Edgy and entertaining insights from the dangerously-talented writers in the Colony…explore at your pleasure!
Detritus in Paradise
Thinking back to January 2021… I was feeling rather stodgy after Christmas excess, and Mrs. Treaclechops had a touch of winter blues, so we decided…
My First Crit
Do you remember your first time? Was it exciting? Were you nervous? Did you just want to get it over with? One of the most…
Bombing in the Reviews
An indie author often lives or dies based on their books’ ratings and reviews. Okay, maybe that was a touch dramatic. Often, it’s a case…
Safeguarding Writers’ Mental Health In 2025
Writers are, by definition, people of heightened awareness and sensitivity. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t – couldn’t – be a writer. Yet in a world…
My Resolution (Or a List of Books)
As the old year comes to a close, I think about things I am grateful for and about fostering good habits for the new year…
WTF, Will! Sonnets + Summary
My reading of The Complete Works of Shakespeare was almost at an end. The book (only a paperback) had weighed in at 1250g, and the…
Let It Snow!
I looked everywhere but I couldn’t find it. It wasn’t in the jumble of decorations packed away from last year. Nor in the Advent calendar…
WTF, Will! The poems 1 – 5
Well, I’d just read all of Shakespeare’s plays and I was feeling extremely showy-offy. And yes, I’d been totally mind-blown or singularly unimpressed and all…
Don’t Call On Me
Cold winds blow through city streets as winter’s grip takes hold and grey souls in downbeat worlds retreat to lies untold. . Rain-lashed pavements now…
WTF, Will! parts 36 – 37
Unbelievably, after nearly six months, I had almost come to the end of the complete works of Shakespeare. That lockdown challenge had proved hard to…
The Unexpected Pantomime
Deep in tribal territory in Jharkhand, India, three schools — one by a road, one in a forest, and one on a hill — hosted…
WTF, Will! parts 33 – 35
My book was looking ragged and my Kirk and Spock bookmarks were bent. But I was determined to push on, despite having never heard of…
Christmas Eve in the Graveyard
Four-year-old Hugh wanted to be a villain. This puzzled my son Jack. If they played Star Wars, it was Luke vs Darth Vader, which made…
WTF, Will! parts – 30 – 32
By now Shakespeare was all Henried out, so he turned to the ancient world to inspire his next set of plays. With varied results, to…
A Christmas Reflection
If you read my Christmas Snippets post, you’ll be aware that I suffered a psychotic episode in 2019. This was followed by a long period…
WTF, Will! parts 27 – 29
This part of the book had the men taking centre stage. Shakespeare had hit his stride. At least, that’s what I’d heard, and I was…
After 65 Decembers
In August, he smiled at the memories of 65 Decembers, and put away his razor. . The ruddy complexion, jovial disposition, and expanded waistline where…
WTF, Will! parts 24 – 26
My paperback version of The Complete Works of Shakespeare was starting to look properly shabby. I’d bent the cover back a lot, and sat cups…
Christmas Snippets
Port and Lemon and Dirty Jokes My nan was the type of woman who couldn’t walk to the shop without stopping at least three times…
WTF, Will! parts 21 – 23
I was approaching the halfway mark of my Shakespeare-a-thon, and methought it was time for some top scores. The Big H was coming up, so…
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