Tag Archives: fiction

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Fiction: Born Out of a Storm (Episode 1)

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Welcome to my first attempt at a recording of one of my stories. This one is actually a story within a story. It has been lifted out of a longer piece that I hope might one day become a book.

I have broken it down into three segments of approximately 20 minutes each. Over the next few days I’ll post both the audio, and the text, of each section as I complete them.

This story within a story is set in Africa, and is entitled Born out of a Storm. In it a wedding party is trapped by an unexpected cyclone in the lodge where they are celebrating. Some of the party have sheltered in the battered billiard room. A firedrum, lifted off the wet floor, and on to a pile of old tiles, gives off a little heat and light in one corner. We see the events unfold through the eyes of Rudd, the young manager. Tendai is his assistant.

(In the audio version below thunder marks the beginning and end of the episode.)

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Free writing: here’s what I wrote

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Spring in London – 6 April 2020

Hello from London where the streets are quiet – no sirens, no laughter, just lonely telephone calls taking their exercise in the sunshine. No shortage of sunshine either, soft and fresh, with a moon that gets bigger each night.

We’re all still indoors, households everywhere living separate ways of life, but hearing each other more loudly. It’s disconcerting – we’re together but apart, each of us caught up in new ways and in not knowing what’s next, while every day the media is full of trauma and courage.

Routine, they say – that’s what we need – so I do still try to get to my desk, to remind myself about the book I’m trying to write. The biggest help is the free writing sessions we do each week.

Last week we had a few more creative prompts from Saraswathi Sukumar. These ones really got me thinking. They weren’t the easiest to write but that can be helpful, and my responses, exactly as they were written, are below. Hope they’ll entertain, and may even inspire you to have a go.

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Free writing: the words we doodled

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In memory of a great friend and in honour of Shadow – even though not the Shadow.

Hello wherever you are,

Not so warm in London today. There are patches of sun, then northerly winds full of rain gust in. It’s cold, ruffly weather. Earlier I saw two police horses clip clopping slowly down the street … not bothered by the wind, but I’m sure they must love the lack of traffic.

Anyway … to the free writing, and a guest appearance on The Phraser – a piece that gives my writing soul great pleasure.

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