A couple of weeks ago, my blog quietly celebrated its first birthday. It was all very under-the-radar, I didn’t even put up a post to mark the occasion. To be honest, the only reason I knew it was coming up was because I received an invoice for the renewal fee. And that got me thinking…
Calling Time
Excitement here as one of my short stories, Calling Time, has been published on WORDLY Online. WORDLY Online (and its print counterpart WORDLY Magazine) is a literature publication of Deakin University. The publication includes everything from short fiction (like sci-fi piece Orb of Desecration), creative non-fiction (such as Eilean Donan which blends personal essay and…
Mickey’s parents
Shocked and repulsed by my expression of love your virtue pervades the air like tea steeped too long always you tried to contain me in the same blue box where you live your life your neat little frock and neat little face hiding the big black pool of nothingness that exists inside you aren’t my…
.— ..- … – / – …. . / .–. ..- -. -.-. – ..- .- – .. — -. / -.–. -.. ..- …. -.–.-
You may have noticed that I’m not posting much at the moment. Or maybe you haven’t. It’s cool either way. You’ll always be welcome here. 🙂 Anyway, I thought I’d drop in to let you know that the reason I haven’t been around much (actually, there’s more than one reason, but that’s something for another…
The stories we tell ourselves
When I wrote this piece, I was questioning the idea that our experiences make us who we are; a belief that had, until then, provided me with both justification and reassurance. I’d come across the work of Kahneman who suggests that it is not an experience per se that we remember; what we remember is…
All in the name of research
I’d have to say that one of the best things about being a writer is that you can justify anything under the guise of ‘research’. Okay, maybe you can’t justify anything anything, but you can pretty much justify most things. As long as it isn’t illegal. Or immoral. Or bad taste. But everything other than…
Rarely linear, sometimes chaotic, always meaningful
One of my dear writing friends wrote to me recently, saying that she thought she shouldn’t be blogging because she felt that her semi-regular posts which touched on a range of topics made it look as though she had five personalities. ‘Your posts don’t strike me as being inconsistent at all,’ I reassured her. ‘If…
The Sometimes Diary of Nina Thirkettle
Tuesday 24 May Forgive me, Diary, for I have not written for many weeks now. If you could have the good grace to grant me some absolution or whatever it is that you diary types are empowered to bestow, I would be much obliged forever in your debt less inclined to throw you in the…
Beauty
Look. Do you see? There in the lengthening shadows, in the dappled light kissing the roses. There, where each petal caresses the next. There. Look. You will see.
Multifaceted, not multiple
Interviewer: Great to have your here to talk about what it means to have multiple online identities. Me: Absolutely. Except, of course, that I don’t buy into the idea of multiple identities. Interviewer: Okay. Can you elaborate? Me: Well, I play many different roles in my life. And even though I give myself wholeheartedly to…
Perception
He sees scorched earth, blackened stumps, ashen remains; reminders of generations lost. She sees tender shoots emerging defiantly, whispering of resilience and renewal. Perception is all. Images Main image is Grey Box by km lambert. Blackened by bushfire or burnoff by Fairy Duff is marked with CC PDM 1.0. Eye is from the Pexels image…
Still I survive
You pulled my strings lured me in tasted me, tested me and satisfied I was pliable you smothered my brightness broke my spirit feasted on my heart. Still I survive. I wrote this for Day 7 of Writers Victoria’s Flash Fiction Comp. Prompt word was ‘bright’. Reproduced here with a sneaky 31st word.
The pseudonymous Elena Ferrante
I recently delved into the ‘unveiling’ of pseudonymous author Elena Ferrante and the impact the revelation had on reviewers and readers alike. Perhaps not surprisingly it’s got me thinking about pseudonyms on social media but more on that coming soon. Claudio Gatti’s proclamation in 2016 that pseudonymous author Elena Ferrante was, in fact, Anita Raja,…
The long and the short of it
Here are the wee stories I’ve written for the first five days of Writers Victoria’s Flash Fiction comp. Initially, my intention was to use it as an exercise to pull together some juicy sentences that I could expand on down the track. Then the working week started, reality hit and despite only needed to come…
Running late
She ran her hands down her thighs, trying to smooth the creases in her suit trousers. She’d have to go as she was; there was no time to change now. I’m gearing up for Writer’s Victoria Flash Fiction competition running for the month of April. If you like writing flash fiction, prompts will be released…
Growing old as an art form
You may recall that one of my summer reads was The Luminous Solution: Creativity, resilience and the inner life by Charlotte Wood. In the book, Wood shares work that she has written – and rewritten – over many years in her pursuit of understanding other people’s creative lives. Her astute observations about not only her…
It’s in the way that you use it …
Spoiler alert – I’ve tried to be careful with what I’ve posted here, but if you haven’t seen or read The Circle and you think you might like to, I’d strongly recommend that you look away now. This week in one of my classes, we were tasked with thinking about the portrayal of social media…
The Sometimes Diary of Nina Thirkettle
Saturday, 12 March Okay, it’s official. I am a ‘grumpy old woman’. Maybe not technically in years and all that but I embody her spirit with a degree of fervour that I didn’t realise was in me. Was at the sports store – desperately need a new pair of running shoes as I now have…
You don’t have to shout to be heard
If I wrote about me—my thoughts, my fears—who would I be? What would my voice sound like? Would I sound old? Scared? Interesting? Just a little bit crazy? What would I write? Is long-form the way to go? Could I sustain reader interest, let alone my own? When I hear the story in my head…
Day 28. Tick.
Today marks the final day in my ‘post everyday for a month’ challenge. While I have absolutely enjoyed pushing myself to get something up each day, I’ll happily admit to finding the schedule rather brutal. It’d be fair to say that I’m not unhappy to have the pressure off for a little bit. To those…
My favourite street art
It’s festival season where I live – my absolute favourite time of the year. The city is vibrating to the thrum of theatre, film, visual arts, comedy, street performers, world music, artisan markets, forums, a week-long writer’s festival, and a celebration of food and wine, all with a backdrop of gorgeous summer evenings. Out and…
A literature clock … literally
This is one of the coolest things I’ve discovered lately and it’s all thanks to Jane Friedman and her Electric Speed newsletter. If you are not already signed up for her newsletter DO IT NOW. Each edition of Jane’s newsletter is packed full of useful information relating to the publishing world and writing generally. And…
I’m sorry wind, but I’m just not that into you
I don’t like the wind. It makes me agitated and unsettled. I think maybe it’s because my body struggles to settle into its own rhythm amid the noise and chaos of a windy day. Everyone in my family feels the same. Anytime we’ve ranked the weather elements on a likeability scale (yes, I have the…
Writing yourself into the story
I expect there’s more writing rules and pieces of writing advice out there in the world than there are writers. So, figuring out what works for you can be a bit of a trial-and-error process. As someone who spends most of my day in the business writing space, I’m still trying to figure out how…
I’m just going to start here …
I was rummaging around in my drafts folder this morning and found this snippet that I’d scribbled down at some point. Unfortunately, I left myself no clues as to what ending I had in mind – or even if I had an ending in mind – so I guess this is a teaser until the…
The Sometimes Diary of Nina Thirkettle
Tuesday, 22 February Today I had one of those weird-arse out-of-body experiences. One of those ones where you feel completely inside, yet completely outside of your body at the same time. I was both genesis of and unknowing witness to everything I did and said. Every sensation, every stimulation, was amplified, as though I was…
The man
His eyebrows sit neatly between the boundaries set for them. They are so striking in their symmetry that at first you don’t see the way his left eyebrow arches slightly higher than his right. How it lifts even higher as he enquires as to your health. How his lips disappear into his mouth as he…
Hen and chicks
My first Hen and Chicks was given to me by a relative after I complimented them on how wonderful it looked growing in their perfectly manicured garden. Despite their assurances that it was ‘very hardy’ and ‘anyone can grow it’, I left their house wondering if I would be able to keep their little gift…
A sense of occasion
In a previous post, I wrote about not being much of a photo taker and that my favourite photos are the imperfect ones; the ones that capture life as it unfolds, rather than life working to a script. In today’s world of the camera phone, it can be hard to remember there was a time…
Collaborative consumption
This morning I went down to my local bookshop to pick up a copy of What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers. The book was first published some years ago, but like many things, I’m only getting to it now. The reason I’m getting to it now…
We spend our lives not seeing what we saw
It’s writing exercise time, again! This time the task was to use the prompt We spend our lives not seeing what we saw to draft three micro pieces – some poetry, some fiction, and a personal response. As always, I did these under time pressure and with the understanding that exercise of any kind isn’t…
The Sometimes Diary of Nina Thirkettle
Wednesday, 16 February I wonder, sometimes, about what type of person I’d be if there was someone watching me all the time. A shadow that I could never escape from. Somebody who was there silently scrutinising my every move, my every action, my every inaction! Would I be a nicer person? Would I give money…
Does the kettle *really* have emphysema?
‘Why did you call your blog The Kettle has Emphysema?’ no-one asked me ever. In the absence of any data, I can only assume that this means one of three things. It’s obvious why No one is curious (translation = no one cares) The one person who is curious just hasn’t got around to asking…
For the (photo) record
I don’t take many photos. It doesn’t matter if I’m at a family wedding, catching up with friends I don’t see very often, or on some amazing travel adventure (remember them?); you just won’t find me behind the lens. Lately I’ve been thinking about why this is. The best reason I can come up with…
Just because …
Because it is Sunday. Because it makes me smile. Because Tillandsia is such nice word to say. Because a friend and I have been talking about our house plants. Because I said I would post everyday in February and I have nothing else to offer right now. Just because.
Calling Time
I’m currently working on a short story called Calling Time about a woman caring for her ill mother. Underlying the love the woman has for her mother, there is a real sense of exhaustion and a ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do this’ feeling. In the excerpt below, she wakes after a…
My Grandmother’s Teapot
This was my Grandmother’s teapot. I can’t recall ever going to to her house and not seeing this little teapot sitting on the kitchen table, alongside her tannin stained teacup. As was the custom among her generation, she always used tea leaves and she always, always, steeped her tea way too long for anyone of…
Drawing energy from others (or a few of my blog discoveries)
As a newcomer to the blogosphere, I’ve been blown away by the willingness of established bloggers to visit my site and to leave me a ‘like’. Along with the warm fuzzy feeling this gives me, the other rather awesome benefit is that it has introduced me to some interesting/informative/fun blogs that I might not have…
Playing with perspectives: The girl in the hood
I’m not sure about you folks, but when I start a story, I usually have a clear idea of what POV it should be from, then invariably I get part way through and wonder if a different POV would tell the story better. Despite thinking about this a lot, I have to say that I…
The Sometimes Diary of Nina Thirkettle
Tuesday, 8 Feb Went running today. The old guy that looks like a skinny Santa passed me as we were going up a hill. I guess it wasn’t really a hill hill, but it wasn’t flat either and he made it look like it was actually nothing at all. I don’t have runner’s legs. There…
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