This piece of metal is part of a disused mechanism that stands on the cliff edge of Dorset’s Jurassic coast. The shore here is littered with relics from history, and pre-history, rife with potential plot lines.
What could this machine have been used for, and by whom? What might that have to do with the many dinosaur fossils found in this locale? And what chance encounter could occur here? Write a story with this strange object at its centre or providing a scene-setting backdrop.
If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley(at)iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.
Biography as poetry is an enticing literary choice. Rather than asking us to ingest and retain the cumulative details of a life, we’re instead invited to mull over scattered and strung selections of moments which offer a suggestion of the sum of the whole.In
If you’ve visited Bristol, you may be aware that certain sign-posts have been added too with helpful advice. This one seems like it could be a warning against heading to Temple Meads Station and actually leaving the city. On the other hand, there’s something enticing about following a sign that invites you to go too far!
I encountered this herd of cows, chickens and other beasts on a random table-top recently, and was briefly dazzled by a wave of nostalgia. Did you play with these as a child? Did you watch someone smaller play with these? Did you imagine being really small and strolling among them?
A novella in flash in a canny concept. Flash by nature and when done well can contain within a few hundred words the resonance of an entire novel. By layering one on top of another to build up to the length of a novella (or at least, a meaty short story), you get a cumulative effect. Each individual piece, ranging from a single line or paragraph to a page or two, has the strength to stand alone, but by adding more attuned pieces to the slew, you end up with a distinctly explosive novella form. Quite simply, you get more bang for your buck.
What better way to declare your undying love than with a gigantic bit of street art that spells out your honourable intentions for all to see?
Sold as a short story collection, Helen Oyeyemi’s 
Drawing us into the magic and squalor of a seaside town, Murmuration by Robert Lock is that rare thing, a novel strung from several stories, each of which contributes to the greater whole.
I can’t get over the beauty of these duck eggs!