Instalments

It's a personal challenge for me to continue the stories that are running here at 'The Quirky Muffin' and get them finished in a less than geological time scale. Does that ever happen? Well, it used to. Let's not get into mental blocks or creative ennui, but at the moment they're not zipping along at all...

Maybe the creative muscle is out of shape. It might need some fine tuning, as does the language muscle. Teaching mathematics all week isn't exactly the best thing for creativity, after all. Maybe it just needs some spitballing. What are the story project right now, anyway?

- 'The Glove' is becoming ever more tortured, with three abortions and returns to earlier sections. It's extremely close to being stamped 'abandoned', but there is something there in the idea of a colony world that has had its technical and artistic cultures segregated centuries before. The vital question is this: Into what exactly is Steffan going to get mixed up?

- 'The Ninja Of Health' is rather more promising, as it seems to be flowing and have some momentum. The end point is shrouded in mystery, but I would be amazed if it didn't involve a poodle and a bucket of paper clips being deluged from above. Such is the way of things. There is a path. It has been prepared for.

- 'Diary Of A Laundry Robot' is an entirely closed book, but the principal obstacle seems to be in producing a drama in the world of the Querg Continuum, where the most thrilling events involve hats and openings of the great Book Of Histories. Oh, that was an idea I just had. Of course! It can be a prophecy story!

- The joined-up version of 'Oneiromancy', with actual continuity is coming, once a green pen and a bucket of ice water have been produced for editing purposes. (The ice water is for refreshment and tuning the columns of the aqua-phone. Ping!)

- 'The Wheels In The Sky' is in deep storage, but will kick in as other stories close, as will the second phases of 'Triangles' and 'Wordspace'. There will be words!

Hmmm, I'm actually feeling much more positive about it all now. There just needs to be an idea for 'The Glove'!

O.