Great name for an old black and white war film I saw as a kid but also entirely relevant as I’m going on a writer’s retreat this weekend. Actually “Retreat? Hell Yeah!” would have been better. Nine aspiring writerly types have submitted one short short story and one long short story to be scrutinized by Terry Dowling, Cat Sparks, and Rob Hood for a couple of nights and daze up at Leura in the Blue Mountains. And the best thing about it, apart from the opportunity to spend time in the company of likeminded loons, drink fine wine and discuss writing, writing and more writing? I was forced to pop the cork, shatter the seal and drown this goddamn word drought that’s been plaguing me these last six months. The words have begun to flow….

… and flow… 

… and flow…

And I can’t tell you how good that is. Well I could, but I’m too busy writing again.

I had hoped to submit two new pieces, but time constraints forced me to go with a new short work Fat of the Land and with the first act of Grimshaw : The Binding Passage. Which is a good thing anyway as I been nibbling away at the edges of Gimshaw for some time, and now I’m gonna bite off more than I can chew again. I’ve got till May next year to have the manuscript super shiny, and this retreat is gonna be great for getting me back into it.

So yeah. Coolness. 

Jeremy