Britni’s Life Story — I’ve been busy. Not on Medium, obviously. As I mentioned back in March, I’ve got a couple of published stories in the pipeline. Inbox surprises Getting published on papermedium.com One was published under a pseudonym in Adventures Without Clothes in April. I sent off for a physical copy and seized the opportunity to grab a copy…

William McIntyre Best Defence Book 1 — I'm a sucker for a good legal thriller. When John Grisham puts out his annual contribution, I’m hitting the download button the instant it’s on sale and you might as well not ring me or text me or come knocking on my door until I’ve turned the last page. Well…

An incredibly rare coincidence uncovered by chance — A few days ago I was browsing through Medium, being a good reader and following whatever the algorithm throws at me. Whenever I click on a story from the “teaser” because I’m attracted by the title or the thumbnail image, the all-seeing Medium eye notices and serves me up more…

Master this story structure and you cannot fail — Menu This is a gold star plot Why this works But don’t take my word for it Examples How to make Man in a Hole work for you You’re in a hole right now? Remember James Bond about to get his vitals eaten by atomic lasers? This is why the card…

In the Lives of Puppets by T J Klune — Robots are the new Covid We had the pandemic. Nobody saw that coming and our lives were thrown into turmoil — or termination — for three years. Now we have AI, spreading like a new virus through the human world. “There’s no threat,” we are told. “Look, the people in the robot pictures have three…

Why can’t men handle a strong woman? — Menu Men hate women The billion-dollar author A successful woman Speaking of hatred… Let’s read that again What made the difference? Let me stress this The one thing I look for in a work of fiction You can do it Thank you for reading this far There is a moment in…

There's a unique feeling of writerly kinship that comes from sharing stories on Medium. As writers, we all understand the highs and lows of the creative process, the moments of inspiration that strike out of nowhere and the periods of frustration that can feel interminable. Here we have a fellowship to share our struggles and our joys, who know exactly what it's like to pour our sorry hearts into a piece of writing and send it out into the world. There's a sense of camaraderie and mutual support and we feel that kinship of creative minds.

How to use storyteller tactics to make people listen — Do you ever wish that people would listen carefully when you have something important to say? You talk about some matter of fairness or urgency, some clever idea, a plan to make life better, a solution to a problem, a blessing, a request, a declaration of love. Things that come…

And it’s a Self-Inflicted Wound — Imagine that you have made your way to the top of Mount Everest, just about to step onto the summit, take that ultimate selfie. And then, you lift up your foot, pull out a revolver, and drill a hole straight through the techno synth compound leather of your expensive climbing…