Not all the people we once thought philanthropists stand up under scrutiny. One that may is Raja Ram Mohan Roy, (also written as Rajah Rammohun  Roy, Rammohan Roy, or Ram Mohun Roy) who was born on 22nd May 1772 and is credited as being a reformer, philosopher and scholar. The statue shown here with Bristol Cathedral in the background was created by the sculptor Niranian Pradhan.

My favourite biographical fact about Rammohun Roy is that he successfully campaigned against sati, the now thankfully mostly past-tense Hindu practice of burning widows on their deceased husbands’ funeral pyres.

Can you build a story around a hero, fictional or historical, who instigates a change for the better that makes them worthy of a statue?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Bluebells are currently painting British woodlands glorious shades of purple and giving us an excuse to pause and admire their beauty.

Like the pastime of hanami (literally ‘flower viewing’) focused on Japan’s cherry blossoms to the passion for ‘leaf peeping’ at Colorado’s aspen trees turning gold, our floral world has some tricks up its billowing sleeves to make us take notice and perhaps even give thought to protecting these natural wonders.

Can you write an uplifting tale about a wild plant with the power to halt us in our busy lives and perhaps even change our behaviour for the better? Don’t forget to use the sense of smell as well for some evocative passages.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

This gravity-defying snail struck me as so beautiful that I had to investigate and discover that it is a brown-lipped snail commonly seen in Britain’s gardens and green spaces.

Imagine if we had time to notice every natural miracle and celebrate its wonder. What difference could that make to the way we live our lives? Imagine if we had as much attention to give the plants and creatures around as we do celebrities and shopping?

As a small step in this direction, can you write a poem, essay or short work of fiction celebrating the wild lives we share our surroundings with?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

This child-sized jumper was dropped at the entrance to a small section of nature within the city, and slung here to presumably make it easier to retrieve.

How did it end up here? What happened to the child who owned it?

Is the fact that the top is emblazoned with the word ‘Happy’ three times significant in any way?

Follow this story prompt down any dark path that your imagination latches onto.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Walking past any block of flats, I’m often struck by a sense of the dizzying wealth of characters behind the windows and doors, each with their own potential narrative.

One day, a cage set on a sunlit balcony set my imagination whirring.

Who might live in this particular flat? What brought them here? What sets them apart from their neighbours? What do they keep in that cage??? During the recent lockdown periods, I suspect we all noticed the goings on in our locality’s more keenly. What might this resident have noticed? Might they have confided in whatever lives in this cage?

Can you weave a tale that creates a close-knit community, a selection of strangers living in close proximity or a single individual living high above the public street? What might they see, hear and share or keep to themselves?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

A splash of bright blue caught my eye and I spotted this postage stamp stuck to the pavement.

It made me wonder who was trying to mail this part of the city, where to and why. Who would have received it and what might they have used it for?

If the entire street had been swept up into this package, what might have happened to the residents? Could they have found themselves tipped from their homes like dollhouse figurines, or would they have ended up wherever the stamp was carrying this important post?

Can you turn this into an intriguing tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

In the part of Bristol where I live, people not only paint their homes gorgeous vibrant colours, they also add murals that make me smile.

This bee-emblazoned property is one of my favourites, and makes me think of Erin Morgenstern’s glorious book The Starless Sea, which feature a house inhabited by cat-sized bees.

What wildlife would you be perturbed to find in your home? Would it be more or less unsettling if it was extremely large or very much smaller than usual? Can you spin this into a tale?

What kind of buzz could the creature’s arrival make in the neighbourhood?

If you’ve chosen to make your species extra big (or extra small), how does the tone shift if you switch it to being especially dinky (or especially large)? Is that more or less alarming for your protagonist?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

The city I live in has a two rivers and a harbour, which manages to add up to rather a lot of bridges. I do love a bridge – that in-between space spanning two tracts of land and the chance to pause and watch the water flow. I even gave one of the rivers a voice in my new collection The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain in a story that asks and partially answers ‘Why rivers run to the sea’.

But back to the bridges, the yellow one above (Langton Street Bridge, known locally as the Banana Bridge) also features in The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain in a story titled ‘Tidal Suck’.

Can you write a tale inspired by a bridge you know? What might happen in that space between? If it’s over a river, what could the water carry or conceal?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Click here to read about The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain book launch & lit night.

I recently encountered this impressive fungus structure in a woodland. To me it resembles an ornate ceramic sculpture. Yet this glorious thing is only the fruiting body, and a fraction of what exists hidden beneath the surface. A network of threadlike filaments called hyphae spread through the soil out of sight, carrying nutrients and information as well as passing news to other plants including trees.

I’m also intrigued by the green filaments decorating the frilled, saucer-like structures. Is this another lifeform? Is it working in symbiosis or attacking the fungi?

It’s all fascinating, isn’t it? Imagine if the parts of icebergs that are under could communicate in this way and warn of coming storms and other risks? What about our own hidden depths, and the microscopic bacteria that help us function? Is that a thrilling thought for you, or downright creepy?

Explore this idea and see if you can turn it into a story.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.