I've forgotten so much of what's passed through my history. Surprising, at times, is what I remember. Poems I wrote years ago can stick like a pop song if their backdrop, as I wrote, was sharp and strong. For something like a decade I was part of a writing group, the Monday Muses, a group … Continue reading Memory, Power
I do
I'm learning to say "Yes, and..." to each project's demands.
Bijou and the Philosopher Tree
Like an ancient tree, a story has an inevitable internal logic that the writer must find and follow.
This is the day I die
When the Committee knocks at the door, I am clean, dressed, my hands folded in my lap as I sit, waiting.
The Summer of Laying Workers, 3
Read Part Two of this series here. Read Part One here. It's been a long set-up, but we've arrived at the punch line. Or at least, at my favourite part of this story: where we see, in images, what happens when a colony develops laying workers. It's a royal mess, and yet, an engaging cacophony. … Continue reading The Summer of Laying Workers, 3
The Summer of Laying Workers, 2
Read Part One of this series here. We're two-thirds through, folks, and I hope you'll feel the investment of your reading time pays off, with drama and fascinating facts from the insect world. Beekeepers call a honey bee colony “queen-right” when it has a laying queen in residence, and “queen-less” when it doesn't—which, as we'll … Continue reading The Summer of Laying Workers, 2
The Summer of Laying Workers, 1
A passion almost equal to writing, for me, is beekeeping. Honey bees are exceptional animals, fascinating to humans and heavily researched, yet with many behaviours we still don't understand the mechanics of or know the reasons for. Here's a saga in several parts about who does what in a honey bee colony, and the consequences when built-in control mechanisms fail.
A shiny future
A blog without content is like a car during lockdown: parked week after week in the garage, seeing no action but from the mice running in and out its grille to store kernels of dog food in a thick layer on the engine filter. (Thanks to JL for this scenario.) The car waits, knowing its … Continue reading A shiny future
Why I love Twitter
As you'd see from the activity on this website's sidebar, I’ve been living on Twitter for the past many months. For seven years I’ve been on that platform, but barely present until November of 2020. Until then, I didn’t see how it served me, I used it badly as a business promotion tool, and it … Continue reading Why I love Twitter
Legitimacy and community in writer-land
My last status report here was as the #5amWritersClub virtual retreat was starting: Unforgettable Characters and Incredible Journeys. The retreat blew me away, and it's taken me all this time to find myself back on shore. Exactly as I expected, it helped me see my novel-in-progress from new perspectives. It gave me tools for understanding … Continue reading Legitimacy and community in writer-land
Ellen Symons Writes 