SHIP’S LOG 32: TIME, TIDE & THE TURNING OF THE YEAR
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F.K. Marlowe, Ship’s Belle
Ahoy there! Did you miss us? The Resilience is weighing anchor and hunkering down for the winter, with fewer posts while we restock the hold and find a doctor who can cure the dwarf’s unpleasant rashes (he says they’re due to his “experiments” but I have my suspicions about what he got up to last time we docked in Harlotstown).
The Captain and Quartermaster have holed up in the library, taking over from Barry the bee librarian, who’s either hibernating or drunk on the ship’s rum. Artie’s off “getting ready for the Christmas mugs – er – shoppers” (I’ll have a word with him later) and Fanny’s sadly deceased, as you’ll know if you’ve been keeping up (though don’t worry, since this is a fictional pirate ship sailing through a largely fantasized ocean, I confidently predict she’ll be resurrected before the Captain can sub-let her hammock).
So without more ado, splice the mainbrace, man the mizzen and prepare for boarding – it’s battle stations on The Resilience, as the ominous flag of The Holidays hoves into view…
In This Week’s Ship’s Log
MUSINGS IN DECEMBER
How did this happen? I could swear it’s only been a couple of weeks since I was alternating between choking down wildfire smoke and dodging sunburn! Yet here we are, poised at the top of the slippery slope that brings every year crashing to an end in a pile of wrapping paper, empty Bailey’s bottles and un-checked-off to-do lists, leaving us blinking in a daze and wondering where the bloody hell the last twelve months…
MARLOWE’S TINY TERRORS
Tiny terrifying tale of the month and silly horror stories I want to write anyway – the November 2023 edition.
These micro tales are a recurring feature in my Ship’s Logs and they can be seen as complements to the monthly Fear Bites on my website.
TIME FOR A TIPPLE
Some fools try to argue November’s too early to start on the mulled wine. To them I say, if the shops have had Christmas stock in since July, and the neighbours put their fairy lights up the day the Hallowe’en decorations came down, mulled wine in November is our inalienable right as human beings trying to cling to sanity. Not only that, but it makes the house smell heavenly. So there.
MY LATEST RELEASE
Whisper it, but one huge milestone I might just have managed to reach this year is getting hold of my first ISBN number! This is unspeakably exciting for someone who has loved books since before they could eat solid food without choking. It means Pennies for Charon might just, if all my Christmas miracles come at once, be available to buy in actual physical (and hence gift-wrappable) form before Santa packs up his reindeer for the year! Keep your fingers crossed for me, and stay tuned!
PHOTO PROMPT 7
The images in this album have been handpicked by our esteemed Ship’s Belle. They are not just photos, they are doorways to the depths of your imagination where countless tales are waiting to be spun out. Let the images be your muse, and guide you towards poems, titles, synopses, or even…
READY FOR SECRET SANTA?
In December the Tart and Tipple Society will meet at Smugglers Cove in Libertalia again for a lavish Yulefest, and rumour has it our not-so-Secret Sir Santa Bear may swing by to stuff your stockings with some special treats. Make sure to subscribe (it’s free!) so you don’t miss out.
And Finally…
As we sail shrieking toward the holidays, you can retreat from the madness for a quiet moment or two with the Captain and Quartermaster in the ship’s library. Pull up a chair, pop on your reading glasses, and relax. I’ll see you again once more just before the Big Day. Now hurry up and start writing those cards before you miss the last posting date!
/Belle 🥂🏴☠️
Books by F.K. Marlowe
ABOUT F.K. MARLOWE
F.K. Marlowe is a Shropshire lass who lived in London and Beijing before settling down with her husband, three daughters and rescue pup in Vancouver. She writes horror stories with a tendency to the paranormal, and Young Adult fiction with fangs and sass.
Marlowe doesn’t worry overly much about the placement of semi-colons and the like, having spent far too long pootling about in academia to take them seriously. (She has an Oxford first in English Lit, plus a Master’s and PhD from Leeds). She has, however, discovered that life is the best education for a writer, and plans to continue her studies there as long as possible.
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