Category Archives: Writing

Let the meaning choose the word

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Jamie Jauncey

In 1946, George Orwell wrote of the English language: “It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.” He was speaking, in the main, … Continue reading →

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House of stories

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

In March we’re taking a Dark Angels group to the Highlands to see if we can write a collective novel. It’s a slightly mad idea but we’ve reached the point now where we have a group of people who’ve been … Continue reading →

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The next big thing

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

I’ve been persuaded by my fellow Dark Angel John Simmons to take part in something known as The Next Big Thing. It’s described as an author blog chain. This is how it works. I answer the questions below and ‘tag’ … Continue reading →

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Love-hate (part 2)

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

What I love about Scotland is its solemn hills     What I hate about Scotland is the mist that shrouds them What I love about Scotland its empty moors     What I hate about Scotland is the rain that scours them What … Continue reading →

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Love-hate (part 1)

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

There has been much talk of independence on the Dark Angels course this week. Location has a lot to do with it. Our venue, Moniack Mhor, the Arvon Foundation writers’ centre, is perched on a hilltop just above Loch Ness with … Continue reading →

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Tales of passion

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

On the second night of our recent Dark Angels advanced course in Spain, once they had all settled in, we decided to ask the eight students to take just a couple of minutes after dinner to say why they had … Continue reading →

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Spell-binding

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

Extraordinary things happen on Dark Angels courses. That is because the people who come on them are extraordinary. In truth, everyone is extraordinary if only given the chance to be him or herself. And that is perhaps the most unfathomable … Continue reading →

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The heart of things

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

Last month I was lucky enough to appear at two book festivals. One of them, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, is indisputably the world’s largest and this year was its best year ever, with a record 225,000 visits to Charlotte … Continue reading →

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Strange fruit

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

Tomorrow I leave for France for 10 days. This is a holiday that feels like it’s been a long time coming. The year so far has been one of hard domestic slog, clearing out my mother’s house in Kent and … Continue reading →

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Connection men

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Jamie Jauncey

In Russell Hoban’s extraordinary post-nuclear novel Riddley Walker, there are characters known as ‘connection men’, storytellers whose job it is to try and piece things together, reinforce the codes that bind their small communities, and at the same time make … Continue reading →

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