It's Nearly All Over

With Christmas now starting to fade and New Years Eve looming it means 2009 is nearly over.

A difficult year for many with the financial downturn, aka the crisis in Spain. The writing world has also been impacted with magazines closing and paid commissions more difficult to find.

I was very pleased to have a short story published (Expat anthology - Courting the Bull, see to the right on this blog) and appear regularly in The Inland Magazine.

Lots of projects planned for 2010 and of course 'see what turns up' you never know in the writing world.

The plans for the re-launch of  TIM's blog 'Life in Spain' are coming together and also my new group Writers Abroad will launch their site in 2010.

I hope 2010 is a happy and successful one for you wherever you are.

Thanks as always for visiting.

Merry Christmas Everyone

New Blog - Platinum Page

A new blog has hit the net - Platinum Page

This is going to be a new magazine for creative writing - launching in 2010

Vivienne describes herself as owner, editor and dogsbody - well good luck to you and thanks for choosing my story for the 2nd edition.

Check out the blog and leave Vivienne a comment, she deserves all the support she can get.

Platinum Page

Writing can be a funny old world in which to reside. Some projects take months whilst others happen overnight.

I spotted a call for fiction submissions for a new magazine - Platinum Page so I reviewed some of my previously written but unpublished short stories selected my favourite 'Digging for Victory' and emailed it off to the editor.

Having had a bad day yesterday with the death of one of my best friends, this morning a smile returned to read that the story had been accepted and will be published in this new magazine which launches next year.

I have written a short obituary for my friend which will be published on Friday in the local paper. RIP Graham, a talented singer.

Another new role for 2010

Somehow I sort of volunteered to get more involved with The Inland Magazine blog site and managed to get myself promoted to the dizzy heights of administrator.

I don't really like that rather boring sounding word so I have decided to call myself The TIM blog zester - why? well why not given the definition of zest:

1.       keen relish; hearty enjoyment; gusto.

2.       an agreeable or piquant flavour imparted to something.

3.       anything added to impart flavour, enhance one's appreciation, etc.

4.       piquancy; interest; charm.

5.       liveliness or energy; animating sprit 

 I am busy working on a relaunch plan with invited bloggers of international repute. More to follow...

The photo? - you try finding a photo of zest (so this is relish, piquancy,.....)

Survived Benidorm (Just)

Just to let all the blog readers out there that I have in fact survived and returned from the land known as Benidorm.

The short trip has in fact, I think, generated enough material for 2 articles - which will appear in 2010 when all will be revealed, working titles:

SAGA LOUTS IN BENIDORM

GOING BONKERS IN BENIDORM

on another note I have been co-working on the Writers Abroad group Ning site which will shortly be released on the unsuspecting world - more to follow.

It's Tough at the Bottom

Being a 'super sleuth' (stop laughing, and see earlier blog) investigative journalist means having to undertake arduous journeys, living rough, risking all to get the story.

Fortunately as none of that applies to me I am off to Benidorm (stop laughing) for a few days to investigate other peoples claims of  'The old town is nice'

So armed with my sharpened pencil, notebook (Moleskine naturally) and digital camera (Nikon naturally) I am off to see these wonders for myself, accompanied by a trust sidekick (AKA - TJ)

The full unexpurgated version will appear (I am now joking) in The Inland Magazine in due course, or if things get really juicy front page of The Sun. Best to watch this space.

New Writing Buddy

My regular observant readers will remember me alluding to my new writing buddy the other blog.

Our paths crossed rather literally on the Alicante mountains during my recent expedition.

Whilst we jointly suffered the ups and downs of mountain walking we shared our common interest of writing.

However this buddy whom we will call JB (nothing to do with whisky) is of a rather different genre to yours truly - that of Script Writing.

I listened with interest and a degree of awe (Put more awe in it John. "Or am I truly the son of God." Thanks Duke) as he explained his script and its technical intricacies.

Well we have been emailing on a variety of literary topics and this week he sent me his synopsis for my review.

To which I felt honored and even more pleased when he replied to my comments that I had provided a lot of very useful feedback.

Next time you settle down to watch a TV comedy drama, spare a thought for the poor scrip writer because I now know how much blood, sweat and re-writes has gone into it.

Keep the Oro flowing JB!

The Inland Magazine (TIM) December

TIM December edition publishes my 

(Available online from link above)

Rob's Bits and Bobs - Christmas Special (Pg 46) a humorous look at a few recent news items.

'The Coming of the Spanish Mother in Law' (Pg 40) a true life little story about my Spanish 'suegra' and I apologise about the illustration - none of my doing I assure you!

and a filler - 'Do You Remember When' a quiz based on historical news items (Pg14)

Also look out for a picture of Horace Greasley with a recent TIM competition winner