Another new beginning - and some good news.

It's been in intensive care for far too long while I think why I write and what I want to write and who's going to publish it and read it.

I've been reasonably successful with short stories lately but am still struggling with flash stories. I enjoy writing them but I can't seem to factor that succinct poetic frisson into them. I end up with something too ordinary. Too many flash stories that win competitions feature domestic violence, child cruelty and neglect. Most people's lives are not like that so why create the myth that it is normal? They make me feel it and I think...I can't do this. I've not lived which isn't true. Rant over!

Stepping aside from my flash angst,  I recently read a fascinating article in of all places, the free magazine I receive as someone who buys a certain brand of vitamin and mineral tablets and all things healthy.  This is not a promotion for HealthSpan. I do know there are plenty more such companies selling them. However, I do like their free magazine. Yes, it tempts me to believe I should be taking far more supplements than I do but I know what they're doing and stick to the small number of supplements I have taken for years and suit me well.

There are many articles about well-being in general, nothing to do with supplements. So I was gripped by a feature in the latest issue,  entitled "The Reading Cure" , a great article by Madeleine Bailey  (Incidentally, I have scoured the magazine and the author for fear of violating copyright but can't find anything. So if I have trodden on delicate toes, I apologize will remove this post immediately. I can't do more than that.)

The pice is full of insightful comments about the mental health benefits of reading books. I could quote paragraph after paragraph but I'll just quote this one:

"According to research from Emory University in the US, reading novels helps increase our brain's neural connections. These links between our nerve cells are important for memory and cognitive reserve -- the brain's capacity to fiction efficiently despite age-related changes, Meanwhile, research from the University of Pittsburgh showed that reading for at least an hour a day can help reduce the risk of developing dementia in later life."

We readers and writers don't need to be told the benefits. We know!

This brings me - seamlessly, to tell you to await some good writing/publishing news from me very soon. Watch this space.