Eagle-eyed regulars may have noticed that I've been busy creating a new series of short videos on my YouTube channel. Grouped together as a Playlist with the self-explanatory title of "For Writers", these videos are aimed at...well, writers. New writers, mainly; though I hope the practical advice they share may interest, (or amuse), more experienced writers too. I've been having fun making these short films, anyway. I've gone for informative yet light-hearted quirkyness, with strong visuals.  I've also created new thumbnail images for each of my Playlists, although since doing this I've been told I should have chosen one font and used this for them all. Oh well, no matter what you do there's always a self-appointed expert eager to tell you that you've done it all wrong. The "correct" way is to create a visual similarity so each Playlist is recognisably related to the other. Hmm... How would that work in practice, seeing as each of my Pl...

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about how the internet wasn't as much fun as it used to be. I stand by the remarks I made back then, though I still make use of Facebook, (largely because I have real-life family and friends who use that site and it's an easy way to to keep in touch). My views in that old blog post are echoed in the video below, which I stumbled over when randomly websurfing - or as random as any algorithm-controlled websurfing ever truly is these-days. Have a listen:- I often pass a lovely old house. It was probably a vicarage once, as it stands beside an ornate and similarly old church, the sort which has carved gargoyles for gutter spouts and a towering, needle-thin spire. The house is a sturdy square, its main entrance door set between two large windows. A walled garden wraps around all four sides of the house. Its roof boasts chimney pots like mini castles sprouting from its lofty heights. From the outside, it looks delightful, and it came up for sal...