Writing prompt – change

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Judy

The lovely folks at Oh Magazine have invited me to create the following writing prompt, using their autumnal issue 56 cover by Jago Silver as a starting point.

As the seasons change, dream up a character who is dreaming of a new adventure. But first they must bid farewell to the past. For every leaf that falls from this tree, imagine the message they would write to someone they used to know – an apology, a promise or a declaration.

How have each of these people influenced the individual your character is now? What will sending those messages free them up to become?

You can subscribe to Oh magazine here.

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

Book review – Families and Other Natural Disasters by Anita Goveas

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Judy

At first glance, the five sections of Anita Goveas’ collection appear elemental. A closer look rewards with the dawning understanding that the categories are types of natural disaster, with the final two a little more tongue in cheek. Fire, Water, Wind, Love and Families each warn of the emotions contained within, or, more, likely, poised to spill over.

The opening sentence of a collection is crucial in setting the tone for what’s to come. Goveas does this fearlessly, dropping into our laps the unflinching line: “There’s an ancient prophesy that you’ll die by volcano.” What Really Gets You Is the Rising Heat is a story that speaks of the expectations we fight against to forge our own path, even if that does turn out to be directly to the same volcano’s mouth our parents marked for us.

The titles form a poetry of their own, with the second tale warning us from the off that A Pilgrimage Can Be One Way, before enfolding us in ‘packing’ and ‘to do’ lists that contain humour, love and heartache within deftly rendered brevity. It’s the kind of hermit crab flash that hints at tireless hours of crafting.

Continue reading →

Sky Light Rain – Far From the Farm

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Judy

We’re now well over a third of the way through my series of posts offering insights into my writing process and sharing the inspiration behind the flash fiction and short stories that make up my Valley Press collection Sky Light Rain.

The fourteenth story is ‘Far From The Farm,’ examines what roots us, and how displaced we can feel when removed from the scenery and people we associate with home. It invites us into the world of Eilidh, a young girl from Skye coping with a new life in urban England

‘Far From The Farm’ was originally published as ‘The Creak of Snow’ in a special Scottish-themed edition of Literary Orphans.

The tale begins:

If Eilidh leans close to the bedroom window and breathes out, she can make the world beyond grow cold and fog-filled. She dapples her fingertips against the glass, creating pools of light that shine sharp and ice-bright. The sky is yellow today, swollen with clouds heavy with something chillier than rain.

It won’t snow here. This southern city would grind to a halt if a few sparse flakes fell from the sky.

That’s what Franny says, anyways. It bothers Eilidh to think of her old gran managing the farm alone, without anyone to ride the tractor with. Who’ll bound out to drag the gate open, close it again once she’s through?

Sky Light Rain is published by Valley Press and is available to purchase here.

Discover the inspiration behind my other Sky Light Rain stories by clicking on the story titles below.

If you’d like to request a review copy of Sky Light Rain or interview me about my writing, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – uninvited

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Judy

The lovely folks at Oh Magazine have asked me to create the following writing prompt, using their atmospheric issue 55 cover by Jago Silver as a leaping-off point.

This issue asks the question: What lights your fire and kindles your joy?

A group of friends gather to celebrate the anniversary of a success, but one person turns up who wasn’t invited. What reason do they have for attending? What ripples does this spread through the invited guests? Does someone have a revelation to share?

How can you pin this drama to a grain of burgeoning joy?

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

Litro literary courses

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Judy

Did you know the marvellous folks at Litro Magazine have launched an assortment of online writing classes designed to boost your confidence and ensure it’s backed up by core writing skills?

From weekly one-hour online flash fiction workshops with Litro’s Flash Friday Editor Catherine McNamara to a ‘work in progress’ course for those who have a first draft of a novel or story, are stuck halfway through, or are beginners looking to shape or develop their next piece with Gabriel Gbadamosi, there are plenty of topics and writing disciplines to choose between.

The array of writing tutors is pretty impressive – look out for courses from Inés Gregori Labarta, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and Maria Thomas, among others.

Find full details on the Litro Masterclasses website. You can also sign up for free writing tips.

Got an event, challenge, competition, new venture or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Sky Light Rain – The Moth Room

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Judy

Over the coming weeks, I’ll share a few insights into the stories that make up my collection Sky Light Rain. I’ll explore them in the order in which they appear in the book. The thirteenth story in the collection and also the first in ‘Part Two – Light’ is ‘The Moth Room’.

I wrote this flash fiction in response to a visit to the studio of artist Rose McLay, interwoven with strands of Cinderella together with a touch of moonlit iridescence. The story embraces ideas of the scant lines separating beauty and brutality.

‘The Moth Room’ was originally published in issue 21 of Gone Lawn, which describes itself as “a web journal of artistic and progressive literature.”

The tale only spans half a page and begins:

He follows her home from the ball, trailing in the pitch of her laughter. She’s taken off her shoes for dancing and runs barefoot through the ragged streets, giggles glinting in her wake.

The warehouse she leads him to is shuttered into rooms, each with its own door to unlock. Hers is labelled The Moth Room.

Sky Light Rain is published by Valley Press and is available to purchase here.

Discover the inspiration behind my other Sky Light Rain stories by clicking on the story titles below.

If you’d like to request a review copy of Sky Light Rain or interview me about my writing, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – overcoming

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Judy

The lovely folks at Oh Magazine have invited me to create the following writing prompt, using their leafy issue 54 cover by Jago Silver as a leaping-off point.

Issue 54 is all about togetherness, solitude, and how caring for others may help us through the most challenging circumstances.

Your character glimpses a person they want to connect or reconnect with – an old friend, a person they believe could help them, someone they believe they could help, or perhaps all three.

But a secret fear or guilt is holding them back. How do they overcome that negative emotion? What does their courage lead them towards?

What do they do? What are the outcomes?

You can subscribe to Oh magazine here.

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

Sky Light Rain – Strawberry Thief

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Judy

Over the coming weeks, I’ll share a few insights into the stories that make up my collection Sky Light Rain. I’ll explore them in the order in which they appear in the book. The twelfth story in the collection and also the final in Part One – Sky is ‘Strawberry Thief’.

I wrote this story especially to perform at a local literary event, Novel Nights, which was about to host an evening at a bar called The Strawberry Thief. I love writing to prompts, and this was an excellent one. I thought about the sensory pleasure of picking strawberries, and how as a child I’d eat as many as would end up in my pot for weighing.

The drowsy summer days felt like the perfect backdrop to a first love based on shared secrets, thefts, lies and discoveries.

‘Strawberry Thief’ was originally published by the deliciously named Straylight Magazine, biannual literary magazine of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

The tale begins:

The hide is empty but for herself and Jonathan. In the clearing beyond the structure, birds cavort – more species than she can name. Jonathan would know them all. He understood their code of feathers and colours in a way she’s never been able to grasp.

She reaches into the bag beside her and draws the thermos out.

The cup that sits neatly over its lid makes her pause, flooded with a memory. At the hospice, she’d crushed strawberries against its rim, fed the crimson pulp into his mouth with a teaspoon. He’d swallowed, then muttered, soft enough that she had to lean close:

“Wrong season for strawbs. Where’d you get ’em?”

Not wanting to name the shop she’d bought them from, where they nestled in the fridge alongside own-brand sausage rolls, she smiled back and said: “The pick-your-own. Remember?”

That lie had seemed worth it for the brief lessening of the pain she saw in his mud-brown eyes. She popped one of the berries into her own mouth, chewing fast. It was cold against her tongue, and lacked the burst of sweetness she craved, but its flavour connected her to the moment, to him.

Sky Light Rain is published by Valley Press and is available to purchase here.

Discover the inspiration behind my other Sky Light Rain stories by clicking on the story titles below.

If you’d like to request a review copy of Sky Light Rain or interview me about my writing, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – decisions

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Judy

The lovely folks at Oh Magazine have invited me to create the following writing prompt, using their atmospheric issue 53 cover by Jago Silver as a leaping-off point.

Issue 53 focuses on how one moment in time may result in a ripple effect that changes everything.

Your character has a decision to make. One choice will keep everything in their life exactly the same, or even make things slightly worse, but change the life of a stranger for the better. The other will improve everything in their own life, but make the stranger’s worse – in small or large ways.

What do they do? What are the outcomes?

Your characters are free to change their mind. What happens if they do?

You can subscribe to Oh magazine here.

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

Sky Light Rain – Paper Flowers

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Judy

Over the coming weeks, I’ll share a few insights into the stories that make up my collection Sky Light Rain. I’ll explore them in the order in which they appear in the book. The eleventh story in the collection is ‘Paper Flowers’.

As you may have noticed, I draw a lot of inspiration from my travels. This one sprang from a visit to Mount Isola, Lake Iseo, courtesy of Brescia Tourism. The traditional craft I describe in the tale, of making thousands of paper flowers for the Santa Croce festival that takes place every five years.

I wondered what it would be like to live there as an outsider, and dreamt up Julia, a woman who’d intended only to pass by on holiday, but fell in love with the setting and a man who later died. Now her daughters are almost grown, and she’s wondering what she can do to keep them with her in this place where time seems to hold its breath, or whether she even should.

An earlier version, published by The Island Review, I used the first person perspective, but at my Valley Press editor’s urging, I changed it to the third person.

The tale begins:

Julia hands the yellow felt-tip to Chiara, half watching as she adds a few dots of ochre-yellow to the heart of a paper lily: pollen that will never billow free.

“What’s wrong, ha?” Chiara asks, focused on her task. “You’ve been almost silent since you arrived.”

Julia shrugs, trying to smile, but Chiara re-caps the pen, flicks her eyes towards the younger woman, insistent.

“Bianca…” Julia admits, and she snorts.

“Of course, Bianca. What’s her trouble now?” Chiara’s own daughters are grown up, married off, safe. Julia’s eldest is fifteen, that most lethal of ages, when everything wants to devour her, and she seems hellbent on devouring everything.

“There’s a boy…”

Chiara hoots. “When isn’t there?” She snips the petals of a tulip a little more roughly than intended, tsks, and tidies the ragged crepe edges. “Who this time?”

“Not local,” Julia admits. This is what perturbs her most.

Sky Light Rain is published by Valley Press and is available to purchase here.

Discover the inspiration behind my other Sky Light Rain stories by clicking on the story titles below.

If you’d like to request a review copy of Sky Light Rain or interview me about my writing, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud (dot) com.

SkyLightRain

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Monthly Archives: September 2020

Writing prompt – change

Book review – Families and Other Natural Disasters by Anita Goveas

Sky Light Rain – Far From the Farm

Writing prompt – uninvited

Litro literary courses

Sky Light Rain – The Moth Room

Writing prompt – overcoming

Sky Light Rain – Strawberry Thief

Writing prompt – decisions

Sky Light Rain – Paper Flowers