I don’t know why this makes me laugh so much. Dr Ruth, aged 91, on the Amanpour show. What a fantastic old lady, and what a character she would make in a short story. The geriatric sex therapist sniper. ... See more

What kind of armchair warrior are you?
Me, I like to lie on my couch watching people build cabins by hand in the Alaskan rain or snow.
Then I shout at them for being lazy when they bring in a forklift or crane to help lift the 400 kg beams. I'm a log cabin fundamentalist. ... See more

So true.

This is one of those books you never forget. Jan was 21 when her family was sent to a POW camp in Indonesia, and she was forced into being a sex slave for Japanese soldiers. It's an extraordinary piece of historical writing, and one of the first written by a so-called 'comfort woman'.
What I remember is the nuanced analysis of her experience, including how she felt guilty for being well fed while her family starved. (they needed her to remain attractive to the soldiers). She never told anyone about it until she was nearly eighty. Imagine, carrying that awfulness of repeated, ongoing daily rape, day after day, year after year, and never putting the burden down.
The kind of book you keep and reread.
https://www.amazon.com/50-Years-Silence-Jan-Ruff-OHerne/dp/1743108532 ... See more

Grit: you can't be a writer without it. And the more stickability you can develop, the easier your journey will be.
I was blown away by the superhuman grit shown by Tommy Caldwell in this movie on Netflix. Watch it - he's an inspiration. https://www.facebook.com/1tommycaldwell/videos/265912450906933/ ... See more

I’ve signed up for Samantha van Riet’s illustration course so I can explore free motion machine embroidery as an illustration technique.
I find drawing hard - difficult to switch off my critical left brain - so I’m going to try loads of self kindness and see if it gets me through the hump.
Here’s a bunny I doodled with dip pen and ink. The story is already written - it featured a cat, but this bunny speaks to me and there’s no reason why a rabbit can’t use a laptop as efficiently as a cat. ... See more

This looks like a great idea - a free course on illustrating natural history.

This looks good. I’m going to check it out tomorrow.

Michael Rosen telling it like it is.