Writing Prompts: Alternative Careers

What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in? Once upon a time, I would have loved to be a train driver. I never actively pursued this career, and in many ways I am glad I didn’t, for I imagine the reality of it does not fit the romantic view of it in […]

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Conscription

Earlier today, the government floated the notion of conscription, in the wake of growing hostilities between the West and Russia, and the increasingly unstable situation in the Middle East. Conscription is the practice of effectively forcing people to sign up for the armed forces, or to give it its official definition, ‘the state-mandated enlistment of […]

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Writing Prompts: Speciality Food

What food would you say is your specialty? Does a peanut butter sandwich count? What about peanut butter on toast? I don’t think I have a ‘signature dish’. I know how to throw things in the oven, or in the frying pan. Sometimes these things even become edible!

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Writing Prompts: Historical Events

What major historical events do you remember? There have been quite a few major events in my lifetime, some of which I remember more than others, on account of age. I wish I could say these events were all happy ones, but unfortunately the standout historical memories of major events are grim, sad ones. That […]

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Writing Prompts: Imugi

Continuing the alphabetical journey around the world, we arrive at Korea, and dissect the mysteries of the Imugi. The Imugi are said to be ‘lesser dragons’, that can, depending on circumstances (and the exact interpretation of the legend) become the fully-fledged dragons of Korean and East Asian legend. Like their larger, more developed kin, Imugi […]

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Writing: What are you most Proud of?

What are you most proud of in your life? Without a shadow of a doubt, I am most proud of my daughter. From the moment I witnessed her arrive into this world, all the way through to now, she has made me proud, every single day. I know this is an unbearably sappy answer, but […]

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The Scare Campaign Begins

I was going to fold this post into my regular Meerkat Muse, then decided it can live as a standalone post as well. The other day, a leaflet got shoved through our letterbox, and it represents the emboldened hard right of the political spectrum. The party known as British Democrats (I will not be linking […]

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Writing Prompts: Jubokko

Japan is where we journey to for the next installment of our series on mythical beings, and we are confronted by a Jubokko. A Jubokko is a class of spirit known in Japan as a Yokai. Yokai can be malevolent or benevolent, and they can have human, animal or inanimate characteristics. In the case of […]

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