Britain's Next Bestseller - Crime Thriller Short Story Competition

Scriggler's Crime Thriller Short Story Competition, in association with Britain's Next Bestseller, is now closed. I'm waiting to hear the results.


In the mean time, my story '999' was rated as Scriggler's top story in January and I was also voted 'author of the month', with three stories: '999', 'Kris and the Thing (That Lives in the Cave) and 'Giant Story (or The Warm Song).'

Thank you very much to everyone who clicked through from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and 'liked' or commented on my stories.

I'll post more news on the competition as I get it.

Until then, check out this poem - one of my favourites - by Marianne.

Flowers by Marianne Edwards
https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Poetry/6824

25 + 5, Pomodoro productivity technique

I'm doing this thing where you work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. The idea is that you focus better by breaking your work time up with short breaks.

At first, I was alarmed by how quickly that 5 minute break went by. I didn't have time to make a cup of coffee, let alone drink it.

After a couple of days, however, I'm totally into my writing again and I'm more concerned with how quickly that 25 minutes goes by than the 5 minute break. My focus has very pleasantly shifted.

Check out:
http://lifehacker.com/
http://pomodorotechnique.com/

Then get back to work.

Stupa, meditation and my interview with Kim Terrell (Voices and Visionaries)

I met up with fellow writer Kim Terrell yesterday and she showed me a couple of stupas not far from her.

A stupa is a structure that contains Buddhist relics and is used by Buddhists as a place of meditation.

Apparently, Buddhists would around a stupa in a clockwise direction. You can go the other way, but ... you know ... it's a bit ... thing.

So I walked around one of these stupas, not expecting to feel anything ... not expecting anything ... which felt right.

After a couple of minutes, I said:

"There's something very interesting about walking without the intention of going somewhere."

I've never been a great fan of treadmills (just go for a run/walk people! get outside!) but this was different, because, well, it was a circular walk, rather than 'stationary'. It made a point of moving and getting nowhere.

The stupa had a square base, so the sun was in a different position relative to me on each side, there were different things to see, and they became familiar - boxes of candles, the forest, a new library, a plant pot full of incense sticks.

Not just moving, but travelling. Travelling and getting nowhere.

It gave me something to think about, as Kim always does.

Take a look at the link below to read our interview. I hope I gave her one or two things to think about too.

Click here to read it now ... http://kimterrell.com/voices-new/

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