Great excuse to go to the bookshop

I've got the best excuse ever to go to the bookshop. I heard today that a story I submitted in a competition last year is to be included in a book :-)

The Bushmills #AnswerTheCall book is set to be released this week and will be available for free with every purchase from my favourite bookshop in the whole world - 'No Alibis' in Belfast.

Looking forward to calling in to make a purchase and pick my copy up

A busy writerly day

Yesterday was a busy writerly day.

Over coffee and scones I met up with my critique group in the morning, providing feedback to each other and sharing news. It's so valuable to be part of such a group.

Around lunchtime I received more positive, encouraging feedback from my editor on a work in progress. :-)

Late afternoon I attended an event, 'The Power of Words' at Amy and Paul's Blackberry Path Art Studio in Bangor to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

 

The event was very moving. It was a humbling experience to take part in it - no words seem adequate to express the horror of holocaust. I read a couple of my poems - 'August' and 'Dancing with Death' at the event.

 

 

It was lovely to meet other writers, artists and poets and be inspired by their work. Many thanks to Amy and Paul for organising this event.

 

 

The busy day was rounded off by a lovely meal with friends who'd come along to the event in Bangor. As a result I didn't write anything at all yesterday, so now it's time to get on with some writing today.

Notes from the editor...

It's a great start to any weekend when you receive positive feedback from your editor. It's especially welcome when it's the first time you've been working with a 'real life' editor, and at the start of a new writing year. There's still lots of work to do on the story, I'm learning a lot but I'm buzzing! :-)

shortlisted poem

I received exciting news today - my entry in the Lagan Navigation Trust Storymaking festival has been shortlisted 😃

Books and baking

It's good getting back into a routine again once the Christmas festivities are over. Yesterday we had a great session with the Coney Island muffin tasters aka our writing group. Books and baking are always a good combination, and there will be plenty of recipes to try from my new baking book. While we munched raspberry and white chocolate muffins, dark chocolate ginger biscuits and maple and pecan cookies with our coffee, we spent time critiquing each other's work and editing our own pieces. Finishing off with healthy spicy carrot and tomato soup, it's just the kickstart we needed at the beginning of the year to immerse ourselves in our writing again.

Cracker Gifts

Looking back, it's been a good writing year. I've submitted stories and poems to publishers and competitions on a regular basis throughout the year, resulting in 150 rejections. The positive side of this is that there have been a few successes. One of my short stories was shortlisted and two were published. One of my poems was longlisted in a UK competition, one was shortlisted in a competition and five were published.

I've continued to receive feedback and encouragement throughout the year from my writing friends in Coney Island and have attended writing workshops in Dublin and Belfast. I was fortunate to receive feedback on my draft novel from Eoin McNamee earlier in the year as part of the Libraries NI creativity month. I was delighted to receive arts and heritage grant funding from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council this year to support me in finalising my novel.

Looking forward into 2018, armed with my 'cracker' cracker gifts of a pencil sharpener and a large paper clip, I'm going to be busy.

 
 In the New Year I'll be reading some of my poems at a couple of local events - more details to follow nearer the time. In 2018 I'll be working on a draft children's story with Sainted Media https://www.saintedmedia.com/

I'll also be continuing to refine my draft novel.

Happy New Writing Year!

Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 event - poems

I'm delighted that two of my poems have been selected for this event in January - 'August' and 'Dancing with Death'

https://www.facebook.com/events/1770360829927145/permalink/1777856935844201/