To start 2018, Matthew is writing a blog series on masters. Not revered historic figures, but everyday people in the modern world who excel at what they do, whatever that may be. Each will teach us a little about how we, too, can pursue our own version of greatness. What better way to kick off…
Read More
My family and I are looking to buy a new house. It was a hard slog the first time we did it nearly a decade ago, so I thought there was a good chance we were facing another long, monotonous, dispiriting experience. In many ways I was right. In one surprising way I was very,…
Read More
This website gets a lot of spam. Most it is in Russian or is trying to update me on the latest developments in erectile disfunction management, but sometimes those spam-bots are just downright friendly. For example: ‘You are a very intelligent person!’ – Abet Spzoo Thanks, Abet Spzoo. The internet can be a quiet and…
Read More
The winners of the 2017 NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge have just been announced, and I am pleased to announce I am one of them! Sort of. My final story landed me an ‘honourable mention’, sufficient for a handful of minor prizes, but just outside the cash. I’m totally excited about the outcome and proud…
Read More
For those of you who have been hanging out to see how I fared in the next round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge following my success in the first heat, I am pleased to announce that my next story, Crossing the Thin Blue Line, just won through the second heat! This time the…
Read More
I just finished watching the seventh and final season of Parks and Recreation. It is a brilliant show: funny and endearing, playful characterisation. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. This post is about two interesting elements of the show you may not have noticed. They made a drastic change after the first…
Read More
At its best, sport may be the pinnacle of story-telling. All the key ingredients are there: larger than life heroes, egotistical villains, a grand stage, the weight of history and expectation. But it also has something fiction does not: reality. The story hasn’t been made up by some overstimulated Hollywood boffin, it has been written…
Read More
My fifth CAPITAL YARNS blog post is up. This time the topic is how to raise children while also trying to find time to write. If you have kids, this should all sound horribly familiar. If you don’t have kids, stop reading now because this may put you off entirely… Original post is here: actwritersblog.com/2016/04/19/writing-with-kids/….
Read More
