“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.”

Vladimir Nabokov.

"Nobody is a villain in their own story. We're all the heroes of our own stories."

George R. R. Martin

"It is the writer who might catch the imagination of young people, and plant a seed that will flower and come to fruition."

Isaac Asimov  

“Every word a woman writes changes the story of the world, revises the official version.”

Carolyn See

“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

"If you're a writer, your first duty, a duty you owe to yourself and your readers, and to your writing itself, is to become wonderful. To become the best writer you can possibly be." 

Theodora Goss

 “Write what you love. Fill your pages with the beating of your own heart, the breath from your own lungs. Live through your characters. Let your characters live through you. Then you will love what you write, and others will, too.”

Amanda Emerson

Girls’ Night In 4

2005, A Collection of Short Stories,

Various Authors.  Reviewed by Diana Jane Heath.

Penguin Books, Australia

ISBN No. 0 14 300379.8

AUS $24.95 Paperback

If you are a fan of the novels by 'chick-lit' authors Sophie Kinsella and Marian Keyes, you will be entertained by the eclectic short stories that are on offer in Girls Night In 4. This collection contains hilarious, intriguing and somewhat bizarre yarns by such notable authors as Celia Ahearn, Monica McInerney, and 'Keeping Appearances' star, Patricia Routledge. These engaging stories would appeal to anyone over the ages of 18 up to 85, who can use an opportunity to reminisce about first love, lost and won. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is suffering from terminal singleness or who have recently experienced a relationship breakup.   Although this collection is available in a hefty sizable paperback format, its compilation of bite size windows into the romantic soul is quite versatile. You could share it with a group of girlfriends, accompanied by a glass of bubbly champagne, or just snuggle up with a doona in bed alone.   The stories are unique, with a variety of subjects, from an unconventional romance on a train journey through China in Travelling Light; an angelic encounter on a New York subway in Angels do… , to a modern twist on Cupid in Caramel Kiss.  Continue reading....

THE STORM

I could smell the storm before it arrived.

A mixture of warm moisture with rich earth.

The self-assured weatherman, with bronzed skin and bright eyes,

assured me that “Bright blue sunny skies would reign supreme today!”

Certainly no chance of rain.

My keys jingled as they limply dangled from my palsied fingers.

That billowing cloud and the green eerie glow that accompanied it

was fast approaching and it did not bode well.

Continue reading