Archive | June 2013

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#VisDare – Engraved

His stare followed me out of the room. The worst thing, I thought, was that he wasn’t angry with me. He wasn’t even sad. He’d seen it all before. That wasn’t the worst thing, of course. If I’d had the barest sliver of imagination I’d have known that there was worse to come. The enquiry […]

Not recommending Nevil Shute

By Alex Brightsmith June 29, 2013 Leave a comment

Attentive readers may have gathered that I love Nevil Shute’s writing. When I’m tired and I just want a familiar old friend to sink into for a while his books are some of the first I turn to, and yet I hardly ever recommend him. There are reasons for that, and though they’re not great […]

#Visdare – Precarious

By Alex Brightsmith June 20, 2013 5 Comments

If she had not had such beautiful ankles, I would never have noticed that Anya Fedrova touched the world lightly. It was a fine spring morning, the finest, a morning to fall in love with the world all over afresh. But being in love, already, with life, I fell in love that morning with Anya […]

My husband says I have no imagination . . .

By Alex Brightsmith June 15, 2013 Leave a comment

I thought I’d play with Storycasting.com this weekend (someone tweeted a link, but I’ve forgotten who – sorry). It’s not a natural choice for me, because I’ve never been much good at playing fantasy-casting, of my own characters or of anybody else’s, but I thought I might as well give it a shot, if only […]

Sinister

By Alex Brightsmith June 13, 2013 2 Comments

I saw her fall, and I can vouch for it that the fall, at least, was pure bad luck. Kathryn Blake has a reputation for overconfidence, and it’s not entirely undeserved, but I don’t believe that any degree of caution would have saved her from the unfortunate combination of a loose brick that looked sound […]

Odd moments of genesis

By Alex Brightsmith June 9, 2013 2 Comments

You’re all very disciplined out there. Very structured. Very ordered. I am, as ever, impressed and a little bewildered. The concept of actually sitting down and writing something in more or less the right order fascinates me, and maybe I should try it one day, but I’ve never managed to write a full outline until […]

Hello, goodbye (normal service will be resumed shortly)

By Alex Brightsmith June 1, 2013 Leave a comment

Just a flying visit this week to share an email I’ve received (don’t worry, I don’t plan on sharing every rejection I get), which was less personally discouraging than a rejection but dispiriting in its own way: So, farewell then, Espionage magazine, and better luck to the next fellow.