hopes of finding a girlfriend when his new neighbours move in. He is encouraged by their reaction to his floral presents and DIY help, but it is not long before he discovers a rival.
'Between Lives'–The narrator meets Greta and her young son when she is fleeing the...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Barking Glad

January 19, 2014
Alfie Dog Fiction has just accepted four of my short stories. (See my tail wagging?) Each of them is already a prizewinner and/or previously published, but no longer in print (to my knowledge). There aren't many publishers or competitions that take previously published material, and it seemed a waste not to make them available somewhere. I could have self-published them, but feel Alfie Dog will introduce my work to a wider readership.
Alfie Dog Fiction publishes individual stories, collection...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon 

 

Short and Sweet

January 15, 2014
The chocolates might all have been eaten and the decorations have gone back in their box, but I've still been enjoying plenty of sparkle and the sweet taste of success. That's because I've received The Binnacle Ultra-shorts 10th Edition. Not only is it exciting to read my work in it, but there are 56 other works to enjoy.
My favourites are 'Hoopty Time Machine' by Christopher DeWan, which one the prize for best prose, and 'In the Parking Lot' by Wayne Scheer. Despite the 150 words restriction...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions 

 

A New Regime

January 6, 2014
Recent tests using MRI scans show that when people read novels different parts of the brain are activated according to what's happening in the book. If the protagonsit is engaged in a chase, the same parts of a reader's brain become active, as if they were also physically taking part i.e. they live the book. This comes as no surprise to those of us who like little more than to immerse ourselves in an exciting story, but it's good to have scientific proof.
Now, instead of going to a gym I shal...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Hobbitses

December 31, 2013
I went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last week. I'd love to give it five stars, but the truth is that the jury is still out, much as it was after the first film. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not read the book. Some things seem to have been changed/excluded for no good reason. Other things seem to have been added for the sake of it, and some of these were illogical. However, this is not the end of the story, and the final film might show that Peter Jackson's right an...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews 

 

More Expectations Confounded

December 22, 2013
If I wanted to watch a film that was the absolute opposite of Gravity, I found it in Philomena. There was not a 3D effect or explosion in the whole thing. What it did have were some fine performances and annoying reactions from the audience.
The problem was that many people clearly thought anything Steve Coogan says has to be funny. He not only appeared in the film but also wrote the script, which did have some witty lines and light moments. However, some people were clearly expecting Philom...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews 

 

My New Favourite Number–Eleven

December 15, 2013
This week I was privileged to be invited to give a talk about being a writer to a school reading group of around 20 11-year-olds. I alternated between excitement and terror beforehand. It's a long time since I was 11, and I was unsure of the right level at which to pitch what I said. I was also conscious that most of my audience wouldn't have met an author before and might be expecting someone far more witty and glamorous than me. If I disappointed them, I might turn them off writing forever....
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 
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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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