Jane Jago's Blog, page 42

Jacintha Farquhar Advises on Writing about Alcohol

Jacintha Farquhar, maternal parent of Moonbeam Farquhar Metheringham IV offers important life lessons to those who like to think they’ve got what it takes to write a damn book…

To whoever is deluded enough to read this crap.

This is Jacintha Farquhar, woman of a certain age, and distaff parent of the delusional and currently incapacitated Moons. I never thought I’d feel sorry for the poor self-centred little twat. But I do. I actually hurt for him. He’s so bruised and battered that I have ...

Song

The music that we called our song
Plays on repeat in my head
But the notes now feel twisted and wrong
And my heart, like our romance, is dead
The music plays on without heed
Uncaring of how I might feel
As the record revolves still I bleed
Perhaps if it stopped I might heal

©️jane jago 2024

The Easter Egg Hunt – Epilogue

Since Ben and Joss Beckett took over The Fair Maid and Falcon, they have had to deal with ghosts, gangsters and well dodgy goings-on. Despite that they have their own family of twin daughters and dogs, and a fabulous ‘found family’ of friends.

February was a difficult month, with the temperature unremittingly cold and skies dropping pellets of ice at inconvenient moments. We provided hot stews and soups which the WI delivered to those in need. And if the odd sack of logs found itself loaded i...

Dying to be Roman XIII

Dying to be Roman  by Jane Jago and E.M. Swift-Hook is a whodunit set in an alternative modern day Britain where the Roman Empire still rules.

“This is an intrusion into my dear friend Octavia’s privacy,” the woman said imperiously. “It is intolerable.”
Dai lifted his head to see her eyes flash with anger and felt the sudden insignificance of a being a mere non-citizen, provincial Briton in the presence of over a hundred generations of pure Roman patrician breeding.
“I – I apologise, domina,” he...

The Secret Life of ‘Nomes – Tantrums

Though the biggers never see it, there is much going on in their own backyard where the ‘nomes make their home…

The biggers were at it again: something about a trip to the Muffdives being cancelled.
Mother Bigger was throwing one: something about her tan. The teenagers, of course, were completely over the top.
Big Bigger started shouting, and the gnomes all ducked as something flew through a window that wasn’t open.
Everyone fell facedown as a flatscreen tv wound up in the pond, where it made a ...

Ian Bristow Inspires – Lure of the Flame

Writing inspired by the art of Ian Bristow

She felt the lure of the Flame, like a soft caress against the edges of consciousness – a promise unfulfilled. It called to her from the deep – a primal yearning to seek the fires below, the fires from which her very soul was wrought. Like a lover seeking the beloved, she yearned to be reunited with the source of her essence – the living flame that burned in the deeps.
Each time she woke she would rise and stand at the point where she could best feel ...

Drabblings – Maisie

Telling an entire story in just one hundred words…

Maisie panicked when Sheena collapsed.

For a moment she’d no idea how to get out to get help. Then Maisie remembered the dog door and pushed herself through it, her skin scraping painfully as she did so.

Then what?

The main road ran past the drive and she ran up it as fast as she could. But how to stop a car?

Only one way.

The man who got out sounded disbelieving. “There’s a pig in the road. Just lying there.”

But he followe...

Moonbeam Farquhar Metheringham IV Advises on Writing Heartbreaks

Moonbeam Farquhar Metheringham IV takes time from his immensely important life to proffer profound advice to those who still struggle on the aspirational slopes of authorhood…

I scarce can bring myself to greet you, my pupil.

The only reason I am setting out these words is from the profound sense of duty that every pedagogue owes to his most devoted students. In happier times I was renowned for my science-fiction work ‘Fatswhistle and Buchtooth’ – a light-hearted escapade of two heroes who...

Timepiece

Time. Thief of life
Celebrated in each tick
Clock faces smiling
Cogs turn too quick
Day climbs past night
Neither stops nor waits
No care for humans
Nor interest in their fate

©️jane jago 2024

The Easter Egg Hunt – XXX

Since Ben and Joss Beckett took over The Fair Maid and Falcon, they have had to deal with ghosts, gangsters and well dodgy goings-on. Despite that they have their own family of twin daughters and dogs, and a fabulous ‘found family’ of friends.

December arrived with frosty nights and a great deal of festive jollity, accompanied by a great deal of work. Even with the college students I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, which I privately enjoyed though I’d not want to do it permanently.
It was ...