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Two authors - Qarnita Loxton and A'Eysha Kassiem - on why they write: mikenicol.substack.com/p/why-i-write-2

Last night Donald Trump tweeted about something he had fixed in New York and signed off (in caps) LONG LIVE THE KING. Here are views on what is happening in the United States: mikenicol.substack.com/p/democracy

"When I [...] write a book, I do not say [...] ‘I am going to produce a work of art’. I write it because there is [...] some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing." Said Orwell. A good reason to write a krimi. mikenicol.substack.com/p/why-i-write-3

Anyone up for a memoir writing workshop at a larney retreat in the wonderful Little Karoo? Read on: mikenicol.substack.com/p/substack-the…

Here's more about the memoir workshop I'm running at The Retreat, Groenfontein near Calitzdorp from July 1-6. Looks like a magic place. mikenicol.substack.com/p/getting-to-g…

Great portrait of Donald Trump and words on writing by South American greats: mikenicol.substack.com/p/portrait-of-…

We all have our pet hates when it comes to words. Here's mine: mikenicol.substack.com/p/a-very-impor…

Something new about Kindle: "Amazon has changed its policy regarding ebooks, switching to a solely cloud-based model of accessibility. This means you can only read and access your Kindle books through Amazon and cannot transfer these to other devices.” mikenicol.substack.com/p/kindle-revel…

There's a bowl in our lounge that contains an ostrich egg, ammonites, bits of ancient Greek and local pottery, a bontebok horn, a rusty 20-centimetre nail, some old keys, and four stone tools in it. I realised this is where memoirs start: mikenicol.substack.com/p/the-story-of…

Some funnies, some serious stuff about publishing, the gender ruse, and two RIPs: mikenicol.substack.com/p/fiction-inha…

New memoirs in the making: mikenicol.substack.com/p/life-stories

The migrant Mr Klipspringer, Bill Bryson gardening at seventy+, and the Franschhoek Literary Festival: mikenicol.substack.com/p/is-that-mr-k…

Head for Franschhoek next weekend - 16 - 18 May for the Lit Fest: mikenicol.substack.com/p/a-feverish-l…

Getting cosy with Agatha. Are writers a savage breed? And a good deal from Modjaji: mikenicol.substack.com/p/the-return-o…

Moments at the Franschhoek Literary Festival, Bruce Springsteen, and a "presidential" declaration: mikenicol.substack.com/p/the-moments-…

Most of us, at some time, get a rotten review. It goes with the territory. As this literary companion reminds us: mikenicol.substack.com/p/rotten-revie…

Writing: "...you put down one word after the other as it comes in your head. It isn’t like having to learn how to play the piano, like you have to learn notes. You already learned in school how to write, didn’t you?" - from Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty: mikenicol.substack.com/p/how-to-write

This, to me, was an eye-opener: the amount of weirdness that goes into what I thought were realist crime novels. 📷 mikenicol.substack.com Going Gothic When the weird comes knocking

Some more scary stuff from America: mikenicol.substack.com/p/when-librari…

A bit of a sidetrack into how words change (for some) and how they don't for others: mikenicol.substack.com/p/use-enough-g…