Happy Monday everyone. I hope you’ve had a good weekend. I thought it was time for another little update. First things first, Blossoms of the Apocalypse is currently sitting at 23,000 words. Just under half way through. Still going easy, but haven’t written any over the weekend due to work and time constraints.
Last night, I made a joke to Tabby about a horror short story, just before we went to bed, because what am I for if it’s not for giving her nightmares. I was joking when I said it, then it kept on going around my head and I thought this would make a pretty decent short story, a YA horror. This morning, I woke up at half 7, got on the computer and started typing away, having 2100 words done before work started at 10 (I work from home, so it meant commuting from my writing office upstairs to the kitchen downstairs). All the way through my shift I wanted to just go back upstairs and carry on. After work finished at 6, I got back to writing and finished the short story at around 2700 words. Wednesday is my next day off, so I’ll edit and work on it then and hoping to get it posted on Thursday or Friday this week.
So I think my writing has been going pretty well recently, and after writing barely any fiction this year, I’ve written more than I write most years in the span of three weeks. Feeling very productive.
Other than that I’m aiming to finish watching all of the films that Dario Argento directed in the next couple of weeks. Apart from Five Days in Milan, which I can’t find a way to watch legally in the UK. So expect a fair few Argento reviews soon. I’ve already written one for Deep Red, which will be published at some point this week.
After watching Suspiria last year, which I absolutely loved, I’ve been making my way through his films. In a few weeks his latest, Dark Glasses, is getting its UK premiere at FrightFest, which I’ve got tickets for along with Tabby and my mum. Argento will be introducing the film and doing a Q+A afterwards. Very much looking forward to that and want to make sure I’ve watched as many of his as possible before going. Only got a few left, as I watched most of his early work last year shortly after Suspiria.
We have a whole plan for the day for walking around London. Something Tabby and I started doing a few months back was aiming to go to every street on the London Monopoly board, after we saw the sign for Pall Mall while wandering around as we had time to kill before meeting someone. So we’re aiming to go to a few other streets that day as well. It may sound a little sad, but it’s just a good way to find more things to do and sights to see, shops to explore. It’s done us pretty well so far.
That’s my update for this week. Thanks for reading and until next time,
Ashley
Ashley Manning 
That commute from your writing office to the kitchen sounds perfect. The only blessing of the pandemic was both of our jobs were re-located to our home. Wife took 1st floor. I took 2nd. She is still able to work from home to this day, while I recently started “first” retirement a couple months back (we’ll see how it goes…). I don’t miss the commute or the office one bit, and while working I got way more done at home than I ever did in the office. My wife feels the same way. Her company gets way more out of her at home than they could ever hope for in the office. Enjoy your week, and continued best of luck with your writing.
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Isn’t it amazing when you suddenly get a gust of writing inspiration and write more in a month than you ever did in a year? Those moments are few and far in between for me, so I can totally appreciate that. Hope this mojo continues for you, Ashley!
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It is amazing when it happens and it’s few and far between for me too. Hoping to ride the wave for as long as possible.
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