Not on my shift

This 99 word piece was written in response to the Carrot Ranch's weekly challenge with the prompt of ' write a story about an open door'. My immediate thoughts went to this experience. Earlier this week, my wife and I visited my 99-year-old Dad in a nursing home interstate because they’d advised us that his time …

How many trees can you eat?

I'm re-blogging this piece from Jim Webster, a very wise and very funny farmer and blogger from England. If you thought carbon sinks created by planting trees was the answer to global warming, think again. https://jandbvwebster.wordpress.com/2021/08/06/how-many-trees-can-you-eat/

Occasional Ravings: Never mind the jabberwocky, there are worse critters out there.

Recently I experimented with two mutual feedback writing sites: Scribophile and Critique Circle. My main motivation was to receive feedback from other writers without having to pay for it, which is what you have to do on most publishing and competition sites. The principles for each are similar i.e. critique a lot of other people's …

Jim Webster – Decolonise your diet

I am a long time fan of UK farmer Jim Webster and I am reposting his latest blog entry. It's a gem. Decolonise your diet! | Jim Webster (wordpress.com)

Occasional Ravings – Don’t let the old man in

Last night I re-watched the Clint Eastwood movie 'The Mule'. Now, I don't buy the premise that a charming nonagenarian should be forgiven for running drugs that destroy millions of people and make the scum of the earth rich. But the film is worthwhile on many levels, including the central theme of family being more …

Occasional ravings: The write sexuality

Dear editors of Hairy Nosed Wombat Magazine I have read your submission guidelines and note that you only accept the work of writers that identify as being somewhere on the spectrum of sexuality that doesn’t include traditional male and female role models, aka LGBTQI2S+, or are Persons Of Colour or have a disability. Before I …

Guest blogger – Sue Vincent

Please take the time to check out Sue's excellent work. Flash Fiction | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo (scvincent.com)

Blog Battle Spotlight

I'm honoured to be asked to be the first person spotlighted in the re-vamped 2021 version of Blog Battle. I'm sure you are dying to ask me a curly (or straight) question, so fire away. 🙂 Doug Jacquier in the Spotlight | BlogBattle (bbprompt.com)

Occasional ravings – The mysteries of submission

Like many of you, I occasionally submit to story and poetry sites and enter writing competitions. Like many of you, I find that success is rare. This is fully understandable, given the volume of submissions and entries that many of these calls receive and that most, if not all, rely on volunteer and/or low-paid judges. …

Short-listed at last !

Please excuse the minor piece of self-promotion but I've just made the short-list of 30 for the Better Read Than Dead annual short story competition in Australia, which had 200 entries. There could even be a cash prize if I make the top 3. Like many writers, I fling my work into the literary universe …