‘The prophet said, ‘Do Justice!’ And I cried, ‘Which Justice?’ Criminal justice. Social justice. Economic justice. Retributive justice. Restorative justice. Generational justice. I want to do justice to the prophet’s words. I want to do justice to justice. Where shall I begin?’ From Doing Justice by Stephen Cherry (Barefoot Prayers: A Meditation a Day for […]
I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I’ve suffered from depression and anxiety. I believe that being open about my mental health problems has helped me to recover from them. I also believe that the more people talk about it, the more society will recognise that anyone can suffer from a mental illness […]
1000Words, the online flash-fiction magazine I run, is now listed at ShortStops, a site curated by short story writer Tania Hershman. ShortStops is the place to go to find out about what’s going on in the world of short stories. There, you’ll find a growing list of places that publish short fiction as well as […]
If, like me, you love television crime drama, the odds are you’ll love this book. The Grandmaster is the latest offering from Calum Kerr (writer of the flash-fiction collections Braking Distance, Lost Property and 31) and consists of 31 very short chapters which tell the story of crime-scene cleaner Mike Chambers and DC James Worth’s […]
Disappoint: to fail to fulfill the expectations or wishes of. to defeat the fulfillment of (hopes, plans, etc.); thwart; frustrate. Resilience: the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity. ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy. Tenacity: holding fast; […]
If hatred is a worm that infects our better selves and lays its poisonous parasitical spawn in our souls, how can we be rid of it? How can we stop it from growing, gnawing, rising, controlling. How can we loosen its grip on our hearts, our minds, our bodies? Maybe a good dose of each […]
Sometimes, I feel like a used-up teabag: drained, flavourless, empty. But You do not throw me on the compost heap to rot. Instead, You refresh me – through laughter, through song, through the love and kindness of friends and family, through rest, through reading. Inspired by Emptiness by Stephen Cherry (Barefoot Prayers: A Meditation a […]
There have been times when I have experienced intense loneliness, when depression has put up a wrought-iron gate between me and the rest of the world. Right now, though, that gate is swung wide open, and I am free to mingle amongst my loved ones. Today’s prayer is going in my treasure box, so that […]
It’s Tuesday night, which means it’s Slow-Cooker Night. Our slow-cooker and it’s accompanying recipe book will be 16 years old on Friday … as will our marriage. I think we’ve done pretty well at looking after our wedding presents. We’ve still got the slow-cooker, the dinner service, the cutlery, the pots and pans, an electric […]
About a month ago, I decided I was going to give myself the next two years to make something of this writing malarky. (After that, my youngest will be at secondary school and I’ll have to get a proper job!) So, I signed up for another course – Literary Short and Flash Fiction – and […]