Micah Yongo's Blog

You’ve gotta keep control of your time. The words of Warren Buffet, apparently spoken whilst proffering the empty pages of his little black diary book to a certain Bill Gates during a meeting back in 1991, “and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.” Just one of… Continue reading What speaking at Oxford University taught me about focus →

So last Tuesday evening I had the pleasure of interviewing Australian children’s and YA fantasy author Garth Nix for an event at Manchester’s Waterstones bookstore. Which, I’ll be honest, was a lot of fun. Nix is one of the most celebrated and prolific authors of the last 30 years — he’s written over 40 books,… Continue reading A writer’s guide to creative courage →

Deficit. Disorder. Two words I’ve grown increasingly uncomfortable with in my thinking around ADHD of late. Now, first things first: I don’t have ADHD, but over the last several months I have had the opportunity to interview a number of experts on this unexpectedly contentious but endlessly intriguing topic. I’ve spoken with award-winning authors, psychotherapists,… Continue reading The inconvenient beauty of being different →

Shonda Rhimes is a successful writer, director and showrunner. She’s best known as the creator of US medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, as well as its spin-off series, Private Practice. She’s also the executive producer of the hit US political thriller, Scandal, and has writing and directing credits on a number of other television dramas and… Continue reading The science and art of achieving your dreams →

So I’ll admit there are few things more gratifying than to witness and shape the creativity of another — to watch that gentle unfurling of soul, like a wind-snatched sail, as they place their palm in yours to glide upon the eddies of their chosen art, and in so doing discover layers to their skill… Continue reading An ode to untold stories →

So I’ll admit there are few things more gratifying than to witness and shape the creativity of another — to watch that gentle unfurling of soul, like a wind-snatched sail, as they place their palm in yours to glide upon the eddies of their chosen art, and in so doing discover layers to their skill… Continue reading An ode to storytelling →

I was invited, this past month, to reflect upon my writing influences, and in so doing share insights on how horror, as a genre, has shaped elements of my storytelling. And I won’t lie, I had a fair bit of fun contemplating this. Horror is a style of storytelling I’ve always had a love-hate relationship… Continue reading Horror, hope and humanity →

I first came across the incredible stillness and power of Yaa Gyasi’s writing some years ago when reading a short story penned by the Ghanaian-born author in Guernica Magazine. Inscape, narrated from a daughter’s perspective, told the tale of a woman and her Ghanaian mother, weaving between themes of religion, culture and mental illness with… Continue reading What an evening with Yaa Gyasi taught me about inspiration →

Thoroughly enjoyed being interviewed by the ever eloquent Dr Sanjida O’Connell and featured at Writersmosaic this past month. Sanjida, along with her PhDs in zoology and psychology, is an award winning novelist and a gorgeous non-fiction writer. So I was excited about the opportunity to talk shop and dive into the nuts and bolts of writing… Continue reading Feature: In conversation with Sanjida O’Connell →

It sounds obvious, but it’s worth saying: the world was a very different place back in 1903, pre a couple of World Wars and all their geopolitical ramifications, before meaningful broadcast media, household telephones, petrol-driven cars, CCTV, pop music, space travel, personal computers. And let’s not get started on the internet, smartphones and the cornucopia… Continue reading The Black Man’s Burden →