The Girdle of Melian

elebrate! It's Insecure Writer's Support Group Day! Insecure Writer's Support Group A database resource site and support group for writers and authors. Featuring weekly guests and tips, a monthly blogfest gathering, a Facebook group, a book club, and thousands of links – all to benefit writers! #IWSG Website / Facebook Group / Twitter / Book Club / Reedsy Discount / Past Issues Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer...

ere's something new! Poems for the Ride "Poems for the Ride is a poetry anthology zine edited by Angel Rosen (@Axiopoeticus) and Joshua Pipkins (@PipkinsJoshua). This anthology includes poems written by people within the Amanda Palmer Patreon Community and covers the topics of life, death, grief, joy and everything in between. It features poetry from over 100 community members and reminds us that even if we're all going through something different, we're never alone. There is a poem out there for everyone." Here's the full list of contributors , including yours truly! A few weeks ago I got to take part in this! An evening with Julian Barnes And he answered my question! About whether he listens to music while writing. He doesn't! (Mostly, the question was an excuse to see if he mentioned any favourite artists or composers). I certainly can't, either. Can you listen to music while drafting a story?

ave you taken part in a quiz lately? The Tolkien Society have been running a Weekly Puzzle for 100 weeks now, and counting! I find them very tricky. Puzzle number 94 turned out to be all about the Girdle of Melian: Weekly Puzzle 94 (21-24 February) Question 1: Puck could make one in 40 minutes. Solution: We start in A Midsummer Night's Dream (act 2 scene 1), where Puck says "I'll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes." Question 2: Heard by Romeo – or was it a lark? Solution: In Romeo and Juliet act 3 scene 5, Romeo and Juliet hear a bird: JULIET Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day. It was the nightingale, and not the lark, That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear. Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree. Believe me, love, it was the nightingale. ROMEO It was the lark, the herald of the morn, No nightingale. Question 3: Tolkien's Star-Crossed Lovers. Solution: Shakespeare uses the term "Star-Cross'd Love...

ere are two ancient posts from the blog that I'm reposting!   The first features illustrator Tom Gauld : A book I've loved is cartoonist and illustrator Tom Gauld 's latest, a myriorama, inspired by the works of Laurence Sterne . "Myriorama, or 'Many Thousand Views' consist of numerous cards depicting fragments or segments of landscapes that can be arranged in a multitude of different combinations. This 'entertainment' for young ladies and gentlemen originated in France. The first English version in 1824 was a set of 16 cards which depicted Gothic ruins, castles, cottages, a lighthouse, a man fishing and a gypsy encampment. These landmarks had a backdrop of mountains with islands and a lake to add extra texture and depth. Whenever the cards were taken out and arranged upon a table, they produced a landscape of harmony which was variable, compatible and satisfying to the user without being geographically identifiable. This first myriorama see...

ello! It's Insecure Writer's Support Group Day! Insecure Writer's Support Group A database resource site and support group for writers and authors. Featuring weekly guests and tips, a monthly blogfest gathering, a Facebook group, a book club, and thousands of links – all to benefit writers! #IWSG Website / Facebook Group / Twitter  / Book Club Reedsy Discount /  Past Issues The awesome co-hosts for the May 4 posting of the IWSG are Kim Elliott,   Melissa Maygrove,   Chemist Ken,   Lee Lowery,  and  Nancy Gideon! This month's question: It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)? That's a fun question! The highest high is the sudden inspiration of a new idea, that feeling that I must put pen to paper right away before I lose it all. Drafting is also a high. Moments of synchronicity, when something I've researched or a feeling I've ha...