I've always had a difficult time with networking and marketing. I'm at my happiest building websites, and applications and stories, and at my worst putting my work about.Back in the 90s I ran a Web design/coding company and I hated the pitching side of the job so much I gave up the favoured-partner status a ... More >

Another post from another airport. This time it's Toulouse. A quick word to the wise. Don't look for coffee after 9pm in Toulouse Airport once you get through security. If you're desperate, though, there is a machine which will remind you nostalgically of the Share and Enjoy machines from Hitchhikers Guide. So with a cup ... More >

When I describe a plot I tend to talk about a succession of events. Something happens first. And then something else happens. A character works to achieve his desire. Fate, and other characters with their own agendas, first stand in his way, then push back, raising the stakes. But fiction dances to another temporal beat. This is ... More >

In case you're were wondering, Inflatable Ink is not dead. It's just pining for the fjords very very quiet right now.In fact I'm working on a new version of this site for launch in September with a new look (nothing too flash, mind) and on a new platform. In the meantime, I may even post ... More >

I have been preparing for something of a new start recently, and what better way to mark that than getting the study painted? When it came time to return my books to their shelves I noticed that the huge pile in the hall was teetering ever so slightly. "Good job I'm doing this now, then," ... More >

If I can be Candide with you...If you wondered what's been happening chez inflatable over the last three weeks or so (is it really that long? apparently so).. then this is a partial answer.The sun has finally come out, and the magazines and books say I can cautiously begin to plant out seeds and seedlings.I ... More >

Here's an exercise courtesy of the Introduction to Playwriting course that will probably be powering many of my posts in the coming weeks. This is best undertaken with a group, but you can also work with another person. All on your own? You can read through the participative section, and apply the principle to your ... More >

I'm somewhere over the Atlantic as I write this, near Reykjavik in fact. Which I guess shows that I do occasionally work on planes, even though the passenger in front of me has just cranked back his seat, clam-shelling my laptop so I can no longer see the screen. Suddenly my iPad seems like a ... More >

I've been working to combine various drafts into a single good one over the last few weeks, and I've found myself strangely reluctant to use old work. If it's bad I'm contemptuous, and I rewrite, If it's any good I'm seized by an urge to start again from scratch just to prove that I haven't ... More >