The full reference section to accompany my book Awareness Daze (Sandstone Press) — FAKE HOLIDAY CALENDARS Chase’s Calendar of Events (annual editions), Rowman and Littlefield Days Of The Year National Day Calendar National Today Checkiday Awareness days There Is A Day For That Ernie’s Blog IN THE BOOK… INTRODUCTION 17 November, Accession Day, The Tudor Society National Raisin Day, National Day Calendar ‘Health Awareness Days: Sufficient Evidence to Support the Craze?’, Purtle…

A letter to a teacher that we took for granted. — Dear Mrs J Thank you for teaching me. I suppose that’s the main thing to say to you, and to all my teachers. It’s a shame how rarely it has occurred to me to say it before. And now that you’ve passed, I’m sorry it’s too late to ever say…

I write cold emails for living. Here are some things I’ve been thinking about recently. — Get in, get out Cold emails start off on the back foot. They are not solicited and are generally perceived as an interruption. So get to the point fast, be clear with your CTA, and get out again. Three or four short paras, maybe 100 words max. A good template for those 3 paras…

And I feel fine (sort of). — My new book Awareness Daze (Sandstone Press, out November 23, 2023) is the story of my attempt to observe a different awareness day or fake holiday (think Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, National Hermit Day, Dry January etc etc) every day for a single for an entire calendar year. I knew…

From sacred clowning and spiritual healing to hypnotherapy and horse-riding with angels, I tried ’em all — At the start of my scribbling career, I worked for several years as an alternative health journalist. I was going through quite a bit of personal stuff at the time, and so — while notoriously unhealthy in my own lifestyle — I was only too happy to road-test any weird…

A 2023 list of literary journals and magazines that are happy to accept stories you’ve previously published somewhere else — The following is a 2023 list of litmags (and a couple of comps) that are happy to considerpreviously published works of short fiction in various forms and on various terms. Most of these are ones I’ve submitted to personally, and have had positive experiences in dealing with. I’ve done my…

So you’ve made the effort to get up early and get some writing done. Here’s how to make the most of that precious time. — I’ve been an early writer for several years now. I try to get up around 5am a few times a week, and work through till about 7am, or whenever my youngest allows me. I’ve come to love these early starts, when the rest of the world is asleep, and it’s…

Creative people have to deal with a lot of silence and rejection from the clients and publications we send work to. So we sometimes struggle with how to respond when we actually get some positive feedback. Here’s how… — Creative work — especially the freelance kind — can be a thankless task. Remember that piece of work you stayed up late finishing because the client was desperate to get it asap? Suddenly you realise it’s three weeks on, and you haven’t heard so much as a peep out of…

Caroline (not her real name) is a self-confessed stationery addict. Here, for the first time, she opens up about her habit… — So tell me about your addiction. How did it start? I think it started when I was at school, where my nickname was actually ‘Kleppy’ because I liked to steal from the stationary cupboard. It would be the highlight of my day if I could get a new exercise book. I…