Logic of images...

Ask him for an explanation, Lizz - he's the best one to tell you. If someone said something to me that I wasn't entirely sure of the meaning of I wouldn't settle until I was sure - I'd want it crystal clear in black and white. Basically I think he's simply saying stick to your own ideas, don't nick ideas ands metaphors from others (which is more or less impossible as far as I'm concerned, because there's nowt new under the sun) and rely on your gut feelings. My advice would be a line from an old Adam Ant song - 'Listen close to what men say take what you want, what you want, what you want and throw the rest away.'

No, I've had a really frantic day writing and I've made the most of it, because like most of us there are great, fat swathes of time when I'm not emotionally capable of writing a sodding thing (at least anything worth reading.) I will read your new stuff, though, and you'll know when I have because you'll see a huge hole in the fence and bloody great flipper prints going to and fro across the earth - I rarely read anything worth reading without leaving comments.

It'll probably be tomorrow, I'm on a rare high and I have to keep writing for a while.

They are stunning but very brutal, Lizz, but then a lot of my efforts are brutal too. All creative tasks that we indulge in help to leach out our angst..... I particularly like the nude with the black blood seeping from her eyes - that's a very powerful image.

When I get around to it I'll put some of my artwork online and post a link. Shit, if you think you're weird you ain't seen nothing yet.....

If you fancy reading something a bit freaky, a bit different, shall we say, read a story I wrote a while back called Flat Nine - it's on my profile, it's about fourth one I posted.

I got it, Lizz, I sent you a reply but I'm really knackered right now - I had a fantastic day yesterday and a not particularly pleasant one today (which I won't go into right now), and I might not have hit the reply button properly..... Let me know if you got it or not, I'll speak to you tomorrow. I like your writing and your art, and I know from bitter experience that anything that is brutal, bloody, weird or DIFFERENT doesn't always get the response you might hope for. One of the secrets of building contacts on a site like Abc is spending a bit of time reading and commenting on a huge variety of stuff (which I know you're already doing)- variety is the spice of life, and it all adds up to the wonderful whole that is a human being.

One point that's just come to mind is you have to remember that you as an individual are trying to communicate with a very varied world. I know, I've tried and largely failed to make my somewhat unusual voice heard for most of my life. You can't communicate to them all, it's not possible, but you can pass on your thoughts/feelings without frightening the shit out of the general public. Sort of, if that makes sense..... What am a I saying - have you read some of my crap? Read The Mahogany Hippopotamus sometime, and then the sequel, The Hippopotamus And His Hippopotamissus.