Jessie Ansons

July 25, 2014 · 10:26 AM

The writer who doesn’t like reading

I don’t like reading.

[gasp]

Yes, that’s right. I think it’s time to come clean with you all and admit that I’m a writer who doesn’t like reading.

So when I saw this week that the UK Telegraph published the list of ‘100 novels everyone should read‘ I decided to set myself a goal: I would read every one of the books on that list before I die.

Our bookshelf at home has 4 of the 100 on the list – seems like a good place to start!

I then did what every person does when they see a list like that and counted how many on the list I’d already read.

Continue reading →

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Filed under BLOG: The Duchess of Charlestown

Tagged as 100 novels, Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide, reading, Telegraph, writing

July 23, 2014 · 6:57 PM

Two short men (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Marie Gail Stratford at http://mariegailstratford.wordpress.com/

The office was too small. They’d just employed a bunch of temps and crammed them into the corner by the window.

‘Check this out!’ shouted Jeremy, pointing outside. Everyone but Julia rushed to the window. She just rolled her eyes.

She never liked short men. Jeremy and his brother were only 6 inches tall. She had a good two inches over both of them.

But when Jeremy and Simon began clambering over the temps, Julia stretched her slender wooden body across the room to have a look.

‘Is that it? A bearded man? And he’s not even using a proper computer!’

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Today’s Friday Fictioneers is a #replyfiction to Mr Binks’ The Bearded Giant. To understand my piece, you might like to go there first.

Follow @jessieansons

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information see: http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/25-july-2014/

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Tagged as chopsticks, cutlery drawer, flash fiction, fork, Friday Fictioneers, knife, mac, reply fiction

July 17, 2014 · 9:35 PM

Grandpa’s office (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Adam Ickes at http://adamickes.wordpress.com/

Boxes, folders, papers and…

‘Check this out! It’s a pronghorn sheep!’

‘That’s not a pronghorn you idiot, it’s a longhorn.’

‘You two have no idea. It’s a stronghorn. I read about them in at school.’

Triplets are supposed to be close. Finish each other’s sentences. Read minds!

But all they ever did was fight.

Continue reading →

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Tagged as Friday Fictioneers, Grandpa, Pronghorn, Sheep, Triplets

July 17, 2014 · 12:38 PM

The Blog Hop – why I write and other notes about writing

It’s time to do my very own ‘Blog Hop’ where I answer 6 questions that reveal my writing process and why I write. Kel from the Naughty Corner of Social Niceties posted her blog hop last week and kindly passed the baton to me.

I’ve also nominated three of my favourite bloggers (and favourite people, come to think of it) to do the same.

It’s Blog Hop time!
Image by Dean McCoy at https://www.flickr.com/photos/deanmccoyphotos/5795008697

1. Why do I write?

Continue reading →

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Filed under BLOG: The Duchess of Charlestown

Tagged as blog hop, blogging, blogs, hopscotch, writing, writing process

July 9, 2014 · 7:30 PM

Unicorns and rainbows (Friday Fictioneers)

Image from Kelly Sands at http://appropriateadult.wordpress.com/

“There’s a unicorn who lives in a stable above the clouds and his name is Paul and he visits me just before I go to sleep at night and every boy has his own unicorn.”

His older sister scoffs and says, “There’s no such thing as unicorns.”

Continue reading →

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June 23, 2014 · 8:57 PM

The Story Behind the Scenes

A lovely little write up about our group that meets once a fortnight. I agree with Maree: this is one successful little group!

A Writer's Mental Notes

Behind the stories there’s a group of enthusiastic writers working hard. Once a fortnight in a house in Newcastle, seven writers gather to share their work, offer encouragement, critique and constructive criticism.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to be part of such an industrious group of people. We range in, age, experience, genre and even gender. But our common thread is our passion for writing.

I’ve found it so important to share ideas, knowledge, fears, hopes and dreams. The support of a writing group can be valuable for improving writing skills, boosting confidence, challenging thoughts and having fun.

Together we’ve achieved so much in a short time; we’ve won numerous competitions, prizes, awards, commendations, been published in newspapers, online, e-books, hard-cover books and attended public events, live reads and radio shows.

We are a force to be reckoned with!

I enjoy a balance of spending time writing alone, coupled with the…

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June 20, 2014 · 7:35 PM

The old farmhouse (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Mary Shipman

‘But the man said you shouldn’t go in the old farmhouse, Justin…’

‘Our one source of light and warmth is about burn out, we have no more firewood and it’s going to be a cold night. There’s bound to be some old planks in the farmhouse we can use.’

Continue reading →

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Tagged as camping, farm, farmhouse, fire, firewood, paranormal

June 12, 2014 · 7:06 PM

What’s the one thing you’d do…

…if you knew you wouldn’t fail?

You may have been asked this before. It’s the type of thing that’s asked at the beginning of motivational business conferences as the ‘icebreaker’. Or it’s written in curly font with butterflies on a meme shared around Facebook getting one million likes and comments such as ‘so true’ and ‘luv this’.

But have you ever taken a moment to sit back and think… what’s the one thing you would do if knew you wouldn’t fail?

Do it now. Think of an answer!

Then I’ll let you read on.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under BLOG: The Duchess of Charlestown

Tagged as change, dreams, failure, nothing, success

June 11, 2014 · 8:01 PM

The black sheep of the family (Friday Fictioneers)

This week I’ve written a reply to Mr Binks’ story Docked Her which can be read here (Mr Binks did this with my story last week… and oh what fun it can be!)

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Image by Ted Strutz at http://tedstrutz.com/

She wanted to tell her father. But there was never a good moment. If he wasn’t at the dental surgery he was away fishing on the high seas.

Dad was a dentist and a fisherman. Just like his father. And father’s father.

But she wanted something else. He just wouldn’t understand.

Continue reading →

42 Comments

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Tagged as boat, dentist, family, fisherman, Friday Fictioneers, optometrist

June 6, 2014 · 3:55 PM

Comfortable footwear (Friday Fictioneers)

On the weekend our writers group held a live reading event at a local coffee shop in NSW, Australia. I was lucky enough to be the MC, and before introducing each of the readers I shared one of my Friday Fictioneers pieces. They went down a treat (Rochelle, you would be very proud)! To read about the event, follow this link.

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