Lights on the Horizon

I'm pleased to say the writing bug has returned and that I've been able to channel some energy into a couple of writing projects that have been developed in response to Covid19. I've had one poem featured so far as part of 'Inspiration in Isolation' and I'm delighted that some of my poems feature in a new anthology coming out on Monday.

'Lights on the Horizon is a literary time capsule, reflecting a global villages’ thoughts, fears, actions, and inactions, emerging from the darkest depths this terrible disease.

Within is a poignant collection of short stories, poetry, monologues, and fictional diary entries, written by an eclectic mix of fresh voices and seasoned writers, in honour of our frontline heroes.

A Collection of Writing During the Lockdown of 2020 in aid of frontline staff"

It's available as both ebook and paperback with proceeds going to NHS and HSE. And I love the cover - a photograph  of one of my favourite places in Norn Iron - I'm looking forward to reading it! 

Gamin

Woohoo! I'm delighted that my poem about one of the dogs that sailed on Titanic is a winner in Titanic Memorial Lighthouse's contest.

We'll Meet Again

It's probably the song you've heard more than any others today, on this the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the one Dame Vera made famous. The VE Day commemorations we'd anticipated didn't take place and it will certainly be a time we all remember in the years to come, but we were still able to take part in the very moving nationwide singalong this evening (while socially distancing).

I'm delighted my poem 'We'll Meet Again' has been published today on the Inspiration in Isolation website.  

And I'm looking forward very much to when we can all meet again.

Share A Story Month

It's National Share A Story month in May, an annual celebration of the power of storytelling and story sharing http://fcbg.org.uk/national-share-a-story-month/
 This year's theme is 'the planet we share' and never could there have been a more appropriate theme.

In recent weeks I haven't been reading or writing as much as in previous months, with other priorities taking precedence, but a new normal is now beginning to emerge. And thanks to the encouragement and support of my writing friends, and a few writing prompts our Coney Writers have been using, I'm back in the saddle again! I'm back writing and reading. 😊

I'm delighted to be able to share that my story 'What's Tickling Toby?' was today published on Smartypants online magazine. This magazine is great resource for children at any time, but especially so now when they're getting bored with our new normal. As well as stories, there are facts, activities and lots of fun stuff to learn.

Back at Coney (virtually)

It was great being back at Coney Island this morning - well in the circumstances a virtual meeting is the best we can do, and it almost felt we were there. Thanks to technology we could see the sun was shining in Coney Island. The sky was a brilliant blue and there was home baking here and most of us were present and correct.

Aren't we so fortunate to have the technologies we enjoy? It's making lockdown slightly less difficult. It was great to see everyone, chat about our writing and to hear some writing that's been done in the last few difficult weeks.

It's thanks to these guys, that I am back writing. A few writing prompts they shared have got my writing kick-started again. I should have known I just needed to wait and the Coney Island touch would get me going again. Thanks all!

Pitching

Yesterday I spent my day off doing lots of things I enjoy - spending some time in the garden and baking - in these strange days simple pleasures are now really special.

I also spent quite a bit of time taking part in Write Mentor's pitch event on Twitter and really enjoyed the experience. I developed three pitches for my work and released them during the day, sat back and watched to see what might happen. While I was 'sitting back and watching' I was looking at the other pitches and retweeting those I liked - some were from writing friends I know, some from writing acquaintances I've made on social media and some by writers who were new to me. My pitches received a few retweets as I waited to see if an agent would like them. 

This would be the signal to go the the next stage and submit something to them. I was delighted that my pitches received a ❤ from local writers Pauline Burgess and Sheena Wilkinson and even more delighted to get a ❤ from a couple of agents!

I've followed up on these - unfortunately one has rejected the work already (two and a half hours is a new record for a rejection for me!) And I'll wait and see what happens with the other one.