Clan Destine Press Blog

By Janet Anderton Indulge me for a moment. Think about your talent, whatever it is, the thing you are truly great at. Now, close your eyes and feel where in your body your talent sits. Really feel it. I did this yesterday, and, to my surprise, it sits wrapped around my shoulders, like a cape, my Cape of Talent.Now, this made me smile because, as I’ve mentioned on here before, I am struggling with my health right now, I’m tired. A lot. I’ve really struggled to paint, my concentration levels are like Dory the fish. I’ve been finding life incredibly...

Fidelia placed Samuel Johnson on the chair – a hard but utilitarian way to augment her height to desk level – plucked a sheet of parchment from the heavy desk drawer, struck a match to light the candle and loaded the pen with ink from the well. She had had the A, B, C, F and H sayings in her head most of the day and was eager to get them down on paper.She knew how to help the flustered man in Billings Bookstore. During the afternoon, while she sat on the rise of Parliament House, she had gazed down...

By Narrelle M Harris Any skill improves when you practise it, and we've all discovered that in non-writing ways. Writing is exactly like knitting, painting, ju-jitsu, public speaking, riding horses, driving cars, mathematics, running marathons, learning computer code, becoming a doctor (they call it 'practising medicine' for a reason!). If you're like me, you probably made wonky things in woodwork and crochet before getting the knack. And the knack was just making enough time to practise skills, perhaps with a little guidance, before making a cupboard, or a scarf. We even learned to read through practise: we begin with Dr...

By Stephen Johnson My first murder. Thinking of sneaky ways to kill, without being caught, was a weird experience for a television news and sports producer. During my career, I encountered a few candidates for justifiable homicide – TV executives, politicians, businessmen – but no thoughts beyond that. The daily news bulletins I produced regularly dealt with death: wars, famines, murders, accidents. It was at a distance, seen via the camera lens. Did I have the killer instinct to take a human life? In a literary sense. My hitman skills didn’t extend beyond swatting flies and squashing mozzies. The speed...

Truly, if you don't come back here every week to see what others have written for a prompt, you're missing gold. Each week I see them (both here and later in the week at Improbable Press), and each week I'm grinning like a fool at the magic made with a few words. It takes so little to imagine so much and whether the stories are 50 words or in the case of last wee 580 perfect jewels, they're proof positive again and again and again how unique and precious is creativity. We can all hear the words pride parade and...