Sign in

Robin Herbert

@peterrobin.bsky.social
4.3K followers 3.5K following 5.1K posts

Sydney NSW | Writer Bisexual | Queer| Gay | LGBTQIA+ They/them he/him Book "Music the Devil Cannot Hear" peterrobinherbert.wordpress.com/202…

PostsRepliesMedia
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 7h
#WIPSnips October 8 "lizard" From Australian of the Year Gary, at his lowest ebb, has his spirits lifted in an unexpected way. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   When Gary woke, he found himself in a private hospital room being watched from the corner by a large lizard. It was about three feet long and held its head high in the air. He closed and opened his eyes, then rubbed them. The lizard was still there. A woman walked in who he recognised as the doctor who treated him the night before.
   “How are we feeling this morning?” she asked brightly.
   “There's a big lizard in the room.”
   “Don't worry. Hallucinations aren't uncommon in these cases.”
   She casually turned her head to the direction Gary was looking and let out a loud alarmed yell. The head of an orderly popped around the door and shouted to someone behind him, “Quick! The bastard's in here.”
   He entered the room followed by another orderly with a large cardboard box and they stalked the lizard, trying to herd it into the box.
   “Sorry sir,” said the orderly with the box.  “The buggers are big enough to trigger the automatic doors.”
   Gary didn’t answer, being helpless with laughter.
0120
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 8h
#LitHodgepodge 7 The Dogsbody is told from several viewpoints. In the chapter "Honour, Courage, Country" a school bully, now grown up and unremorseful, tells how he and his friends violently assaulted a gay student in an elite private school.
   He had pushed us beyond endurance so Warren says, “Get him” and Mike goes in and pushes him to the ground and he’s all, “Please no, please no”. Not so cocky now. After Mike, Gazza and I have kicked him a bit, Warren joins and gives him a few choice kicks in the head, although the rest of us were avoiding his head.
   It wasn't as bad as people make out. The blood just made it look worse than it was and of course Martin puts on this Oscar winning performance crying his eyes out instead of taking it like a man and learning his lesson.
   And his performance would have been for nothing except the cleaner decides to turn up early. He sees the whole thing, including us. So we scarper. The cleaner is already on his mobile phone 
   The hospital had to report it as an assault, even though the Headmaster had explained that he was running too fast in the corridor and fell down the stairs.
082
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
#WIPSnips October 5 "wall" From A Morris Minor on Mars #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   When Daryl got outside, he was glad that the harbour was near. He had guessed he was on the south shore and started walking westwards. He had been walking for two hours before the terrain became familiar. William Street. The Cross. The wall. The office. He heard a familiar voice behind him.
   “Hello Sir. Looking for some fun?”
   Daryl turned around and said, “Hello Tom.”
  “Daryl! Fuck you dressed as?”
   Daryl looked down at his clothes.  He had forgotten he was wearing a suit. “Secret mission from Universal Exports.”
0271
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
#WIPSnips October 4 "contract" (as in 'contract killer') From the short story, Super Snipe. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   Seeing I wasn't keen, Eddie tried to put me at ease, something at which, as you will already have guessed, he was not very good.
   “I wasn't really going to kill you. I was just putting the wind up you.”
   “OK,” I said. I wanted to sound like I believed him.
   “That cunt had it coming. He killed people for money.”
   “He… he wasn't very good at it.”
   Eddie laughed at this.
  “Don't hired killers carry guns?” I asked.
   “He did,” said Eddie, his tone suddenly menacing. “He just didn't have time to use it.”
   “You literally brought a knife to a gunfight?” 
   A line I never foresaw there would be occasion to use. Eddie's dark mood passed as quickly as it came. He smiled again and said, “I've always been useless with guns.”
0161
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Doing some clearing out. I came across a play list, 1980s style.
Cassette tape with handwritten contents, 
Bronski Beat - Small-town Boy
Weather Girls It's Raining Mem
Eurythmics - Who's That Girl?
Depeche Mode. Everything in Counts.
Clash: Go Straight to Hell
Chic Good Times
Tom Robinson - War Baby
130
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
#WIPSnips October 3 "petal" From the short story, Super Snipe #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   “Would you like to see my motors?”
   The voice was Eddie's and he pronounced it “mo'ors” replacing the ‘t’ with a guttural stop.
   “Your what?”
   “My motors. My cars. Do you want to see my garage?”
   He had a trace of some sort of English accent. Cockney maybe. I'm no petal, you can ask anyone. But seeing him ending some guy's life as casual as if he was swatting a fly … That's a first impression that sticks. I was wondering if I would soon be admiring one of his automobiles from the inside of a trunk
0121
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#WIPSnips October 2 "dent" From Australian of the Year A banned and therefore widely read tell-all book by a Chinese intelligence officer provides a surprising rescue for Dorothy's reputation.
   “Finally, sexism worked in my favour,” said Dorothy. “Really, I was Wombat, but the Chinese intelligence officers couldn't credit a woman, so I was demoted in their minds to naive go-between.”
   Eddie read from the book, “When it was trade secrets, Judy didn't think …” He looked at Dorothy. “Presumably Judy is you.”
   Dorothy nodded, "Judy - Dorothy. Get it?’
   Eddie continued, “...Judy didn't think there was any great harm but when Wombat started dropping military secrets, Judy became concerned.  When it became certain that Wombat would become Prime Minister …”
   “I come out rather well,” said Dorothy.
   “People love a redemption story,” said Scott. “This will dent Gilbert's precious reputation.”
   “But will it put a dent in their vote?” asked Liberty.
0120
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
#LitHodgepodge Hi, I'm Robin Herbert. My genre is hodgepodge. My books range through family saga, romance, fantasy and horror.
LITERARY This or That

PAPERBACK

STANDALONE

LAUGHS

TEA

VILLAIN

CHARACTER-DRIVEN

COMPUTER

SWEET

SILENCE

BOOKMARK

PANTSER

MINIMALIST

SLOW CRAFT

MIDNIGHT
1201
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
#WIPSnips October 1 "injury" Vibe from The Last Voyage of the Jeanie Deans "jessie" is (or was) Glasgorw slang for gay or effeminate #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   Teàrlach's gran caught sight of his black eye and tutted. “Ye've got a beauty there. Did you no hear o’ duckin?”
   Teàrlach laughed and said,”You should see the other bloke, gran.”
   “Not a mark oan him,” I said, making the old woman laugh. Then she grew serious and tutted again.
   “Och, yer awfy rough for a pair of jessies. I thought you'd  be collecting antiques and walking one of they wee doags.
   “We're no they kind of jessies, Mrs McKuen,” I said, laughing.
   “Aye,” said Teàrlach. “We're Glesca jessies. This is the sixties. We can be who we want.”
1180
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 30 "guard" From Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   When Gary reached his caravan, he fumbled for his key, unlocked and opened the door then, half way inside, turned to face Scott.
   “Just put the box down there. I have to tidy a bit. Make space. Thanks for the lift.”
He closed the caravan door. Scott knocked on it. Gary opened.
   “Look,” said Gary, “For decades I guarded my privacy, didn't let anyone apart from Maeve get close. I was fine. Then I tried to rejoin society and a bunch of rich lawyers stole my life savings. Thanks again for the lift. Keep safe on your way home.”
   Gary shut the door again and Scott knocked on it again. Again Gary opened.
   “You forgot your guitar. It's still in my car. I'll get it and let you alone.”
   Scott fetched the guitar case and brought it to the door, but he kept hold of it. “See you next week for the sitting with Maeve.”
   Scott let go of the guitar. He and Gary looked in each other's eyes for a moment. Gary smiled and said, “Yeah,” then he shut the door again.
0222
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 29 "well" Two in a row, from The Dogsbody: A queer seaside revenge tale. Martin meets his old school bully (who doesn't recognise him) and finds him being considerate. He's still going to take his revenge. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   When I came back Sal met me and said “Thanks, I was coming to ask for those.”
   “Don't worry, I'll do that Mr Cattaneo,” I gsaid.
   “No,” he said. “You shouldn't have to clean up that mess.”
   After a bit of arguing, Sal took the mop, bucket, shovel and gave it to Warren. I couldn't hear the argument that ensued but Warren apparently refused and Sal cleaned it up himself. Quite well too. He brought the bucket and mop back to me and said “Where can I empty and rinse these?”
   I took them saying, “I'll do it. You didn't have to do that, but thanks. It was very considerate, Mr Cattaneo.”
   “You shouldn't be expected to put up with just anything,” he said. “I used to be just like them.”
   As he walked away I thought, ”Well, well. Not a dick any more.”
0251
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Auntie Jack
000
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 28 "prime" From "Australian of the Year" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   Everyone said that Scott behaved badly that day. They couldn't remove him as the New South Wales nominee for Australian of the Year because he hadn't done anything wrong. Officially, there had been no massive security breach forty years ago, officially the crime Dorothy was accused of committing never happened. But they said he should have withdrawn. Or that his wife should have stayed at home. They said he was embarrassing the Prime Minister, obliging her to meet a traitor in her own official residence.
   If the Prime Minister was embarrassed she didn't show it. She shook Scott and Dorothy's hand, chatting with them as graciously as she had with all the other nominees, even adding an extra squeeze of Dorothy's arm and saying something confidential to her, making them both laugh.
   “What did she say?” asked Scott later.
   “She congratulated me on the painting. Said she was going to commission Maeve to do her official portrait. Then she said, ‘Maybe not exactly like that.’”
0251
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#SundaySnips "turn"
   “She's a witch,” said Mary, “She needs a proper witch's funeral.”
   “A witch's funeral is just leaving the body out in the open for the wildlife to eat?”
   “No, of course not,” said Mary. “That would be disrespectful. It's not a witch's funeral unless there's another witch in attendance. If there's no witch, a good female friend will do. When I killed Gran, they just burned her up and put her in a metal jar and when mum got better … you've heard this haven't you? I shot mum too … anyway we went and threw the ashes all over the place. But there's no nutrition in ashes so …”
   She sighed. “I always vowed that mum would have a true witch's funeral.”
   “And that she'd have it sooner rather than later,” I said.
   Mary burst out laughing and punched me playfully on the shoulder, “Don't be cheeky to your evil witch queen or I'll turn you into a frog or something.”
182
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#SundaySnips "turn"
   When Daryl awoke, Frye wasn't in the room, but he wasn't alone. An old woman, tall and thin, was standing in the doorway, looking at him. He thought for a moment he was dreaming, or hallucinating. The old woman spoke. “Who are you?”
   Daryl was saved from having to answer by the appearance of Frye in the doorway behind her, stark naked.
  “Hello Gran. Don't turn round. I didn't hear you come in.”
   Daryl pulled the sheets around him and found Frye's pants, hanging off the side of the bed. Frye's Gran gestured for him to throw them. She caught them deftly and held them behind her. Frye took them and put them on hurriedly. He went to the bedside and put on a table lamp. Daryl and she exchanged a look.
   “So this is what you do when Hugo's away, entertain rent boys?”
   “Sex worker,” said Daryl, making Frye wince.
082
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 27 "delay" My snips are kind of delayed this week. This is from Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   “There was a will,” said Gary.  “It was witnessed by Mohandas next door.”
But Mohandas was nowhere to be found. He had moved out and left no forwarding address.
“The family have engaged the most respected firm of lawyers in Australia,” said Maeve's solicitor. “That means they will use every dishonest trick in the book to deny, delay and run you out of money.”
   Gary and Simon had lived together four four years. All his belongings had been in that apartment and all his money was in joint bank accounts with Simon. They had all been closed and the bank was “not at liberty” to discuss the details. There was nothing Gary could do because Simon's family were rich and he was not.
0171
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 26 "observe" From the short story, "Super Snipe" #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WriteSky
   Some people really know how to throw a party. The second thing I noticed after arriving was that Eddie was not one such person. The first thing I noticed was that there were some high profile journalists among the guests, whose keen observational powers might lead them to spot that the key prosecution witness had walked in on the arm of Eddie's barrister. Fortunately and unaccountably, my fears proved unfounded.
0101
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The moon yesterday arvo.
Honey coloured full moon low in an evening sky over a city landscape.
020
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Sketch for a portrait inked in on Sketchpad, using colours from a separate oil painting. No AI
030
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Sketch for a portrait.
020
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 24 "meddle" From the short story, Super Snipe. Eddie meddles with the justice process. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   I first became acquainted with Eddie on account of my having accidentally seen him kill someone and having an appointment to testify against him at his murder trial. Eddie, out on bail, was anxious to affect an introduction but under the circumstances I did not reciprocate his sociable instincts with any great warmth or enthusiasm. Still, his persistence paid off and we came to an amicable arrangement whereby I would be a very unimpressive witness and he wouldn't kill me.
1251
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 23 "tumble" From The Rame Head Deck #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   The wedding party travelled to a wild part of Dartmoor where they held a riotous dance and banquet. They had a record player and Cutty was dancing to the Stones Paint it Black when she noticed a figure on the boundary of the circle where they danced, a young man, a hiker who had heard the noise and come to see what it was, watching her intently as she moved sensually, in her little black mini skirt.
   Her eyes became angry and dangerous.    The young man ran for his life with Cutty in fast pursuit. He was fast and agile, but every time he turned his head to look back, Cutty was close behind. She seemed to be born aloft with each step, sometimes not touching the ground for many seconds. She had a terrifying, demoniac grin. He eventually tumbled and Cutty was upon him. He offered no fight or resistance, but said, “Please don't hurt me, I didn't mean any disrespect.”
0190
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Nosferatu 1922
Film: Nosferatu
Count Orlock stands on the deck of a ship.
010
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 22 "meltdown" From Modified Rapture or A funny thing happened on the way to Armageddon It's the end of the world but tele-evangelist Very Reverend Samuel Harvey thought it would be a lot more fun than this. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   General Burton “Biceps” McCall was one of the most senior generals in America and Sam was his spiritual advisor. If there was anybody, Sam thought, who could pick up the ball here, it was Biceps and fortunately Sam still had his private number. He dialled it.
   “Biceps!”
   “Sam! You son of a gun! I thought you would have been raptured.”
   Sam explained the situation.
   “Leave it to me, Sam. I'll get the Salvation Force up and running with crack troops. Can you get about a hundred million dollars to me in the next day or so?”
   “General,” said Sam, “the world is coming to an end. There is no more money.”
   “Gold then,” said Biceps, “That big arena you call a church is full of gold. Melt it down. Crack troops don't work for free.”
Sam hung up. “He wants to bring mercenaries to Armageddon.”
  “More likely he wants it for himself,” said Clark who had been trying to muffle his laughter all the time. “Wouldn't do him much good. Gold's just a soft useless metal now.”
0180
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
#SundaySnips September 20 "crisp" A Morris Minor on Mars Daryl has bluffed his way into Hugo's home and finds a party in progress. And that he's out of his league.
   They drove to what appeared to be a fairly modest fifties modernist house.
   “Is this Mr Frye’s house?” asked Daryl
   “No, it’s Mr Albany’s house, but of  course it’ll be theirs after the wedding.”
Once inside, the semblance of modesty vanished. They stepped into one large room which appeared to go on forever. It was full of people in evening dress, there were tables with crisp white table cloths, topped with gleaming silverware and sparkling crystal glasses. Half way down, there was a man at a grand piano, accompanied  by a small chamber orchestra, playing light classical music. In the distance, at the far end of the room, a row of ceiling to floor windows was cantilevered up so that the guests could walk out onto the balcony and admire the harbour reflecting the setting sun. Daryl whimpered.
   “Did you say something?” asked Frye’s assistant.
   Daryl rallied and got back into character, saying with a grin, “You didn’t have to throw me a party, canapés would have been fine.”
092
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 21 "stream" From my oldies romance, Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   “Oh, by the way, you know how he said he'd never met me before?”
   Maeve made a mumbled acknowledgement.
   “He came clean.”
   Maeve stopped what she was doing and turned her full attention on him. “Came clean? Are we still talking about Scott?”
   Gary smiled and nodded.
   “The poster boy for all that's stodgy and conservative in the world admitted to rewriting the gay Kama Sutra with you?”
   Gary maintained his smile.
   “Is he going to go on television in front of a giant neon cross with tears streaming down his face and say the Devil made him do it?”
   “No he's not. But he won't keep it a secret.”
  “Has he told Dorothy?”
   “It was Dorothy's idea for him to be honest with me.”
0201
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
What scene makes you emotional no matter how many times you see it? 😭
121
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 20 "signal" From Modified Rapture or A funny thing happened on the way to Armageddon #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
Sam pulled a phone from his pocket and tried another number. Clark laughed. “Four foot thick concrete. Good luck getting a signal.”
He indicated a handset for a landline. Sam dialled a number.
“Garth? Garth Hardman?”
“Is that you Sam?”
“Yes. Where's the assembly point?”
There was a loud guffaw on the other end.
“You moron Sam. There's no assembly point. Nobody thought this was actually going to happen.”
“I spent over fifty million dollars outfitting the Salvation Force with state of the art weapons.”
The laughter on the other end went on for quite a long time.
“Let's face it, Sam, we're all demon food now.
0171
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 19 "tube" From A Morris Minor on Mars #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   “Oh don't try to talk, doctor's nearly here.”
   There were tubes in Daryl's mouth and nose, needles inserted in his arms attached to drips. The nurse was busy inserting another needle. When everything was attached she said, “This is for pain, you just press this button when you need to.”
   Daryl pressed it. And again. He had a splitting headache and a pain in his side. A woman in green scrubs came in. “Oh, you're awake Mr Lewis. Glad to see it. I'm Doctor Pham. We'll be wheeling you into the MRI to see what damage that bullet did, no don't try to talk, we don't think there's anything to worry about.”
   Daryl was wheeled about, prodded, examined and eventually relieved of the big tube down his throat. He looked at the identification bracelet on his wrist. “Gerald Lewis”. He was able to talk now but he found he didn't want to. No doubt there would eventually be explanations.
0201
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 18 "payment" From my oldies romance, Australian of the Year Gary regrets going dutch on a date. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   “Wow!” said Gary in a loud whisper.
   “Great decor, isn't it? But don't worry. The prices are very reasonable.”
   They were seated straight away by a waiter who seemed to know Simon well.
   Gary looked nervously at the bewildering array of cutlery in front of him. “Tell me how much my ticket for the concert was and I'll pay you now.”
   “Six hundred dollars. No hurry to pay.”
   Gary sat silent for a moment. “Six hundred dollars.”
   “Yes, I got cheaper seats because I wasn't sure of your financial situation.”
   “Six hundred dollars for one ticket?”
   Gary had five hundred dollars in the world and it was more than a week until pay day.
   “There's no hurry, as I said. Pay me tomorrow. Or whenever.”
   “Thanks,” said Gary, with an effort to seem unconcerned. “It's not like I can't afford it. I just didn't come prepared.”
1191
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 17 "effort" From my oldies romance, Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
“What does he do? I mean for a living? Is he a model?”
Michael laughed. “He has the looks, but he's a software engineer.”
Dorothy made a disapproving face. “What do you find to talk about?”
“Oh, this and that. You lot are giving us quite a lot of material. We're trying to figure out you and Scott.”
“Do you get on well? You and Callum's grandfather?”
Michael shrugged, “We both make an effort for Callum's sake.”
“He disapproves of you?”
“He doesn't say so. But, yeah. Probably. Doesn’t like the fact that Callum is financially supporting me. He thinks I should have a paying job.”
0171
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 16 "call" From my oldies romance, Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   The call never came. At first, Scott thought that his mother must have answered and sabotaged him in some way. But he realised the simple truth that his alcohol wrecked memory had let him down again and he had written down the wrong number. He didn't worry too much, after all he spent the night in that house and could simply return there. But that morning, he had walked to the station in a cloud of happiness, remembering nothing. He couldn't find his way back. Worse, he couldn't remember the name. For the next few days he sat in the pub where they had met. It was no use. It hurt so bad. Especially that Gary would think he had done it on purpose. He never saw Gary again. Not until that day at the beachside camp site. Forty five years later.
0180
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 15 "exterior" From A Morris Minor on Mars. In the back story, 9 year old Casey shows her precocious talent for horror. I thought up this special effect when I was a kid, but never tried it out. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   The final scene and set piece is in a room which is filled with furniture which has been covered with white sheets. Daryl walks around the room, hearing whispers and scuffling sounds but not seeing anything. Daryl stops to look out a window and every sheet flies off together and, flailing about wildly, they descend on Daryl, pushing him out the window. He falls to his death. In an exterior shot, Daryl falls about three stories and there is a final shot of his blood soaked body lying on some paving stones with wide staring eyes. These three shots, only a few seconds on screen, took months to complete and created a small scandal.  The three were forbidden from seeing each other. They were each taken to the police station and warned that they were lucky they weren't charged with trespass at the private aquatic centre where Daryl had climbed to the high board, fully dressed, and jumped backwards screaming in partly genuine terror, while Casey filmed him with a model of a house in the foreground, before running out, both laughing hysterically,  chased by security guards. It wouldn’t have been so bad but they kept having to go back to get the take right.
0181
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 14 "month" From my oldies romance, Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   A month before she died, Scott told his mother that he loved her.
   “I don't care,” she said, without bothering to look at him.
   “Sorry I spoke then.”
   “I don't know if I ever loved you. You weren't like your brothers. You were always off somewhere in a world of your own, even when you were a baby.”
   “It wasn't my fault then.”
   “Never said it was.”
   When the hospice nurse told him his mother was dead he cried loudly for over an hour. The hospice nurse, her initial sympathy falling off into undisguised irritation, told him that there was paperwork to do and that he needed to focus.
   The company that organised the funeral was called Wood Coffill, a name which had once caused his mother to laugh uncontrollably when she read it on a billboard on a trip to the seaside, long ago.
0190
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
#SundaySnips Spice in both senses from my first novel, The Writing Machine. CW Sexual description.
   After lunch Jenny had to leave. Nick and Vince went back to bed to have some more sex. By late afternoon Vince was gently, absently stroking Nick's cock to see if there was one more go left in it.
   "Only three weeks," Nick said, "this is torture."
   "If you can't come here I will go there," said Vince.
   "You'd never be happy in that cold damp country Vince. Besides, I sort of like it here," said Nick, getting on top of Vince and kissing him playfully on the face, just missing the mouth.
   "Do you think you can hunt through my larder and fridge to improvise something for dinner?" asked Vince, "and I'll go out and organise tonight's entertainment."
   "What's wrong with this?" asked Nick.
   Vince thought for a moment then, "Can't think of anything. Still, you'll like what I have in mind."
   Nick kissed Vince's nose, then chin and eyebrow. "OK, you get up first."
   Nick had a couple of pots boiling and a frying pan going. He was listening to something on the headset of his Walkman and hunting in the cupboard for spice.
021
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 13 "distract" From my oldies romance, Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   Scott's two brothers also lived in London, but they had good jobs and girlfriends. Scott drove a furniture van and had just started seeing a guy, but it was clear that someone had to go and that the logical choice was him. Someone had to go and help with the house, transport to appointments, to friends. Someone to be cheerful and take Mum’s mind off the fact she was slowly dying.
   “Since you haven’t come out to her yet,” his older brother had said at the airport, “it would be kinder not to tell Mum about your being …”
   “A furniture van driver?”
   “You know what I’m talking about.”
   And so Scott, right back in the closet where he started, had distracted himself by drinking heavily and having sex with a string of men.  The last of these men was, so Scott supposed,  Callum and Michael’s “funny old man.”
0241
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
#AwesomeCharacters
The Great Race. Jack Lemmon as Prof. Fate pops a child's balloon with his cigarette.
151
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 12 "wedge" From my oldies romance, Australian of the Year #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   In each direction, the empty road stretched to the horizon. Behind him, the yellow grey savannah undulated off to distant mountains, whereas before him it petered out into red desert and there was no definite horizon. The cloudless blue sky was empty save for a large wedge tail eagle wheeling in the sky and, as despairing people often do, Gary wished he was also a bird and could join it in the sky. Loneliness, poverty and homelessness were dark prisons, even for the young. But now…
   “I'm seventy one.” Gary said it out loud, and again, “Seventy one.”
0251
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 11 "exhaust" (fatigue) From A Morris Minor on Mars #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   When Daryl returned to his bedroom in the studio, he walked in on Tom and Brodie, so absorbed in a sex act that they were oblivious to Daryl entering the room. Daryl wasn't quite sure how to react so he stood there watching until there was a lull in the action and they both lay back on the bed.
   “When I said you could help yourself to anything in the house…”
   Tom started up, abruptly, but his guilty  expression was soon replaced by a broad grin. “This isn't what it looks like.”
   Daryl smiled wanly and went to kiss Brodie,  who pulled him down for a longer kiss and Daryl went limp in his arms, more through fatigue than desire.
   “You should have told me you were coming,” said Daryl. “No pun intended.”
   “I thought I'd surprise you,” said Brodie.
This elicited a grudging chuckle from Daryl. “I'm too tired to process this. I need to sleep  now, and I'm not sleeping on the sofa.”
   Brodie slid along making more room. Daryl shrugged, got undressed and slid in beside him. As he drifted off to sleep he felt and heard Brodie and Tom begin making love again.
0261
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
000
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 10 "teeth" If it's "teeth" then it has to be vampires. From "The Five Lives of Levi Morbali". Levi is falling under the vampire's thrall. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   When I awoke again, Azrael was up before me and was outside, shirtless, washing and shaving. I sat up and watched him for a while. As he had done before he stretched and yawned and I saw those teeth again in the light of the last of the sun before it set. Beautiful, sharp and regular. He saw me looking and he stared at me. He looked malevolent, but I just kept looking. Yesterday those teeth were terrifying and they were terrifying today, but also beautiful. Yesterday I thought the teeth ruined an otherwise handsome face. Today they were an essential part of it. I looked away in case I made him angry. It would be just my luck to be the captive of a homophobic vampire. I had some breakfast and then let him have his own breakfast. On an impulse I touched his cheek as he sucked the blood from my arm.  If he noticed he didn't react, but the cheeks were warm. I had expected them to be cold.
0160
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 9 "rig" (B-double) A Morris Minor on Mars I have never heard a big truck called a rig in Australia, but they are driving an American car and Daryl is Jeff Bridges for the purposes of the road trip. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
     They drove along dust edged, two-lane blacktop, through arid savannah, for another three hours, as the afternoon grew darker and a thunderstorm brewed in the distance with flickers of lightning playing around the clouds on the horizon. The road was deserted, save for the occasional B-double.
    They stopped for the night in a small dilapidated motel. Daryl called Sharon and they had a long chat.
    “Anyway, I'm going to bed now. We're doing a detour today to visit a property I apparently own. We won't get back till late,  so I'll call you in the morning the day after tomorrow … what? Oh, yeah. I had a great time too. What? No, I really did. Yeah. Anyway. I'm off to bed.”
“She's your girlfriend now?” asked Brodie, in a terse tone.
   “There’s an idea “
   “Are you planning to make more money out of her?”
   Daryl sat in Brodie’s lap, draped his arms around him and kissed him. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
0132
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 8 "mental" From my first novel, The Writing Machine. Vince's older sister, a psychiatrist, has reservations about him getting involved with a person with mental health problems. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   "Vince hasn't said as much but reading between the lines I gather you have some mental health problems," said Vee.
   "That's right," said Nick.
   "Would you tell me what kind of problems these are?" said Vee.
   "No," said Nick.
   "Have you ever been hospitalised for these problems?"
   "Yes, I was in the psychiatric ward."
   "As a voluntary patient?"
   "No, they call it sectioned."
   "And you were eventually discharged?"
   "No."
   "OK, so you're a …"
   "Yes, I'm an escaped mental patient."
   Vince laughed then Vee laughed a little too. "I have nothing against you, Nick."
   "I know you don't," said Nick.
0243
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 7 "elevator" From my oldies romance Australian of the Year In Australia, it's a lift. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   Brodie wouldn't say more. They went through the process of releasing Daryl then he and Brodie took the lift down to the carpark where they climbed into Brodie's car.
   “Close your eyes,” said Brodie.
   “Why?”
   “You're not supposed to know where this place is.:
   Daryl closed his eyes and said, “Thanks for not putting me in the boot.” Remembering it was an American car, he added, “Trunk, I should say.”
  Daryl kept his eyes dutifully  closed until, after the period of about an hour, Brodie told him to open them. They were in another carpark.
   “We haven't just been driving around the same carpark, have we?” said Daryl, making Brodie laugh.
1211
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Tarantula. This was one of the two films I had on Super 8, which is the only way to view movies repeatedly back then.
030
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
#WIPSnips September 6 "sigh" From my oldies romance Australian of the Year I use "sigh" too much #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
   When Maeve let them in, she looked quizzically at Dorothy, who smiled in answer. Scott sat again on the stool and kept still while Dorothy sat on an armchair and watched the painting take shape.  When they took a break Maeve made them coffee in the kitchen.
   “So you two got on so well last night, you decided to meet up again today?” asked Maeve.
   “Nice try, Maeve,” said Dorothy. “Pay up.”
   Maeve stamped off to a drawer and came back with a twenty dollar note, slapping it into Dorothy's waiting hand.
   “Wait,” Scott said, looking at Dorothy, “you bet that we'd …”
   Dorothy smiled and nodded. Scott turned to Maeve. “And you took the bet?”
Maeve sighed in response then, changing to a more businesslike tone, “Before I forget.” She tore a piece of paper off a pad on the wall and wrote, “Gary” on it with a number below. She handed it to Scott, saying, “He said it would be OK for me to give you his number.”
0190
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I'm reading Nicholas Nickelby by Charles Dickens at the moment. He has a nice description of an IPO. Not much appears to have changed in the last 190 years.
"It seems to promise pretty well," said Mr. Ralph Nickleby, whose deliberate manner was strongly opposed to the vivacity of the other man of business.

"Pretty well!" echoed Mr. Bonney; "It's the finest idea that was ever started. 'United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery Company. Capital, five millions, in five hundred thousand shares of ten pounds each.' Why the very name will get the shares up to a premium in ten days."

"And when they are at a premium," said Mr. Ralph Nickleby, smiling.

​"When they are, you know what to do with them as well as any man alive, and how to back quietly out at the right time," said Mr. Bonney, slapping the capitalist familiarly on the shoulder.
040
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This was awesome.
Mini Moke spartan interior.
050
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I kinda miss my old Mini Moke.
Mini Moke with very minimalist dashboard.
000
Robin Herbert @peterrobin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
They still have it upside down.
Map of the world with the southern hemisphere at the top.
010