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I was very taken by Joaquín Torres-García’s toys—his kits or components—and that sense of these lovely, tactile ‘building-blocks’ being arranged and re-arranged. I made my ‘toys’ for The Kick-About No. 122 by making quick moulds out of cardboard boxes and filling them with quick drying filler, then slapping on some colour, and then sanding it…
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In our last Kick-About, we explored the theme of ‘Solstice,’ reflecting on the turning of the seasons and the balance of light and dark. Next, we turn to the work of Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres-García to usher in the new year. For all previous editions of The Kick-About go here. Gary Thorne “Being short on…
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In this, my last post of 2024, I’m announcing the publication of Patience Kite: A Folk Tale—a novel that has lived in my imagination (and in countless drafts and hard-copy, hand-annotated manuscripts) for well over a decade. Getting this story ready and ‘out there’ is my final push—as a forty-nine year old—to refine, resolve and…
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A few days back I was happy to announce that I’d published an anthology of short stories—Even the Most Shunned of Things—as a paperback, and that it was a nod to my imminent 50th birthday. As part of this same effort to both draw an imaginary line between ‘then and now’, and also to coalesce…
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A few images taken at Whitstable harbour by which to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
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So yesterday, I posted about a new short story, The Advent Calendar—written for The Kick-About and shared here in the knowledge that, really, no one likes to read short stories on a blog (or rather, on their phone). The Advent Calendar is but one original story written in response to The Kick-About’s fortnightly prompts and…
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For our festive-themed Kick-About No. 120, I got stuck into writing a new short story but was unable to complete it for the submission deadline. I’ve finished it since and am sharing it here to continue the tradition of cutting the schmaltz and sentimentality with a soupçon of spook. You can read The Advent Calendar…
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These photographs of Whitstable beach were taken a few days in advance of the ‘shortest day’—for the Kick-About’s Solstice prompt—though daylight has been in very short supply, what with the storms battering the UK and the stubborn low grey cloud characterising every waking day of late. I went out at low tide, when I knew…
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Our last Kick-About was inspired by the Advent Calendar—a prompt that invited us to explore anticipation and twenty-four windows of time. This week we turn our creative gaze towards the Solstice. A point of stillness and transition, the Solstice marks both the longest night and the promise of light’s return. Enjoy this latest collection of…
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Our previous Kick-About celebrated the blending of customs old and new, with the textiles of Melissa Cody, whose work combines traditional techniques with computer gaming. I suppose Advent calendars are a form of gamification in their way—each day a hidden reward revealed, a small but tangible thrill that keeps us moving forward. Enjoy this latest…
Red's Kingdom 