A Catio fit for a Rodney And the resurgence of my creative mojo

Creativity inspired by a catio.
Latest Substack on being a writer when life, and Rodney, have other ideas.

https://ow.ly/WL7v50YnCCC

PSA! Today (Feb 15) is the last day to submit through our general submissions queue. Then, we'll be reading ONLY for The Smokey ($4700 prize pot) until May 10. Free general submissions reopen May 15! Exceptions: paid multiple submissions and senior editor feedback (reading for September issue).

Emotionally distracted Understatement and reckonings

Substack inspired by the stories of veterans returning to Vietnam.
open.substack.com/pub/tellingstoriesthatne...
#home #trauma #MilitaryHistory #memoir #reflection #storytelling #veterans

The promise of longer evenings…

Heated blanket on, snow being appreciated from a warm distance.

Rodney’s still not brave enough to go outside since we moved (aka I’m not ready to let him out into the scary world - there’s a Norwegian Forest Cat called Mahler who OWNS this patch) but he’s started to gaze through the window...

Change can be a different way of looking at the same thing or it can be throwing everything up in the air and noticing where it lands...

My latest Substack is a simple observation on the joy of looking the other way.

https://ow.ly/Wlvn50XRuSv

#joy #nature #change #writing #noticing #wellbeing

I love it when a plan comes together Almost…

Change. Fast, furious, and fantastic.
Welcome to my new life.
Latest Substack on how I made it out of the darkness and into the light… or the woods.
https://ow.ly/Je2450XMVMW
#change #WritingLife #Wellness #Wellbeing #MomentsOfJoy #EmbraceTheChaos #OffGrid #Friendship #RodneyTheWritersCat

Change is a good thing - unless it isn’t.
Latest Substack about the impact of an exploding appendix and the relentless nature of change.
https://ow.ly/bqzi50XEwRs

In the darkness of winter, take time to commit some random acts of kindness and bring a moment of joy into someone’s life 📚💜

#MomentsOfJoy #StockingFiller #GiftIdea #Kindness #Journalling #Joy

2026 Nominations Revealed - Dublin Literary Award

Titles by Irish authors nominated for the 2026 Award are:

Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey

Camarade by Theo Dorgan

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin
dublinliteraryaward.ie/features/new...

How to discover a planet The headline I didn’t know I needed.

When this world is challenging, how about discovering a new one.
Latest Substack on the joy of being a writer and how this can take you to other worlds.

https://ow.ly/C4HL50Xi2vI
#imagination #inspiration #discovery #curiosity #writing #dystopia

In the darkness of winter, take time to commit some random acts of kindness and bring a moment of joy into someone’s life 📚💜

#MomentsOfJoy #StockingFiller #GiftIdea #Kindness #Journalling #Joy #WorldKindnessDay

Remembrance Day 2025.
A reworking of my piece written for VE Day.
A sadness that I will probably be reworking this for many years.

https://ow.ly/TvQG50Xi2B8
#ArmisticeDay #Remembrance #WWII #WWI #MilitaryHistory #pacifism

‘on loving a soldier’ is dangerously close to being ready to release so AI offered to help. It’s now wishing it hadn’t.
Latest Substack on writing, dystopias, and what it means to be human.
https://ow.ly/Q5c550XeuSE
#dystopia #poetry #AIFail #writing

Creativity is human. Gen AI can't enjoy creating or consuming the arts. It has no place stealing from those of us who need to create for an income, for our passion, for our sanity.
Latest Substack - Human-made: Part 2
#GenAI #creativity #humanity #books #poetry
https://ow.ly/kCZv50XetAs

AI isn’t the only future. Without humans, AI has no purpose.
Latest Substack on the importance of being human in the creative process.
https://ow.ly/F2I950XesTE
#dystopian #GenAI #creativity #books CreativeConsent

Change is in the air. The chilly air.
The clocks fell back, the month marches on.
Packing boxes fill every room, half full of memories.
Poems are tumbling leaves that defy my numb fingertips.

#change #poetry #wintering #MovingOn #WritersWalk #Writing

Apparently, I will not be moving today.

I’m allowed to have my laptop on my lap only if my feet are positioned appropriately for hugging duties.

#caturday #WritersCat #Rodney #Writing

For years, there's been a massive over-emphasis on food miles, and a massive under-emphasis on food type.
By far and away the best dietary decision you can make, for environmental, humanitarian and public health purposes, is to cut out animal products.

A dystopian life is closer than you think.
My latest Substack about how I fell into a dystopia of my own making.
#dystopia #WritingLife #change
https://ow.ly/RZWC50X8GaB

#Autumn
#Stunday
#FallVibes
#ColorADay
#OrangeSun
#EastCoastKin
#MobilePhotography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky

Moments of joy on a dull day courtesy of a neighbour, a generous allotment, and a change of plans (darn that facet joint).
#VillageLife #Community #autumn #ouch #MomentsOfJoy #Joy #kindness

Moments of joy are absolutely scattered through this exquisite album. Take your time, take a breath, close your eyes - enjoy. https://ow.ly/gm7850Xeswx
#NewMusic #MomentsOfJoy #CreativesSupportingCreatives #AlbumReview

Rodney supervised my packing with an iron paw because he objects to all trips.
I’m not saying he’s smug but.. my plans changed abruptly. I stretched a mm too far and my inflamed facet joint flared (yes, I swore, loudly).
Is it possible for a cat to smirk? #caturday

Thank you to the wonderful team at ELATT for inviting me to speak at the IWM Duxford. The students were a delight and it lifts my heart to know that young people are keeping alive the interest in WW2 and the people who sacrificed so much for us.
#WW2 #AviationHistory #MilitaryHistory #Remembrance

A feather-proud turmeric latte at the community-conscious Mudlarks in Hertford. What’s not to love?
#community #friends #autumn #MomentsOfJoy #wellbeing

Life on the left isn’t safe. Life on the right isn’t safe. Join me in the middle where all the best ideas live.
Latest Substack about how the politics of today influences my writing - and my life.
https://ow.ly/8ljH50X8px8 #dystopia #writing #books

On a day when the sky forgot to turn up for duty, the squirrel has a mission.
She’s transporting walnuts & hazelnuts from one end of the paddock to her territory - a 6 acre round trip for one nut. Time to pull out my cosy socks #change #autumn