Category Archives: rants and raves

She’s a shit writer. Oh no she’s not. Panto reviews

Posted on August 18, 2017 by sophiewellstood

Reviews of The Best British Short Story 2017 are popping up over the web. It’s very interesting reading the opinions of strangers – and quite humbling too. People take the time and effort to take your work seriously and offer … Continue reading →

Posted in news, rants and raves, short stories | Tagged Best British Short Stories 2017, bookmunch, eleanor franzen, litro, Nicholas Royle, review, Salt Publishing, sarah waters, short story collection, Sophie Wellstood, tamin sadikali, the miniaturist, the paying guests | Leave a comment

starting pistol

Posted on November 13, 2016 by sophiewellstood

Back in the olden days when the world was in black and white (a student of mine genuinely believed this – I’m using it in a story) I was good at a couple of things: running very fast, often … Continue reading →

Posted in rants and raves | Tagged Big 5 competition, Big 5 competition winner, fiction, first prize, novel, novelist, The Sky is a Blue Bowl, Triskele Books, winning, Words with Jam | Leave a comment

Some News

Posted on November 6, 2016 by sophiewellstood

Oh happy day. It’s been a while since I blogged – such a long while in fact that since I was last here, the good folk at wordpress have changed the format of the site so much that I’m floundering … Continue reading →

Posted in rants and raves | Tagged Big 5 competition, Sheila Bugler, Sophie Wellstood, The Sky is a Blue Bowl, Triskele Books, Words with Jam, writing | Leave a comment

Weird Birdy Things

Posted on September 26, 2015 by sophiewellstood

The thing about blogging is that, for me, it’s just a personal record made public –purely personal, all my own, my solitary rants and raves and general nonsense, plus occasional moments of jollity and perhaps tenderness. But the personal was … Continue reading →

Posted in poems, rants and raves | Tagged Actors Church, Charm, Goldfinches, Polly Beard, Tom Beard, Tom Beard Memorial | 1 Comment

Tom

Posted on July 22, 2015 by sophiewellstood

When, in January, Tom told us of his cancer diagnosis and its dreadful prognosis, a familiar grief moved in, pulled up a chair and became a fixture of every waking minute. After a few weeks, I tried a new tactic for … Continue reading →

Posted in rants and raves | Tagged bereavement, cancer, death, grief, loss, Tom Beard, Tom Beard Obituary | 1 Comment

And Your Point Is?

Posted on March 31, 2014 by sophiewellstood

“The first same sex weddings will be able to take place from Saturday 29 March 2014 (subject to the approval of Parliament). This follows the passing of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which received Royal Assent on 17 … Continue reading →

Posted in rants and raves | Tagged civil partnerships, Clare Balding, Equal marriage, gay relationships, gay rights, kd lang, love, Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, marriage equality, Peter Tatchell, Rachel Maddow, relationships, religion, same-sex marriage, Sandi Toksvig wedding, Victoria Coren-Mitchell | 2 Comments

Please Hold.

Posted on March 25, 2014 by sophiewellstood

Imagine, if you will, the scene. It’s late at night in a deserted, dimly lit school biology lab, circa 19__ . A ponderous teacher of GCSE science leans over a petri dish, a small pearl of saliva forming at the … Continue reading →

Posted in rants and raves | Tagged Cardiff, customer services, HMRC, online self assessment, rage, self employed, self-assessment, tax | Leave a comment

Ivy House gig

Posted on January 29, 2014 by sophiewellstood

The writer’s table…Debi, Sophie, Sal, Helen and Andrew, pre-readings We couldn’t have wished for a better venue than the Ivy House for our Words and Music Event. A crowd of 50 or so enjoyed jazz, readings, an impromptu singalong and…

Posted in rants and raves | Leave a comment

Things I Have Learned Off Of The Internet

Posted on October 20, 2013 by sophiewellstood

So I’m still writing this ruddy novel. It’s why I haven’t been blogging or working on the short story collection. Can’t remember when I last had an idea for a poem. I have thousands and thousands of novel words yet … Continue reading →

Posted in rants and raves | Tagged Donna Tartt, novelist, procrastination, The Secret History, writing tips | 1 Comment