A while ago, a gynaecology consultant advised me to ‘just get pregnant.’ Despite my protest during the appointment, this advice was reiterated in a letter. It took a while for me to call out this terrible and illegitimate ‘treatment’ for PMDD. This is what happened: open.substack.com/pub/grandthe...
She gazes at him from her tree. The pendant glistens in the moonlight. A silver flash catches his eye, and he draws closer. A forcefield between their bodies cements her to her spot. His eyes move from the stranger’s bare chest to where the jewel heart rests. That was my mother’s, he says #writeCBC
Firmly drawing a line at AI exercise videos. Doll-like smooth bodies and faces, zero personality. We have really lost our humanity. #generativeAI
My period is tomorrow and I have 7 books in my basket.
On the subject of my coffee addiction, a lovely neighbour reminded me that I’m a human being and not a ‘human doing’.
My #uncanny short story 'The Yellow Dress' is featured in 'In A Land' zine. Pick up your copy from their brand new studio in Hebden Bridge, or buy online: www.inaland.uk
'The Yellow Dress' can be read here: www.grandtheftcycle.com/p/the-yellow-dress-a-short-story
#ShortStory #AmWriting #Fiction
'At night, when the room is at its darkest, she materialises. Her energy is stronger when the clock strikes four. My legs begin to vibrate, as if a current is running through my muscle fibres.'
A #Femgore #PMDD story about a monster moving in:
www.grandtheftcycle.com/p/shes-not-herself-right-now
‘Just walk more to heal yourself, swim harder to cure your condition, pitch your tent in the countryside and behold a miracle will befall you. The basic message is, try harder.’ The Observer piece on The Salt Path left me with an icky feeling. This helped:
open.substack.com/pub/alimilla...
Starting to wonder if she even had all these noodles and bits of fudge… observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Now she’s in London, her pull is absolute, a magnetic field between heart and stone. Paintings whisper as he descends the museum’s womb, each canvas a siren. He falls to his knees at her monumental hips, the soft sheen of calcite arresting. In her blank face, he sees all women, all divine. #WriteCBC
I wrote about the strange goings-on in your local pub in 2011. I was there. I’m still there.
open.substack.com/pub/grandtheftcycle/p/the-yellow-dress-a-short-story
#Writer #AmWriting #Fiction #ShortStory
I used to be a game dev. This is a story about what happens when the job you love begins to hollow you out.
open.substack.com/pub/grandthe...
#GameDev #Crunch #Writer #AmWriting #Memoir
A gorgeous day at @womensprize.bsky.social with surprise visit from Her Majesty. Who wore it better?
Speaking about my PhD research today @leedsbeckett.bsky.social 💪 ‘She told the bot, and the bot understood‘ tests the viability of using Generative AI Art to expose the lived experience of (patient) communities. Read more: photovoiceai.art
He checks the hallway before letting her in. Stockings and high heels step into plush carpet and hot tub steam. ‘I’m Ava.’ Just like he pictured her. His for the night. Jen is left at the threshold, traded gladly for silk and thrill. His hand finds the small of her back without searching. #WriteCBC
He said she was too sensitive.
Now she is ‘too much’.
An uncanny short story in which I emotionally erase myself.
The Hardening: A Short Story open.substack.com/pub/grandthe...
#Writer #CreativeWriting #ShortStory #ShortFiction
My memoir about working in the video games industry with PMDD will probably be out sooner than GTA VI 😛
#GTAVI
That's a wrap on hour 3 (and 2000 words!) of the #24hourwritingsprint with @londonwriterssalon.bsky.social and #KrystalSutherland - I loved the quote by Annie Dillard she shared: "I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend. I hold its hand and hope it will get better.”
On Easter, he mostly just got rotten eggs.
My letter from me to him, written on the hardest days of the month.
Subscribe to my Substack for honest stories about #PMDD, rage, survival, and learning how to stay when it’s easier to leave.
grandtheftcycle.substack.com/p/letters-fr...
I am the mouse 😔
#pmdd
Tramadol Easter,
brain and book melt into one,
my body, all goo.
#haiku
How a stone giant taught me to stop shouting into the wind. A new personal essay on insights gained at The Old Man of Stoer, Laird, Scotland.
grandtheftcycle.substack.com
#writingcommunity #writer #personalessay #naturewriting
Don’t put your writing on a pedestal #WritingCommunity
My eyes pick up rotting eggs, start to sting and water. Tears drip down my cheeks, singing a sad song I remember from being a girl. The darkness touches my neck, presses down with the bitter taste of death. #writeCBC
#poetry #poem #worldpoetryday #anger
Currently reading a Northern author! @newwritingnorth.bsky.social #Kingfisher #NorthernBookshelf
A poem about anger on World Poetry Day 😡
Typing up a bunch of notes from my notebook. Finishing unfinished business.
My childhood teddy was Roland Rat, a rare breed in my home country The Netherlands. I named him ‘Hontat Mientat Timmetams’ (made up gibberish) and this is his replacement. My sentimental mum bought me (a 40-year old) a new Hontat from Ebay after the OG got lost in a bin bag mix up some decades ago ❤️
In 1928, as a widowed mother, my great-grandmother Mrs. Beretta opened her own library, long before public libraries were free. With World Book Day just gone and International Women’s Day tomorrow, I reflect on her story, the libraries we still have, and those we are losing. See link in profile!
