Ten-Minute Blog Break - 19th January

Logo by Melany Pietersen

The creative profession suffered a couple of significant losses last week in the shape of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, sad deaths made sadder still by the fact that both seemed to have much work left to give (as this article about David Bowie's incredibly creative final months illustrates). But the reaction to their passing is also a reminder of the power of art to stir our memories and emotions.

There were tributes to both men all over social media, but I particularly connected with KM Lockwood's response to the loss of Bowie and Rickman (and let's not forget Lemmy too).

Miriam Halahmy was on Words & Pictures over the weekend celebrating her recent book successes, and in a post for Awfully Big Blog Adventure she focuses specifically on writing stories about asylum-seeking children. It's a choice of subject that has become (sadly) ever more relevant over the ten years Miriam has been exploring it.

The Undiscovered Voices 2016 shortlist has been announced, and congratulations to the writers and illustrators that made it. But congratulations go to Katherine Lynas as well. Katherine only made the longlist, but rather than retreating into the background, she's written a blog post about the experience, demonstrating the positive progress she's made as an illustrator since joining SCBWI.

There have already been a lot of emotions on display this week, so thanks go to Kate Peridot for showing us how to channel them! Her post about how to evoke emotion in your reader is a great reference for improving the impact of your writing.

Finally, are you stuck for ideas this January? Then dip into Addy Farmer's grab bag of inspirational sources for weird, wonderful and ridiculous new stories!

Nick.

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Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner and 2015 honours recipient of the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for fiction.

Nick's most recent short story Todd Tempest Investigates can be found in issue 11 of Stew Magazine.