I wrote a Fantasy novel by accident. That’s not an easy accident to have; not like tripping over your own feet or walking into a glass door. It’s not that I was trying to write something else and it turned into Fantasy. I wasn’t aiming for any genre in particular – I just wrote the… Continue reading Fantasy Fiction: a genre distinction too far
A Buddhist monk approached his teacher and asked the Zen Master, “If I meditate very diligently, how long will it take for me to become enlightened?” The Master thought for a moment, and then replied, “Ten years.” The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn… Continue reading How long does it take to become enlightened?
I know the exact day I became a writer. It was Friday 23rd April 2004 and I was walking to work. As I dodged the rush hour traffic, a story unspooled into my mind that was so compelling I knew I must write it down. I arrived at work, grabbed some paper and scribbled down… Continue reading Why Do Writers Write?
You see some strange sights living opposite Seven Stories (the Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle) but this was one of the best: a mini Obi Wan Kenobi walking down the street with his mum. He’d just been attending one of the events at the Star Wars Weekend, and I managed to catch this shot as… Continue reading Obi Wan visits Ouseburn
As promised, here’s an extract from the first chapter of my novel about human angels, The Shining Ones. It’s set in the near future in a slowly disintegrating but familiar world which has been devastated after a solar storm. The storm triggered a mutation in a small number of people, called Deviants by the ARK… Continue reading The Shining Ones: first chapter extract
I’m busy sending my latest novel out to agents and it’s all rather nerve wracking. Part of this process involves writing the blurb and a pitch for the book. This is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do as a writer. If you think writing the book is hard, just wait until you have… Continue reading Introducing The Shining Ones
The rejections for my latest novel The Shining Ones are starting to roll in. The first came from Gollancz and I wasn’t that surprised, so the title of this post is a bit misleading. As writers we’re supposed to be cut up by rejections, but I couldn’t muster the energy to care. Perhaps I’ve got… Continue reading Slush Pile Woes: the first rejection cuts the deepest
Here’s some of my favourite quotes from the totally insane but brilliant TV show Monkey. Silly jokes and Buddhist philosophy – you can’t go wrong… “Just because you’re a Dragon it doesn’t make you better than me.” – Monkey “There is one, it is infinite. Yet what is called Buddha fills it. The one takes… Continue reading Favourite Monkey Quotes
This week I’m reading The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts – a classic and essential reading in the Age of Anxiety. This was the first of Alan Watts’ books that I read so it has a special place on my bookshelves. I’ve returned to it many times and always find it illuminating and entertaining –… Continue reading Review: The Wisdom of Insecurity
To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Monkey, I thought it would be fun to explore the background to one of my favourite TV shows: Monkey. It’s a cult classic and was on TV during my formative years in the 70s. We would rush home from ballet class (don’t ask) because I… Continue reading Monkey Magic! or How Buddhism came to China
Ideas for novels often spring from unexpected places. The seed that became the sprout that grew into my latest novel arrived in the form of a disappointingly bad writing exercise. The exercise itself wasn’t the problem. You just had to take the opening line of a novel and then continue to write for half an… Continue reading How a bad writing exercise seeded The Shining Ones
Here’s a randomly generated short story I created using Plot Generator – a site that lets you input various details and then creates a random story with your settings. You can use it to get inspiration or just to mess about and have a laugh. The results are proof that creative writing involves a little… Continue reading Proof that robots will never be authors
Jessica Davidson 