Category: Words
Big Brother … Big Deal?
March 16th, 2019Hack Off! My computer was recently hacked. Or so it seemed. Some nebbish with no life and in need of a hug sent me an extortionary email. It was all the more disturbing because my computer login password was in the subject line! He said if I didn’t pay him in bitcoins he’d send my… See More
Book Sex—Clean or ‘Dirty’?
March 7th, 2019Slut-Shaming the Protagonist? Women! We’ve fought long and hard to liberate our sexuality from the shackles of shame. Yet, it now seems there’s a bit of an upsurge in the return to the literary chastity belt. The bedroom door has been slammed shut. Again. ‘Clean’ romance is the amour du jour. Book sex is getting… See More
The Poetic Slicence of Plastic Surgery
October 31st, 2018My, What Big Ears You Have … I’m in awe of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park. I love their warped humour and their characters—foul-mouthed, politically incorrect bunch of yobs. I admire Stone and Parker’s ability to satirise. Apparently, I do a bang-up job of this myself, according to an Amazon Hall… See More
I’ll Show You My Mess If You Show Me Yours!
October 23rd, 2018Utter Clutter Nutter I ♥ mess. Yyeah, baby! But wait up … that doesn’t mean I’m a slob/slug/layabout/slack-arse. I’m not. It’s just that once you have kids, any sense of structure, order, and control goes down the crapper. Pre-ankle-biter days, I was anal retentive. Example: the bathroom of our very first house had a stainless-steel… See More
Why Married Chicks Crush on Fictional Characters
October 11th, 2018A Novel Thing? Hardly Do you have fictional character crushes? Do you finish a book and feel a little bereft, even if it has a happily-ever-after ending? Do you get lost in the male protagonist with his six-foot plus of hot model gorgeousness? His chiselled jawline, strong cleft chin, Cupid’s-bow lips, and brown puppy-dog eyes;… See More
Political Correctness or Man Up?
June 25th, 2018Correct Me If I’m Wrong Who the he’ll hell doesn’t love autocorrect! This software feature delivers us from the scutwork—from having to type all those pesky little words like ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘of’ or ‘or’. But it can also put a spanner in the works. A cute little story in a magazine several years ago tells of… See More
A No-Bullshit Approach to Clickbait?
May 4th, 2018Memory Lane: Closed Lately, my memory is taking too many naps. I keep forgetting stuff. It’s nothing serious … Or is it? I don’t think it’s age-related—tweenagers are complaining about the same thing—and my neurons are getting a daily superhero workout. As an author, I’m always writing. And I’m having to stretch myself to do… See More
Are You a Kick-Arse Woman in Your Own Life Story?
April 30th, 2018Meet Ms Perfect … What woman doesn’t love the quintessential female protagonist? Who doesn’t aspire to emulate a wonder woman—a fit ’n’ healthy, perfectly-sculpted chick with an hour-glass figure (but leaning towards lean), lustrous locks, flawless skin, a sense of her own self, assertive in the boardroom, a tiger in the bedroom? A gal who… See More
Dear Writers (& Everyone), Size Matters …
October 4th, 2017And How—The Bigger the Better! In the modern I‑♥‑quantity mindset, size matters. Yessiree, Bob! Gimme an L! Gimme an O! Gimme a T! Gimme an S! Gimme LOTS LOTS LOTS! In the Digital Age, the implication is that I must be okay if I have lots of whatever; the subliminal message—my worth depends on it…. See More
The Anatomy of My Weird Characters
August 29th, 2017I See Strange People Both my parents were immigrants. It was pretty much all they had in common—they lived together, but were poles apart. She was a staid walking cliché who struggled to live the Australian way; he thought he was living it because he could fart the national anthem. Dad, the patriot. She didn’t swear;… See More