2016-06-28 20:26
I spent the weekend after the British EU referendum at our house in Ireland, on the southern side of the border. I'd hoped to avoid discussing the vote entirely but it was all anyone wanted… Read More
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Dreaming In Text Blog
odyllicforce.blogspot.com
A blog about writing for children and looking after children
2016-04-30 11:55
Those who have not been following the UK political scene avidly may be surprised to learn that analysts have made a remarkable discovery about racism. There are, indeed there always have bee… Read More
2015-10-21 08:23
"When I grow up," observes Zoe, "I will be a mummy and Theo will be a daddy". I consider pointing out that it is not quite so simple, that there are adults who cannot have children, adults w… Read More
2015-09-03 08:44
I have been reading the poetry of Po Chu-i, a minor government official living in China at the end of the eighth, beginning of the ninth century. This is one of my favourites. He wrote it af… Read More
2015-07-06 15:44
My five year old grandson was running around the house last week with his four year old cousin shouting out, "Activate booster-packs!" at regular intervals and then, from time to time, "Acti… Read More
2015-01-15 21:18
I'm sorry if this doesn't accord with fashionable liberal sentiment but I thought those cartoons published in Charlie Hebdo were an unnecessary and offensive provocation. The thing is this:… Read More
2014-11-27 20:08
I've always had a problem knowing what day of the week it is. I'm not talking about just being a bit absent-minded. I really have experienced considerable difficulty with this all my life… Read More
2014-11-08 14:23
We spent last week at our house in Leitrim. I needed a break from looking after grandchildren, helping people write novels and trying to find time to write my own. I'd spent a week in which… Read More
2014-06-11 09:08
Yesterday, I had to go into hospital for an operation to repair an inguinal hernia. Today is one of the days my wife and I look after our grandchildren. My daughter emailed me to say that sh… Read More
2014-05-21 20:18
I spent last week in Ireland at our family house in Leitrim. The drive down from Belfast was wonderful, the gorse blazing away on the hillsides, the hedgerows frothing with cow parsley. Then… Read More
2013-12-04 17:08
I was in Ireland in November, driving down from Belfast to our house in North West Leitrim. Everywhere I looked the countryside was ablaze with colour – the yellow gorse flowers, the g… Read More
2013-07-26 05:40
During July and August I teach Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge. Students come from all over the world and they’re mostly pretty wealthy. Last week in a tutorial we we… Read More
2013-06-17 10:17
One of my students asked whether she should describe the ordinary house in which her character lives. She could see that somewhere exotic like a fairy kingdom needed describing but the hous… Read More
2013-06-11 08:41
At this time of year I do a certain amount of teaching. One of the things that always strikes me is the preconceptions that people bring to the courses. As one student put it when I asked hi… Read More
2013-05-15 07:56
I have had no less than five emails in the last two days from different commercial organisations to inform me that ‘the most anticipated book of the year’ is now available for pu… Read More
2013-04-01 12:50
I have been teaching some classes in Writing For Children recently and one of the things I keep noticing is how many people bring a great deal of sentimentality about children along to the… Read More
2013-03-11 12:38
Once upon a time, if I were at a party, someone might say, ‘So what do you do for a living?’ and I would say, ‘I’m a writer.’ They would look very interested an… Read More
2013-03-04 17:19
Looking after my grandchildren is sharpening my understanding of story structure. The current craze around here is Hide And Seek. It works best when I hide and they seek because they’r… Read More
2013-01-16 09:34
The other day somebody asked me to look at his manuscript. But when I agreed, he got anxious about showing it to me, worrying that I might steal his work. I was insulted, of course, because… Read More
2012-11-30 21:52
2012-11-01 22:36
I have been in Ireland for a week, in North West Leitrim to be precise, in the house my father built on the land on which he grew up. It's a modern house standing on a hill and on a clear da… Read More
2012-10-15 14:09
I'm always getting asked to look at manuscripts by people who have written a story for children and are looking for advice before sending their work off to an agent. Unfortunately, a lot… Read More
2012-08-29 18:37
I have been up since three o'clock this morning looking after my very excited and slightly apprehensive grandson while his mother went, with her husband, to the hospital to have a baby. Con… Read More
2012-08-13 13:14
I have been working on setting with my students. It's something that some of them have trouble with, particularly when the setting is a part of the contemporary built environment. Somehow i… Read More
2012-07-26 12:20
One of my students isn't very keen on dialogue. She writes beautiful vignettes composed of crystalline imagery and carefully observed detail. But absolutely no dialogue. Since it's obvious… Read More
2012-07-11 17:07
I'm currently teaching Creative Writing to a group of American students in Cambridge. It's a real delight because Cambridge is a beautiful town and the students are highly-motivated young pe… Read More
2012-06-27 11:45
I am watching a very good friend of mine trying to become a professional writer. She has a two year old child, a part-time job and she is pregnant. Demands upon her time and energy are nev… Read More
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