As Mercy is a nominee for the best World Fantasy Award for a collection, it has recently been reviewed here:- http://www.risingshadow.net/articles/512-a-review-of-rebecca-lloyd-s-mercy-and-other-stories
Strong-hearted stories, dark & funny
Category Archives: BOOKS
SHARKS, PILOT FISH AND AN OCEAN OF PLASTIC RUBBISH
Fiona O’Connor has written this spot-on article about the publishing industry as it is today, and although parts of it require extra careful reading, what she has written is essentially and horribly true. The article reads like a horror story in which she writes about the huge conglomerate publishing houses, their hideous array of literary… Continue Reading
Searching for my next story.
Searching for the next story for my new collection, I decided to look through all my old writer’s note books to see if something I’d seen, thought about, described, would trigger a story idea off. I came across the following notes from about ten years ago concerning an elderly and terrifying woman I knew briefly… Continue Reading
FANNY BURNEY AND SAMUEL JOHNSON.
I finished my last story set in 1909,for my new collection, and am now onto the next one. For this, I have to research certain social habits and constraints around 1750, and discovered Fanny Burney in the process. I’m reading her diaries to get a sense of how people thought and the style of language… Continue Reading
QUANTEPHOBIA
Having recognised my quantephobia, at least having acknowledged that it has a name, I have decided not to deliberately put myself in situations in which I suspect that ‘aggressive questioners’ will be roaming about. Just in the last two days, I’ve been in social gatherings in which I’ve had to face up to active questioners.… Continue Reading
The Apparition of his Departed Wife was altogether of the Terrifick Kind.
In 1751 Johnson was still compiling his dictionary while continuing to work on the Rambler periodicals. At the same time he wrote a preface to a book written by William Lauder in which Milton is accused of plagiary. Boswell reasons that Johnson can’t have known anything about this alleged stealing of material. More importantly, a… Continue Reading
‘I HAVE NEVER BEEN MUCH A FAVOURITE OF THE PUBLICK.’
So, Johnson embarked on his periodical the ‘Rambler’ and produced twelve editions. Boswell makes the observation that ‘As the Rambler was entirely the work of one man, there was, of course, such a uniformity in its texture, as very much to exclude the charm of variety; and the grave and often solemn cast of thinking,… Continue Reading
Johnson’s play ‘Irene’ is finally staged and goes badly.
In the last blog I mentioned Dr. Johnson’s play ‘Irene’ that his friend Garrick offered to stage for him at the Drury Lane theatre in 1749, and how Johnson fought against Garrick’s suggestions for editing and then gave in reluctantly. Boswell tells us that ‘On occasion of this play being brought upon the stage, Johnson… Continue Reading
Tossing his Hands and Kicking his Heels.
Working with six other men of letters, Johnson began compiling his ‘Dictionary of the English Language,’ the first preparations for this huge undertaking beginning in 1747. While Johnson wrote pamphlets, tried to write a stage play, wrote essays and lyrical poems and was a fairly constant contributor to ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine,’ run by Edward Cave,… Continue Reading
What happened to Tetty who was once so loved by Dr Johnson?
In my last post I was writing about the relationship between Johnson and Richard Savage that puzzled people as much at the time as it does today. Boswell mentions John Hawkins opinion that Johnson, ‘‘being an admirer of genteel manners, was captivated by the address and demeanour of Savage, who as to his exterior, was… Continue Reading
