Treehouse Adventure
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. West Lexham Treehouse Glamping in late August. Read more →
Tue, Dec 30 2014

Moon
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Shots of the moon, taken on 11th June 2014. Read more →
Thu, Jun 12 2014

Labyrinth
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. At Kilometer Zero in Paris, the road at which all roads in France begin, is a façade recognised the world over to bibliophiles and aspiring writers. Read more →
Sat, May 31 2014

As Time Goes By
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. It's been a long time since I wrote anything unique here. I've written a lot on my main blog, Cats and Chocolate, where I tend to do most of my blogging. Continue Reading →
Tue, May 27 2014

Reflections
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. It’s been a few weeks since I wrote anything – and I do mean anything. Perhaps I needed a break after blogging almost every day in November. What I do … Continue Reading →
Wed, Feb 12 2014

Failure and Imagination
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. A week ago, I watched J.K. Rowling’s commencement address at Harvard, from 2008 (the unsubtitled video is here, with a transcript underneath it but there is also a subtitled one here). What … Continue Reading →
Wed, Feb 12 2014

Do What You Love
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. …Love What You Do. These 8 words have being playing on my mind over the past few weeks. The truth is, we all have moments, weeks, months even, when we feel … Continue Reading →
Wed, Feb 12 2014

Deafness and Introversion
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. From the moment I could read, I became an introvert. The worlds I visited, the characters I got to know, the meditative and silent state I fell into – they … Continue Reading →
Wed, Feb 12 2014

Identity
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Identity is fascinating. If we didn’t find it fascinating, there would be no interviews, no memoir, no ‘I’, as such. To identify each other, we talk about interests, beliefs, our … Continue Reading →
Wed, Feb 12 2014

The Danger of the Single Story
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. (To turn the subtitles on, move your cursor over the screen and click on the drop down which says ‘4 languages’ and choose English.) We all know the danger of … Continue Reading →
Wed, Feb 12 2014

The Memoir Project
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. I’m reading a book at the moment called The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text For Writing and Life by Marion Roach Smith. When I bought it, I thought it … Continue Reading →
Wed, Feb 12 2014

Monday Writing Prompts: L-O-V-E.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. It’s been a while old friend! In honour of all the wedding planning I’ve been doing and the romance that is in the air, I thought I would focus this … Continue Reading →
Mon, Oct 21 2013

The Power of Words, Reading and Information.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Yesterday, I read the text form of Neil Gaiman’s lecture at the annual Reading Agency lecture. I’ve found it hard to write recently. I’ve even found it hard to read, to … Continue Reading →
Fri, Oct 18 2013

The Road Less Travelled.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. For the sake of the argument, lets look at a metaphor that has been done to death: life as a journey. To take the road less travelled means that you’re … Continue Reading →
Mon, Jul 22 2013

Being Kind.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. This has been on my mind a lot lately. How to be kind – how kind other people are to each other, how kind we are to ourselves. What does … Continue Reading →
Mon, Jul 22 2013

Navigating Deafness.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. The above video has a lot that I can relate to. Although I never had speech therapy (there are a lot of theories as to why my speech is so … Continue Reading →
Mon, Jul 22 2013

Writer Interviews: Maggi Summerhill.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Maggi is Danish, but lives in Wales with her husband and two boys. She has a Masters in creative writing and script writing and has contributed to a number of … Continue Reading →
Thu, Jun 20 2013

Words of Empathy.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Writers don’t write from experience, though many are resistant to admit that they don’t. I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, you’d get maybe one … Continue Reading →
Wed, Jun 19 2013

Monday Writing Prompts: Memory.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. This week’s Monday Writing Prompts focuses on memory and how we remember things. Writing about our memories, the past and perceptions of the past can yield interesting results. For example, … Continue Reading →
Mon, Jun 17 2013

Hope.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter … Continue Reading →
Thu, Jun 13 2013

Moving Towards Deaf Unity.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. I have never felt that anything really mattered but knowing that you stood for the things in which you believed and had done the very best you could.”– Eleanor Roosevelt. … Continue Reading →
Thu, Jun 13 2013

The Art of Asking.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. (To turn the subtitles on, move your cursor over the screen and click on the drop down which says  ‘4 languages’ and choose English). If you watch the above video, … Continue Reading →
Thu, Jun 13 2013

Quiet.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. We know from myths and fairy tales that there are many different kinds of powers in this world. One child is given a light saber, another a wizard’s education. The … Continue Reading →
Thu, Jun 13 2013

Fiction Friday: Non-fiction books that might change your...
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. I know this post is late – life is conspiring to make me have less time for blogging! Maybe Fiction Friday should be Fiction Weekend! Although my aims with Fiction … Continue Reading →
Sun, Apr 28 2013

Innocents of Oppression by Nick Sturley.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. I finished reading Innocents of Oppression about a week and a half ago, and I just didn’t quite know how to review it. It is an immense achievement, because it … Continue Reading →
Tue, Apr 16 2013

Monday Writing Prompts: Dialogue.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. I’m the first to admit that dialogue is probably my weakest link. I don’t think it’s because I’m deaf, although not being able to ‘eavesdrop’ on conversations or remember conversations … Continue Reading →
Mon, Apr 15 2013

Monday Writing Prompts: Winter Is Coming.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. The weather in the UK at the moment is nothing like March, the season when March Hares spring to life in the fields, when birds build their nests and daffodils, … Continue Reading →
Wed, Mar 27 2013

Monday Writing Prompts: Deaf Identity.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Today is the 10th Anniversary of BSL (British Sign Language) being recognised as a language in it’s own right. There is still a long way to go for BSL to … Continue Reading →
Mon, Mar 18 2013

Fiction Friday: How to Look for Ideas.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Sorry it’s late – it’s been a busy week! This post also falls under the Writing Advice category – basically it’s a short but sweet post on how to find … Continue Reading →
Sat, Mar 16 2013

Writer Interviews: Sophie Woolley.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Sophie Woolley is a deaf writer and actor well known for her quirky plays, such as When to Run. She has created a brilliant parody series called Deaf Faker on … Continue Reading →
Thu, Mar 14 2013

Monday Writing Prompts: Spring.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. – Lewis Grizzard. 1. What does Spring mean to you? Is it your favourite season or are you … Continue Reading →
Mon, Mar 11 2013

Fiction Friday: Guilty Pleasures.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. This Friday, I’ve been thinking about those series of books I’ve read that can be classed as ‘guilty pleasures’ – simply because even though they’re fun and great to read … Continue Reading →
Fri, Mar 08 2013

Writing Advice Series: Making Time.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. In my time, I’ve read a lot of different advice about making the time for writing, or creative endeavours. A lot of the time, it seems that people say things … Continue Reading →
Wed, Mar 06 2013

Monday Writing Prompts.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Mondays are always a bit difficult – the day that follows the weekend will always have bad press! Personally, I see it as a chance to set myself up for … Continue Reading →
Mon, Mar 04 2013

Fiction Friday: 5 Must-read Books.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Every Friday, I’ll blog about something to do with Fiction – whether its about writing fiction or about reading fiction. My first FF post is a 5-book recommendation – books … Continue Reading →
Fri, Mar 01 2013

Update and Housekeeping…
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Its the second month of 2013 and I realise that it’s been a while since I’ve updated here at Destiny is Choice. I’ve been doing a bit of blogging and writing on Cats and Chocolate, but have definitely neglected my readers here! Part of it is being ill with an ear infection for about four [...]
Mon, Feb 04 2013

Writer Interviews: Cathy Heffernan.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Cathy Heffernan is a Deaf journalist from Dublin, who has written and worked for the Guardian and has extensive experience directing and producing in television and documentaries. What kind of writing do you do? Right now, briefs and scripts for Hands On, a TV programme for deaf people in Ireland. But my regular job is [...]
Tue, Jan 29 2013

Supernatural.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. It’s more than half way through NaNoWriMo now, and I took a break yesterday because otherwise I think I might head for burnout! Or maybe not, we’ll see. As much as I feel I need a break, I know that I hate getting left behind. Especially when writing is like an addiction – the more [...]
Wed, Nov 21 2012

Progress.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. I’m at that point with my NaNo novel where I’m wondering if I’ll have the energy to reach 50,000. On Friday, I almost headed for burn out by reaching 17,000 because I knew I wouldn’t get any writing done over the weekend – my family, man, and sister’s man headed to Northamptonshire to celebrate the 18th birthday of the [...]
Mon, Nov 12 2012

A Manifesto.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Happy Sunday – hope wherever you are you’re having a good day. I’m listening to Corinne Bailey Rae on my iPhone (with a neckloop) and pondering the next chapter I’m going to write for the NaNoWriMo novel. Anyway, I’m also reading @WriMo: A 30 Day Survival Guide for Writers by Kevin Kaiser. Last year my companion was No Plot, No Problem by Chris [...]
Mon, Nov 12 2012

Second Time Around.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. So, its been a week – and I have a good excuse, promise! I’ve been struck down with a nasty cold and on Thursday, I started NaNoWriMo for the second time. So I’ve just lacked general energy between the cold and monster episodes of writing. I’m writing this blog post because I’m having a slight crisis. It isn’t that I don’t have a story – [......
Mon, Nov 12 2012

Writer Interviews: Genevieve Barr.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Genevieve Barr is best known for her acting in The Silence, and more recently in The Fades. When she is not working as an actress, she works as a freelance disability consultant for media companies and non-for-profit organisations. Genevieve is an ambassador of several national charities – Action on Hearing Loss and AFASIC as well [...]
Fri, Oct 26 2012

The Question of Literacy.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Literacy is one of those things that still continues to be a hot topic, even when most of the UK population are literate (according to UNESCO, its at 99%). It isn’t the case all over the world – and most illiterate people tend to be women, which is a topic for another post. I watched [...]
Fri, Oct 26 2012

Nightmares.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. When you’re a child, your imagination runs riot. The things you see, learn and experience are a recipe for daydreams and nightmares. Sometimes, as adults, we forget that part of ourselves – the unknown aspect of our subconscious, the child within who makes things up and plays on your fears during the night. Watching horror [...]
Wed, Oct 24 2012

Writer Interviews: Melissa Mostyn-Thomas
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Melissa Mostyn-Thomas is a journalist, editor, blogger, film-maker and visual arts practitioner. She is well known for her fashion writing in the 1990′s and her blog, The Mostyn-Thomas Journal, as well as her writing on the arts. What kind of writing do you do? Since 2004 I have written mainly about the arts for a variety [...]
Fri, Oct 19 2012

Belonging.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. What does it mean to you, belonging? Does it mean belonging to a group, or to another person, or to yourself? Is belonging essential for living a happy life? Is belonging something to aim for? I have always wondered this. As individuals, do we have to belong to a particular group in order to create [...]
Tue, Oct 16 2012

Writer Interviews: Nick Sturley.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Nick Sturley is the author of Milan, a genre bending novel. His forthcoming novel, Innocents of Oppression, is released on 26th October. Tell me about yourself. I’m, 44, profoundly Deaf BSL user. I also have Usher syndrome. I live in South Croydon, but grew up in Cornwall although I spent my secondary and further education [...]
Fri, Oct 12 2012

Writer Interviews: Amy Sargent.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Writer Interviews is a series of interviews from writers aiming to inspire and inform young D/deaf and emerging writers. Writers can learn a lot from each other, by sharing their ideas and resources. Amy is a deafpreneur, writer and speaker. Her book, A Survival Guide for New Deafies, raises awareness of late-onset hearing loss. Her website [...]
Fri, Oct 05 2012

Geek.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. A recent encounter of the third kind made me think about how people define themselves. The third kind being, of course, Facebook (sorry…). I don’t exactly know what it is that made me accept, that I am, in fact, a geek, but it won’t come as any surprise to long term readers of this blog. [...]
Wed, Oct 03 2012

Writer Interviews: Emily Howlett.
Fate is Chance. Destiny is Choice. Writer Interviews is a series of interviews from writers aiming to inspire and inform young D/deaf and emerging writers. Writers can learn a lot from each other, by sharing their ideas and resources. Emily is a professional actress, writer and presenter who plays both Deaf and hearing roles. She writes regularly for The Limping Chicken, and [...]
Fri, Sep 28 2012