I’m very excited to say that a story of mine, titled ‘Annelise’s Garden’, has been shortlisted in ZenGarden.club‘s latest short story competition! The theme this time was ‘Garden Magic’ and all stories had to be inspired by the photo you’ll see on the site. I took the idea of magic and ran with it, writing about a fairy who was struggling to find her own path in life. If you’d like to read my story Read More

This week I’ve written two even shorter stories than last time, based on the Flash Fiction Challenge prompt of ‘romance’ at Carrot Ranch. Each story had to be just 99 words long (no more, no less!) and had to have a happy(ish) ending. Flash fiction romance was a really good challenge for me – I guess I’m normally more wordy and less romantic! Here are both of my stories: 1. A garden. A girl. A Read More

I’m very pleased to share that two of my short stories were shortlisted in ZenGarden.club’s Photo Flora ‘Scary’ Competition! A panel of judges chose the top 29 out of over 100 entries and I’m thrilled to have both of my stories make it. The stories are just 350 words long and were inspired by an image of a smoky, spooky carved pumpkin and the theme of ‘gardens’. The contests are great fun to enter. I Read More

Glossaries in fiction: good or bad? I read a fair amount of fantasy fiction – always have, since being introduced to a hobbit named Bilbo and a lion named Aslan at an early age. It’s safe to say that fantasy is one of my favourite genres: you just can’t beat a good escape to a magical world. However, I have sometimes found myself yanked out of the immersion of fantasy when presented with a muddle Read More

From Klingon to Elvish: the art of constructed languages I’ve had some great TV binging recently – my boyfriend and I had a couple of nights intense viewing of The ABC Murders and the new Watership Down. Of course the trick here, as any modern couple knows, is to wait until all the episodes have aired and then watch them all at once while lying to each other that you’ll stop after this one and Read More

ART: The story of The Scream Can art tell us stories, just as much as a novel or poem could? I think so, and here’s why… From humanity’s cave dwelling days onwards, people have been creating and sharing art. And every piece of art has at least two stories. That of the creator, and that of the viewer. And it’s fascinating how different the two can be!Now, I’m not saying all art is necessarily created Read More

The power of stories Welcome to the ‘Grace Says’ section of my site. This is where I blog about anything and everything to do with words, stories, and the power they have. Stories are one of our very oldest tools. From cave art to playground rhymes, to epic poems and lengthy sagas, humans have been sharing tales since the dawn of time. But why is that? What makes us love a narrative tale so much? Read More