And the Award Goes to...

June 21, 2022
Not me, sadly. The results have been announced at last for the British Science Fiction Association Awards 2021. Discord's Shadow didn't make it onto the prizewinners' roster, but I'm not crying. Who could object to losing out to a book like Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shards of Earth? It was an honour and a thrill to find Discord's Shadow had been nominated, and makes all the doubts and hard work worthwhile.
I shall use the boost being nominated has given me to get going on some of the Exiles-related ideas I have planned, and use any spare time to polish up my acceptance speech for next time. You can find the longlist at http://www.bsfa.co.uk. I intend reading my way through as many of the the novels as I can.
Incidentally, I've just put some reviews of books I've read recently on Goodreads. The books are quite a mixture: Dead Lies Dreaming by Charles Stross; Mr. Cadmus by Peter Ackroyd and The Last Voyage of Mrs. Henry Parker by Joanna Nell. One is a dystopian caper, one is about someone suffering dementia and one is a tale of murder and misadventure. I leave it to you to discover which is which. 
Enjoy!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

New/Old Discoveries

May 26, 2022
It wasn't quite the age of steam when I started writing, but it's long enough ago for me to have used a typewriter to produce my manuscripts, including carbon copies! (Even writing that makes me feel ancient.) In some ways, computers have made life far easier: mistakes can be corrected without making a mess; you can produce a copy at a click, and can easily accommodate different formatting requirements. In addition, you save on postage and stationery. Another advantage is how much cupboard sp...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Time Travel

May 15, 2022
I recently spent a happy few days in Tudor England, reading two very different historical novels. Execution by S. J. Parris is a spy thriller cum whodunnit that weaves its way through the seedy backstreets of Elizabeth I's London and a tangle of plots and counterplots. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell imagines the life of Shakespeare and his family from when he met Agnes (Anne) Hathaway to the years following the death of his son, Hamnet.
In many ways, the two books couldn't be more different. Exec...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Creative Paralysis

April 5, 2022
I know I'm not alone in finding that rather than inspiring me, catastrophes seem to paralyse my creativity. Many people were inspired by COVID-19 to write poetry, essays, diaries and more, whereas I struggled even to find a tweet on the subject. Now, just as the worst of the disruption caused by the pandemic appears to be over, another catastrophe has emerged, with bombardment, death and grief, and I find myself without words adequate to the situation. Writing fiction feels too trivial. What ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

Happy Days

February 22, 2022
You know what it's like when you decide to have a tidy up and throw out the things that you no longer need. You end up going through everything, reminiscing or rediscovering old loves. I finally got around to sorting through my handwritten drafts and notes for the Exiles of Ondd series, and found early incarnations of the novels, several deleted scenes, characters and discarded plot lines that I really did not want to put in the recycling bin. I even found an Iyessi lullaby that I'd forgotten...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : FantasyFiction 

 

Wasting My Time?

February 7, 2022
It had been one of those mornings. I had checked the submission requirements for several publications, sorted out the pieces of work that I thought would appeal to them, and formatted them according to the instructions. I went back online and filled in the submission forms, and in each case when I clicked on submit I received a message that submissions were closed for the time being. It was all the more frustrating because putting the message at the top of the submissions page instead would h...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon 

 

It's Puzzling

January 31, 2022
My first is in puzzle, but not in quiz; my second is in bubble, but not in fizz, my third is in snappy, but not in bite; my fourth is in sunny, but not in light. What am I? Too easy? You don't have to be a literary genius to work it out, but few readers or writers can resist word puzzles. They might seem like a waste of time, but writers have a good excuse for indulging.
Crosswords are great for waking up and/or extending your vocabulary. Codewords where you are given a couple of letters on ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Too Good to Be True?

January 25, 2022
Contests can be great for writers. If your work is shortlisted you know it's of a high standard, and if it's a prize-winner both your bank balance and your reputation are likely to benefit.
Most writing contests are run by people with literary or publishing experience, some are organised by charities, and some are organised by charlatans. The latter will take your entry fee, and it's doubtful that any of the entries are ever read, let alone judged by anyone with any literary credentials, and ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions 

 

Best Regards

January 16, 2022
Pardon me, but I want to mention one last thing about Christmas before everyone starts thinking about St Valentine's Day. One of the maddest things of all the Christmas madnesses can seem like sending Christmas cards. It can feel rather pointless and simply an extra chore that people only do because it's expected of them. To be sure that the people you send cards to know that you've truly given them some thought and care, you don't have to buy big, fancy cards that will cost as much again to ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

Resolutions

January 8, 2022
I don't believe in 'em–New Year resolutions that is, mainly because I know I'll have fallen short before the end of January. However, I do have a long writing to-do list.
While I was writing the Exiles of Ondd novels, I gathered a big folder of ideas for everything from novels to essays, micro-fiction to monologues, and I want to dive into these. I'm not daft enough to think I can write them all in a year, even if I did think they were all worth it, but I should at least be able to finish s...
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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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