He had learned early that people wanted endings that behaved. They wanted pain to tidy itself away. They wanted meaning to arrive on schedule, carrying reassurance. Stories were supposed to heal, to close wounds cleanly, to leave the reader better than they were before. Anything else was considered indulgent. Or cruel. But life had never
The Lie of Resolution: Why Some Stories Should Not Heal Read More »
She didn’t use awful words. She used kinder, much softer language. Safer, more civil words. Standards. Direction. Momentum. Nina said she needed someone who was going somewhere. I wasn’t headed there. I thought two years together meant something. I believed shared beds, shared meals, shared love added up to value. I felt they accumulated interest.
Why Did She Demand More? Read More »
Villains do fiction a great big, delicious favour. Without a particular kind of evil present in stories, heroes can’t develop into what they are meant to become. Thank God for the darker elements of humanity and the baddest of bad boys (or girls) to show our heroes (and readers) the way into the light. That’s
Stories With Great Heroes Demand Quality Villains To Make Them Phenomenal Read More »
Warm grains cling and staySalted skin holds the shorelineEven waves can’t free -M If you enjoy Haikus, black-and-white photography, and the gentle, feminine lines posted here once a week, please subscribe to this site. New posts will come to you as soon as they are posted. -M
Violence that serves a group is rarely treated as violence. It is treated as an outcome. When someone is removed and stability returns, attention shifts from the act to the result. The room quiets. Tension dissipates. Routine resumes. These effects are measurable. They are also rewarded. This is how benefit is recognised without being acknowledged.
Who Benefits When the Body Falls? Read More »
He had always thought violence was obvious. A raised voice. A slammed door. A bruise that needed explaining. That was how it was supposed to look—obvious, theatrical, easy to condemn. What he hadn’t learned, until much later, was how quiet violence could be. This was the violence that arrived without urgency. It didn’t rush. It
The Violence We Don’t Recognise as Violence Read More »
I don’t remember when my thoughts first became louder than my voice. Somewhere between the stillness of my house and the storms that visit me without warning, words started pressing in from the inside. They needed release. Not confession—documentation. Evidence of what it feels like to live quietly while everything in you screams. These recordings
My Ache. This Groan. Read More »
SEETHINGS didn’t just test my ability to write—it dismantled me, rebuilt me, and demanded persistence long after quitting felt reasonable. Eight years, three books, and one obsession later, the story finally learned how to breathe. Now that SEETHINGS III is finally out in the world, there’s a strange stillness I didn’t expect. Relief, yes—but also
SEETHINGS Nearly Killed Me Read More »
Phil Collins dominated the radio waves. He collaborated with Howard Jones to rework Jones’ No One Is To Blame tune. Nina looked into my eyes, tapped on my back and said, “Stop. Turn it up. This is him. This is the one I was telling you about.” It was a time for music, love and
We Will Always Have 1986 Read More »
Not every reader is meant to finish every book they start, often due to mismatched expectations about genre, tone, and theme. Abandoning a book isn’t judging its quality but reflects personal boundaries. Reviews based on limited experience can misrepresent a book, highlighting the importance of clear signals to attract the right audience.
Sometimes a Book Just Isn’t Yours to Read Read More »