That nagging feeling that I needed to get on with editing my novel never left me despite an enjoyable few days away in Dublin. ‘Can I carry my laptop?’ I pleaded with my other half. ‘No. It’s a break. It will do you good. You’ve got your phone.’ ‘You know I don’t do anything beyond […]
A lesson about doctors (Trust me, I’m not a doctor) Skilbey Blogs.
Arrogant doctors have a hat they love to wear. It says, “Armed with my several years of training, how could you possibly know anything? You’re the patient!”. 1. Never listen to an arrogant doctor. They will never listen to you, the patient. 2. Arrogant doctors forget that in their vast knowledge of learning, they […]
10 Command-nots I will always observe when writing. Skilbey Blogs.
#1 I shall not go through years and years of creating the DNA aka, the building blocks of my story, submerging myself in its amoebic gestation, creating cells, arteries, blood, flesh, hair, teeth and body, creating voices, creating the spirit of my characters, years of selecting from the greys anatomy of emotional and psychological […]
The most Important lesson I’ve learned about setting up a website and blog. Skilbey Blogs
What is the most important lesson I have learned about setting up a website and blog? “Switch on the light when you enter the building.” This should have been my motto, my mantra, in the months and certainly, days leading up to launching my website last year. Can I repeat it again? “Switch on the light […]
I’m full up on hungry. Skilbey Blogs.
First, can I make it absolutely clear that if you were to take a peek through my kitchen shelves you’d see that I am not a generic-ist. Some of my very bestest tins are own brands, Tesco value, budget buys and the like. I even have a brother who hangs out with a girl who […]
Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say-Skilbey Blogs
Is an atheist aware of the meaning behind the word ‘Bye’? Sure, they know full well that, ‘bye’ is a contraction of ‘God be with ye’, that’s why they say it. We all do it, including the most pedantic of writers and speakers: the good people of the world can be guilty of casting comments […]
Can we have our cat’s bollocks back? It had their Hipster Pack in. I’ve got the receipt? Skilbey Blogs
For a long time now the tempestuous weather has been unrelentingly grim and dark with no feel-good light since God was a boy. However, now- at last- the sun is cranking its neck round to squint at itself, trying to become accustomed and adjust to its own estranged light once more. I thought at […]
Conceptual Art for you? Oui, mais non, mais oui, mais non…
The Yuk Factor: Warning: the following image revelation may repulse those of a nauseous disposition. If you think you’ll be a trifle queasy, then best not to continue reading. Yesterday, The Sunday Times Culture magazine listed one hundred artworks to love from Caravaggio to Constable to Bansky and Tracey Emin. I struggle to understand […]
And then Satan said, “Let there be a Magic Roundabout. Let it be placed in Swindon.” Skilbey Blogs.
Taking one of our daughters to a concert, the TomTom made references to the Magic Roundabout as part of its advised route. Other Half and I glanced at each other: why was it named after a 60’s children’s television programme? And if nothing to do with that, well, mushrooms were the only other thing […]
I love my ASMR. Skilbey Blogs
I love my ASMR. It stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. ASMR: The videos which claim to make their viewers ‘tingle’ – BBC News It is the pleasurable sensation one feels in response to audio, visual, tactile olfactory stimuli. A lot of people will experience it as a tingling sensation. Tingling is not how I […]
The similarities between a shop bought sandwich and Hollywood movie trailers. Skilbey Blogs.
There are glaring similarities and when I run through them you will nod your brain before your head, it’s that quick. When you enter a sandwich shop, which I don’t do very often as bread is not a favourite staple of mine, you can be certain that you will be visually assaulted with a debauched […]
Butcher ‘robbed’, gives his total blessing. Skilbey Blogs
Butcher ‘robbed’, gives his total blessing. Skilbey Blogs. Salesmen are all things to all people. Here’s banter I heard one day in my local butchers. “I’d like a leg of lamb for four.” “Got the perfect job. How about this leg, here,” “What am I doing? Feeding the five thousand?” “Get out of here. […]
Dentist revisited-was it sixth time lucky, finally? Skilbey Blogs
Well, how did my last visit to the dentist go? And the attempts to get me past the first base of just routinely numbing my gums so that a root filling could take place? If you’ve read my earlier blog, ‘Well you know what they say,“sixth time lucky”’, you’ll know my story; that I have […]
Beautiful Pembrokeshire. Skilbey Blogs
Beautiful faces of Pembrokeshire- rugged cliffs, the wind, rain- more rain, outcrops of rocks and tors and magical mist hugging hills and mountains. Ancient churches, chapels and castles. Unique coastline, secret coves, beautiful bejewelled bays and caves and lagoons. Spectacular, jaw-dropping sunsets, Cromlech stones. The mysterious, brooding Preseli mountains, safeguarding an enigmatic energy. Bedtime stars winking goodnight […]
Well, you know what they say, “sixth time lucky…” Skilbey Blogs
Er…no. No, they don’t. And I have every right to feel nervous about going to the dentist for my sixth injection. Every reason to feel worried by now. I hadn’t really geared myself up in preparation for this root canal. The first bit of dental treatment I would have had for such a long time. […]
Crimbo limbo and TV foraging : Hypnosis beyond the Arctic and It’s a Wonderful Life. Skilbey Blogs.
Crimbo limbo and TV foraging: Hypnosis beyond the Arctic and It’s a Wonderful Life What was I watching Boxing Day evening? The most relaxing, soothing documentary I have ever come across. I believe there is a name for this type of television genre: Slow TV. And it does what it says on the tin. Reindeer […]
Congratulations! You’ve just pulled…a cracker with a message not a joke, plus a party game inside. Skilbey Blogs,
You’ve pulled the Christmas Cracker and there’s a message instead of a joke, plus there’s a party game, so read on… The message: I want to be somewhere in the middle regarding Christmas. I want to have a foot in both camps and sit right on the fence, provided a pillow is available for my […]
“Remember…we choose where you end up.” Skilbey Blogs
“…be good to us, ‘cause we get to choose where you end up”, said my teen daughter pointing to an old people’s home. A sobering thought, I mused and delivered with such breathtaking ease. Aside from the shock at me being resettled in my old age so casually, I suppose I’m thinking her approach is just […]
Embrace ”number five” & light bulb writing. Skilbey Blogs
‘Number Five’? You intrigue me. No, nothing to do with a perfume house, a make-up product and definitely not large sticky ribs in a Peking sauce. And everything to do with what you can do with a pen, a note pad and imagination. Number five. Add a supermarket, a little boy, his father, and stir. Let me explain […]
Cat, dog, shooting stars, the universe and everything. Skilbey Blogs
On the twelfth night of August 2015, at about 11 pm my youngest, decided to head outside to catch sight of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Perseid meteor shower 2015 – In-The-Sky.org With the computer attached and plugged into my umbilical chord, I was otherwise distracted with writing and fine tuning one of my characters near fall […]
Welcome! And thanks for stopping by Skilbey Blogs.
“Oh, the twerks of being a writer- literary tweaking.” To use a famous philosopher’s words: “I get knocked down But I get up again..” (…Or then again, was that Chumbawamba?) Writing a novel is hard. It’s scary. On a par with having children, with slight variations. Creating a baby takes timing, similar to the Goldilocks […]
