Writing prompt – shame

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Judy

While visiting Porto in late February/early March, I was struck by the grandeur of many of the buildings set against the hardship of the people sleeping on their steps.

It’s a story you’ll see enacted in cities across the world, unless officials have moved them out of sight. During the UK lockdown, homeless people were moved into hotels temporarily, but what happens now? I’ve noticed that on the rare occasions I now meander into the city centre, more individuals are begging again, asking for any germ-laden coins I can offer.

It feels like we’ve already entered a dystopian future. Can you explore this idea with a touch of exaggeration (sadly, a touch is all that’s needed), where a ravaged society is in desperate need of a solution before the health of those on its lowest rungs are poised to infect those at the top?

Can you invent a solution leading to a happy ending to give your readers hope?

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 – Flamingos and Ham

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Judy

Ever wondered how a short story sparks into life? 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 sixteenth story is ‘Flamingos and Ham.’ This dystopian flash fiction tale could be a metaphor for 2020, but seeded in my mind when I interviewed the instigators of the Pussyhats that appeared in photos of the 2017 Women’s Marches – Krista Suh, Jayna Zweiman and Kat Coyle – for a crochet magazine. Do you recall the sea of hot pink cat-eared hats in those visuals? That was thanks to these three women.

I was inspired by how they’d taken a colour associated with women and weakness, and reclaimed it as something powerfully striking and unifying.

Imagine if the colour pink was outlawed. What infringements might come next?The story looks at how our freedoms can be eroded almost without us noticing. It was originally published in Ellipsis Zine Two.

The tale begins:

I was twelve when the ruling came in, banning certain words, colours, and clothing. It seemed farcical at first. My mum and dad laughed in disbelief as they watched the news.

“How can they outlaw pink?” Dad hooted. “What about flamingos and… and, ham?!”

Mum grimaced, clutching her crochet hook. “Why forbid hats, and yarn? What are they afraid of?”

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 – message

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Judy

I spotted this giraffe campaigning in my neighbourhood, reminding us that black lives matter just as much as everyone else. It’s, sadly, an important message in these difficult times, and feels particularly fitting coming from such a dappled creature.

Imagine if all creatures were able to have their say regarding prejudice (racism, sexism and homophobia, among others), human rights infringements, animal cruelty, the climate crisis and more. What might a blue whale want to tell us about the state of our oceans, or an orang-utan about the impact of deforestation?

Could you embark on your own searing version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm to make a clear point about the troubles we’ll face if we don’t sort ourselves out?

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.

This Too – a short story and a prize!

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Judy

I was delighted when my short story This Too was selected for publication by The Great Margin, a project set up by Paper Nations. The selection included a chance to have my story edited by the splendid Michael Loveday, who pointed out a mixed metaphor, which led to me amending a single sentence. Other than that, the story went live exactly as it had been submitted.

The story began to bubble up in summer 2019, when our garden was parched and everything felt poised by the heat for something big to happen. In my story, the ‘something’ becomes a wait for a phone call following medical tests.

Roll forward to summer 2020, and we were all on tenterhooks thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. I found myself thinking about everyone who’d had to put immune suppressing treatment on hold, and about the strain that was causing them and their loved ones. The story gained a new dimension.

I brought in the ladybird plague of 1976 because it’s something so strange and dramatic, and yet as someone who wasn’t yet born it seems to be like the stuff of folklore. I wanted to imagine that one day the Covid-19 pandemic will seem that remote and strange thanks to the passage of time. This too will pass.

This week, I have cause to celebrate the story once more as the amazing folks at Paper Nations got in touch to let me know This Too has been chosen as story of the month. I won a book voucher for the marvellous Mr B’s Emporium. Even better, they published a piece explaining all the reason’s they love my story. Aww. *blushes*.

Sky Light Rain – Breaking Up With You Burns Like Fire

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Judy

Ever wondered how a short story takes its first breath and finds life? 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 fifteenth story is ‘Breaking Up With You Burns Like Fire.’ This longer than average title leads you into a drabble – a 100-word micro fiction – about a couple carrying out a ritual to mark the end of their relationship. It was originally published by the aptly named The Drabble.

If you have any 100-word tales knocking around, I highly recommend you send it their way. One of my writing passions is compressing whole lives, relationships and break-ups into less than half a page.

My drabble popped into my head when my man and I (still vey much together) decided to hide a pair of small stone gargoyles in a local woodland. One disappeared pretty promptly, but the other lurked in a mass of ivy for months.

The tale begins:

They dressed in the dark, fumbling over bootlaces and coal-black buttons. Lucinda picked up the ceramic gargoyle Crispin had given her early in their romance. He chose the straw doll Lucinda wove for their first anniversary.

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 – 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.