Tag: Writing

Man on the moon

vbnelliganLeave a comment

A few things have recently brought the moon back to my attention:

  1. My wife and I have been watching “For All Mankind” (which I love and my wife loved certain bits of)
  2. All of the articles about the very exciting Artemis project – in particular this article in the Guardian
  3. When I was in the toy section of the department store this weekend I saw this Lego set which said it was inspired by NASA’s actual designs (!)

And then I opened up my word press drafts after ages away to find a partially written short story about the moon…which meant of course that I had to finish it.

I think the flow will reflect being started and then stopped and then started and finished but enjoy anyway!

—–original start—–

Just a super short story inspired by all the recent celebrations around 50 years since the moon landing…

“Wouldn’t it be amazing to fly out beyond the sky, to actually break through and enter the void? Go beyond and stand on another celestial object. First the moon and then further?” The young man mused to his grandmother.

She nodded along, sitting in her arm chair browsing a photography book, but said nothing.

“Would you have gone if you could have Grandma?”Read More »

The secret to loving lunch

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This is a story I wrote about the different types of lunch – those you loathe and love, those you endure and those you relish. it’s partially a story about the corporate grind and part a story of my love of food and cooking.

The story

The rumbling began dull and low, then spun back on itself to a gurgle, before finally resting after a final deep sound that must be what a full stop would sound like if it had a sound. Frank was determined not to look up from his laptop to acknowledge the unsettlingly loud noise that signalled to his entire pod in the open plan office that he had waited far too long to go for his lunch break. Some of his colleagues noticed it, but others were plugged into their headphones and probably wouldn’t have heard the fire alarm if it went off. One that did was Frank’s office confidant, Ashley, who came over to his desk and said, “spare us all your pleas of ignorance Frank and go get something to eat – it’s way past lunchtime and I know that email can wait.”

Read More »

Not quite there

vbnelliganLeave a comment

I’ve been writing for myself since I was young, but aside from this blog which I do as a hobby, I’ve completed one novel (though honestly it needs more editing) which I submitted to the Wilbur and Niso Smith adventure writing prize (shortlist in link) and I’ve submitted one other piece to Asimov magazine. I neither got shortlisted for the award of had my submission accepted.

No big deal, I honestly didn’t expect either to be a screaming or immediate success.

What has somewhat surprised me is my lack of pessimism about this. If I had tried and failed 10 years ago then I probably would have packed it in altogether and focused on my current career fully and completely…or at least other things.

That’s not how I’m feeling though. I want to put more energy in. I want to refine and improve my writing and put more ideas down on the page.

Maybe I’ll never make it something I can subsist off of, though I can hopefully get something published and I can definitely enjoy myself while doing it. I’m not convinced the pure aim of life, of writing is to simply enjoy what you’re doing. It does feel like a good starting point though, if the business of survival is in order.

So, here’s to my writing hobby. Long may it continue.