Going Paperless

What sort of a writer goes to their writing group without writing materials? One who forgot to pack their bag properly! Thankfully one of my writing pals gave me a few pages to write on when I realised I'd forgotten my notebook when we were back down in Coney yesterday so it didn't spoil the session.

It was a glorious autumn day as we caught up on news, made plans and shared some writing we've been working on over coffee and apple and cinnamon muffins.

Later we enjoyed a delicious chocolate and zucchini loaf cake made by a vacationing writing friend who joined the group.

And we did some writing exercises. While I could have used my laptop for the exercises, I realised I needed to feel a pen in my hand and I needed paper. I'll never know if without those sheets of paper would I have written the same poem? Somehow I think it might have been different.

Just Wonderful!

Thursday was celebrated as National Poetry Day, with the theme of 'wonder' this year.

It coincided with me attending a local apple fair market night where I was on holiday in Fife, an experience which will stay with me and which I'm sure will inspire at least one new poem.

With a 'Wonderland' theme, it felt as if I'd fallen down a rabbit hole when I stepped into this secret garden, just off a street I know very well. 

Every nook and cranny was filled with gorgeous, quirky details as we followed the winding path up the hill, discovering enchantment round ever turn.

I was mesmerised by the magical atmosphere in the orchard, half expecting the Queen of Hearts to appear.

I was in awe of the planning, hard work, talent and imagination that must have gone in to transforming this garden into a place of magic and wonder. 

With stalls selling gorgeous gifts and food and offering advice on growing apples, I can confirm the spiced apple juice was just perfect.  

Well done to the organisers. Let's hope it becomes an annual event.

On a writing roll

It's been a good writing week, with some projects which started some time ago now finding homes. I learned this week that 'Helianthus', a poem I wrote in 2020 has been accepted by La Rotonde Review for their forthcoming 'Colors' anthology due out in November.

I was over the moon to learn my short story, 'Court Games' has been longlisted in the Historical Writers Association's Dorothy Dunnett short story competition.

Inspired by Mary Queen of Scots, I wrote this story last year.

On Thursday, my story, 'Fidelity' was published by World History Encyclopedia in their 'Dust and Divinity' anthology. This volume includes winning and shortlisted stories from their 2025 Ink of Ages competition.

It's great to see this story I wrote in 2018 now in print. 

While it might seem everything has come together this week, it's taken time to get here, and there have also been rejections this week. However, a good writing week has also spurred me on with new projects.

In good writing company

It's been a good writing week, with several good times spent in good writing company.

On Wednesday I was delighted to be asked to take part in the launch of 'USA-NI 250 Liberty' poetry jukebox curation at Belfast's Linenhall library.

I shared the stage with poets Paul Maddern and Kathleen McCracken, when we read the poems we'd each written in response to the 250th anniversary on the Declaration of Independence and talked with Maria McManus about our writing process. 

It was an honour to be asked to take part in this poetry project, alongside the eminent poets featuring  in this jukebox curation. My poem 'Letter to America - August 1776' is inspired by the publication of the Declaration in the Belfast Newsletter.

You can see the original newspaper on display in the library and you can listen to us reading our poems by visiting the jukebox in the library until the end of this year, or you can hear them here:

Poetry Jukebox Soundcloud

During the week I hosted our SCBWI Ireland online event with Sara Grant considering 'How to hook your reader in your opening pages.' The hour and a half workshop flew in while we picked up tips from Sara and received feedback on our work. I'm looking forward to delving into her book and applying more of her tips to my work.

Yesterday I arrived home to find my copy of 'Dust and Divinity' the new anthology from World History Encyclopedia had arrived. My story, 'Fidelity' (shortlisted in the 2025 Ink of Ages competition) is included alongide that of one of my writing pals, Mairi.

I'm looking forward to dipping in to these amazing stories.

Read a Book Day

Today on, 'National Read a Book Day', I've spent some time doing exactly that as well as exchanging some books I've finished reading with a good friend.

This followed on from an inspiring morning back at Coney yesterday where, among other things, we'd talked about novels we'd enjoyed and book exchanges.

It was lovely to welcome a writing friend on holiday to the group. Over coffee and chocanana muffins, we were busy chatting, catching up, laughing and eventually doing some writing. 

We were so busy that I forgot to take a photograph of the lovely beach, so here's one taken from a few weeks ago....

....although the sky was much a much brighter blue yesterday.

Inspired to Write

How could I not have been inspired to write at our writing group's recent writing retreat? 

Surrounded by like-minded supportive creatives, good company and craic, delicious fresh food and comfortable accommodation with stunning sea views, I wanted for nothing.

I immersed myself in some new projects, interspersed with coffee breaks with home baked muffins and walks on the nearby beach. 

We reminisced, made plans, read and shared our work, provided feedback and feasted like kings.

While I was there I was delighted to see three of my poems 'live' on The Dirigible Balloon's latest flight, some of which had been inspired by previous visits to my idyllic surroundings.

And now, back home, I'm inspired, encouraged, buzzing and excited to keep working on these new projects and continue on this creative journey.

Summer Reading and Writing

The recent gorgeous weather here has forced me outside to read and write. Somehow reading and writing outdoors feels more intense, a bit like the way food seems more flavoursome outdoors. 

I've enjoyed making my way through some cracking books as well as working on drafts of new material. I've also enjoyed reading my copy of 'The Haikuist', a new anthology which arrived in the post this week (I've haiku in this, inspired by summer days at the beach).

I often forgo indoor theatre over the summer months, prefering to be outdoors on bright summer evenings. Last night we emerged from a brilliant performance by Theatre3 of 'Anyone for Marriage?' in Bangor's Studio 1A theatre to experience a strange phenomen. The rain had returned after an absence of several weeks. 

The garden definitely needed it, but thankfully it won't dampen my resolve to continue reading outdoors. Despite my TBR pile growing closer to the ceiling, I can never resist looking at the books in our local charity shop when dropping in donations and rarely leave empty handed. You just never know what treasures you're going to pick up and yesterday was no exception. My haul even included a signed copy of a book by writing friend Angeline.

Plenty of great reading material to keep me occupied for a while!