Pleasure, Amy - lovely to read your work again!

Very moving and original, thank you.

Beautiful! You've captured some of the wonderful quietness in the original.

Looking forward to our conversation!

Bless you, Renée.

Did you attend? I was there too with my first story for nearly four decades, overwritten as was (kindly) pointed out. Good luck going forward!

Congratulations, Sherry! We were both shortlisted in the first ever Bedford Short Story competition - the first time our paths crossed!

On Fridays, there're 2 ways to catch Sherry's Shorts--featuring Scottish Highland writers, actors & settings.
Join hhr.scot at 12 noon UK time or listen anytime with the link below. In Seasalt, distant sisters meet when their father falls ill. Movingly read by Catherine MacNeil. A terrific listen.

I can't say definitively, but when I've made publishers aware it hasn't been an issue so far, Seán.

Thanks, Kathy - another writing friend has just posted about the same thing. I do hope your situation resolves as quickly as possible.

Not to worry, Rebecca - it was no problem and the good thing is it was so obvious.

Sorry to hear that, Rebecca. I got a DM and knew immediately it couldn't be you, and I think most people would realise. I hope it resolves soon without too much stress.

I could see it, Kieran!

Commiserations, Elizabeth - yet another instance of editorial sadism...

Rightly or wrongly, I visualise Norman as a wire-haired fox terrier - but perhaps that's more to do with my personal history...

In terms of narrative, I think this sort of repetition can point to a lack of resolution, and that the repetition and its variants can increase the sense of credibility, or indeed urgency. I've found that dreams like this can resolve over a long period of time, sometimes almost unnoticeably.

Later I talked to a friend who'd been taken through it by someone else. We both found it powerful at the time but couldn't detect any lasting effect. I remember it vividly though.

It was very hypnotic and full of imagery, with a lot of chanting that I kept hearing hours after. The psychotherapist I had as part of one of my trainings gave it.

My pleasure, Livi. I once had shamanic soul retrieval...

'Scudding over the earth like shoals of fish in the sea, or shadows of clouds on the hills, they left.'

Very moved by this superb story from @livimichael.bsky.social - poignant, visceral and evocative. If you haven't read Livi's latest novel, Elizabeth and Ruth, I'd recommend it unreservedly.

Indeed, indeed...

Indeed. I've come to think of it as an existential condition.

Fandom was thrust upon me in an unguarded moment, Rosanna. I've learned to live with it...

Delighted to have a poem on the cover of Gallus, Poetry Scotland's #111 spring 2026 edition - out now!

Poetry Scotland has been publishing poetry since the 1940s. poetryscotland.com/subscriptions/

Huge thanks to the excellent editors @AndyJackson and Judy Taylor

#poetryscotland

'As with many cures, something is left of the original wound, a bruise the flesh remembers, and what the flesh remembers has power to direct the mind without permission.'

Love this exquisite story about memory, personhood and recovery by Robert Pope. Please read if you have time.

Remembering the Dead | Litro Magazine After a crash he cannot remember, a young man moves through grief, guilt and memory loss in this haunting story from Belfast.

My short story Remembering the Dead has been published today by Litro www.litromagazine.com/uncategorise...

Dylan always had his ear out, I think.

Fourth Time Around was thought to be a riposte to Norwegian Wood.

It is, Rosanna. I've also been offered a long term contract and am working on another collection.
And yes, the peace-depriving nature of football. Being a Spurs supporter... In my way, I share your pain.
I've also found yet another Gwen John biography. Those she loved could often feel hunted.

Thanks, Rosanna. A full collection's been a long time coming, but there's more to follow. Hope you're enjoying a peaceful weekend.