Quiet Contemplation

It has been a long and productive day on catch up with emails and various admin tasks, mostly in relation to up-and-coming events and conventions. Countdown has begun for WorldCon, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago – thanks to Zoom I will be attending from the comfort of my writing room.

I’m looking forward to taking part in more panels and readings at WorldCon and other events coming soon. There’s certainly no time like the present to hone in on some of the subjects that strike a chord for me in reading and writing: intersectional feminism and queering the genres, non-conforming women warriors, challenging stereotypes, power dynamics, worldbuilding and the societies and creatures that inhabit them. I could go on…! It will be wonderful to share thoughts and ideas, be inspired, and add to that all-important reading list that never seems to diminish. Magic, literally magic!

In the meantime, around home are colourful corners for quiet contemplation. With more recent artwork to hang, I’ve been discovering unexpected partnerships between portrait and abstract mosaic landscape.

For further afield moments of calm, I feel grateful to have a river close by. Last Saturday involved a day’s cycling trip downstream as far as the sea, seeing the changing flow and feeling refreshed as the ocean’s vast expanse takes shape.

Yesterday evening, in need of a quiet moment and a big breath of fresh air, we took a meandering amble along the river, catching a riverside scene basking in a golden glow, before resting a while in Belle Isle park, where the weeping willows drape feathery tendrils against the riverbank.

Wishing everyone a good weekend ahead.