Every year Santa Cruz has a demonstration of living statues, and I believe this year is the fifth year they’ve had them. If you haven’t seen them before, living statues stand perfectly still (or try to!) until you put money in the hat (or whatever), and then they perform. They’re performing along the main street of Santa Cruz, the Calle Real. Everybody calls it “the Calle Real”, but nowhere along…
Yippee!
Untied Shoelaces of the Mind just bought my story “The Circle Line” for their next issue. So that’s me doing the happy dance.
Belmaco Cave
Belmaco cave, Mazo Before the Spanish invasion, Belmaco Cave was the home of the kings of Mazo. The first rock carvings were found in the 18th century, which was the start of archaeology in the Canary Islands. Today, it’s open to the public. The entrance where you pay (€1.50 for a resident adult) is also a handicraft shop. A little farther inside, there’s a small, two-story building housing various artefacts,…
My New Year’s Resolution
Like several of my writing friends, I find that I sell roughly one story for every ten submissions. The more I submit, the more I sell. The secret to steady sales is lots and lots of submissions. As soon as one market rejects a story, I send it off elsewhere – in theory. If they buy it, they usually want it exclusive for a while, typically 90 days. I wait…
Easter
Holy Week is a big thing in Spain, with lots of photogenic, religious processions. And this year I managed to miss the lot. Partly it was the weather – it drizzled and rained constantly for the second half of the week. Mostly it was a combination of laziness and business. I used to edit two of my blogs — the ones about the island of La Palma and El Hierro…
Easter
A lot of people on La Palma take Holy Week very seriously. The bigger churches hold solemn processions, which look very exotic to my English eyes. They take various heavy statues along the street, and some of these statues are beautiful works of art from the 16th century. But the bit that grabs visitors’ attention is the costumes. They remind me of the Klu Klux Klan. This is unfair, because…