Author: Morton S. Gray

I’ve always been good at starting stories, but not so hot at finishing them. I have files full of starts just waiting for an ending. Having wailed my dissatisfaction with myself to my writing tutor, Sue Johnson, she came up with a ridiculously simple way of solving the problem. Her suggestion was to write the… Continue reading Writing up to the End

I love writing. I hate editing. In an attempt to increase my editing productivity, I am trying a new system – the button productivity method. My estimate for a first pass at editing my RNA New Writers’ Scheme novel is one hundred hours work. I have painstakingly counted out two hundred buttons into a jar.… Continue reading Don’t Laugh – Button Productivity

Those of you who follow my blog will know that my step-father died recently. I can’t believe that it is only two months this week since he passed on – in a lot of ways it feels longer. My own father died from complications due to his multiple sclerosis at 58. Multiple sclerosis is the… Continue reading Multiples

You know those mornings when you are rushing to get out and have every minute planned? I got the car out of the garage today and came in to find a little boy in tears at the bottom of the stairs. ‘My head hurts.’ You go through the usual scenarios. Is there something he doesn’t… Continue reading Going with the Flow

My Mom is nearly 80. She always has a book on the go and so I decided to so some research and ask her a few questions about her reading habits.     Mom in her late teens.  Were you encouraged to read as a child? When I was at school and the air raid siren… Continue reading An Interview about Reading Habits with my Mother!

I haven’t read as many books this year, but I think that may have something to do with the fact that I have been writing and editing more. Or is the fact I’ve been tired and only managed a few pages before going to sleep? I record comments about the books I read and then… Continue reading My Top Twelve Books from 2012

Sorry I’ve been quiet lately. Family events took over. My dear step-father went into hospital in October for a cancer operation. After three hospital stays and traumatic times at home, he finally died in hospital on 8 December. I was with him up until an hour before he died. The funeral was yesterday. It was… Continue reading Sad Times

I’m living in nanoworld at the moment. I’m working on my latest manuscript “Written in the Coffee” and taking part in the annual NaNoWriMo challenge – National Novel Writing Month 2012. This means that I need to find constant stimulation for my plot and novel content.   As I drive my son to school, I… Continue reading In Nanoworld

Remembrance Day   How would I feel if it were you? My lovely healthy strong young son. Yet if times were different You would have no doubt gone To foreign fields of death and pain. Grown up quickly, become a man. Seen things no sane person should have seen. While I spent my time wondering… Continue reading A Poem for Remembrance Day

Walking down the road today, it was lovely to see how many people were wearing poppies. There were a fair number of cars and lorries sporting them too. It struck me that so many people from so many different walks of life are united by the simple act of buying and wearing a poppy. One… Continue reading United by Remembrance