“Do you really have to be the ice-queen intellectual or the slut whore? Isn’t there some way to be both?” Susan Sarandon
That’s me: I’m always searching for the middle ground, but usually veering wildly from one extreme to another.
I started this blog in 2010 (a few months after my 40th birthday) to learn the discipline of writing. I published new stories on a weekly basis, a mix of original short stories and essays covering everything from travel writing to politics. I created a Twitter account to promote the blog and was pleasantly chuffed at the slow but steady progress I made building a readership and improving my work.
I kept it up faithfully for a bit over a year but my ambition is to be published or produced by the time I’m 50 and I realised that weekly blogging, working full-time and trying to write a novel or screenplay was madness.
The focus paid off (for a while!). I completed a draft of a feature screenplay and a novel, both thrillers. But somewhere along the way I lost sight of my goal. So now I’m reviving The Siren of Brixton and refocusing both the blog and my Twitter account on my writing. I’m here to share and I welcome contact via the comments, twitter or using the form below
About the name
When I started this blog I lived in Brixton, South London. We lived right on Brixton Hill, a short stretch of the A23 that runs London to Brighton. There were ambulances, police cars, fire engines wailing up and down that hill day and night. It was a running joke for me and my partner, who called his fantasy football team the Sirens of Brixton. I’m kinda loud, so there’s a nice pun there, too. But let’s be honest, I really would love to think I’m the kick-ass fifty-foot woman towering over Brixton you can see in my header image.
Want to know more about me?
Here are a couple of old posts you might like
About the header image
The header image was created by my talented friend Alison Earls, as a header for the first iteration of the blog. It combines my love of pulp fiction art with Brixton streetscapes. Alison’s a copywriter and graphic artist for hire, at least until a publisher recognises her talent and gives her an advance on a novel.
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Thank you for the link to my site on Professor Nutt’s blog.
I abolutely ADORE your header. I am completely and totally smitten and I like what I have read at a quick glance over.
I will come back to you in more detail shortly.
http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk
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Thanks Peter. I should probably warn you that, on the internet, things aren’t always what they seem… 😉
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Well, if I haven’t learned that by now…
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Your writing is excellent. It may be terribly arrogant to say that as I read it I feel as if they are my own words but it is the greatest compliment I can pay you. Good construction and rhythm, compelling, absorbing – I am going much, much too far!
I shall now look at some of your articles and I shall be trying very, very hard to find fault.
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Why thank you, Peter. I take the compliment: I share many of your views, I think, but I also appreciate your clear expression and humour (and love of dogs!)
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