When writing can be dangerous....

 

I never imagined my writing could cause a road traffic accident, but yesterday it almost did...

It was quite a writing day! It was always going to be a busy day with a writing workshop in the morning and an awards event in the afternoon. And a busy day, requires energy, so writing fuel in the guise of white chocolate and banana muffins was required to kickstart the day.

This was all that remained at the end of yesterday... and they have all disappeared now.
So with muffins baked, writing bag packed for Coney island, I set off, tuning in to BBC Radio Ulster on the journey as I'd noticed on social media there was going to be a feature on the 'Your Place and Mine' programme about the event I was attending in the afternoon at W5 in Belfast. I knew my short story entry had been shortlisted so I was looking forward to hearing all the winning stories and poems. I listened to the Lagan Navigation Trust's http://www.lagannavigationtrust.org/  Chief Officer and this year's storymaking festival writing workshop facilitator, Olive Broderick https://lettersfromladyn.wordpress.com/ . I could hardly believe my ears when Olive read out my poem 'Riverdance' the winner of the poetry category in last year's competition. Hence, there was almost a road traffic accident! You can listen to the entire programme here (the clip is in the last five minutes) https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0002915

So with a singing heart, I ventured on to Coney Island for a very enjoyable morning with my writing friends (including the muffins).

The afternoon was equally enjoyable. The Waterways Storymaking festival celebrates all sorts of storytelling - in stitches, words, music and in song. 

 

These are just a selection of some of the fabulous tapestries created for the festival by community groups around the Lagan valley. The detail included is amazing - I particularly love the swan's feathers.

During the celebration we were entertained by Donal Kearney - his traditional singing is mesmerising https://www.donalkearney.com/folklore.html

A beautiful piece of music had been written for the event by Brigid O'Neill https://www.brigidoneill.com/ The mesmerising 'Lagan Flight of Locks' was performed by Colin Reid.

The Creative Writing element of the festival included poetry and stories. This year's theme was 'Linen on the Lagan'.

 

I was delighted to see my story, 'A breath of fresh air' on display at the event. 

But even more delighted to be runner up in this year's competition.

 
 

 

You can read my story here or catch it in the forthcoming exhibition which is going on tour over the next few months to a number of venues on the Lagan's banks

 

Out of the Blue

I was delighted to hear last week that one of my short stories was longlisted in a UK competition. Today I found out the story was also commended in the Bradt New Travel Writer of the Year 2019 competition.

You can read my story 'For those left at home' here https://www.bradtguides.com/media/wysiwyg/pdfs/travel_writing_entries/For_those_left_at_home.pdf

along with some of the other top stories https://www.bradtguides.com/articles/travel-writing-2019-shortlist/

It's a great start to a new writing year!

The game of writing

Back at Coney yesterday, for the first time this year, it was good to get the creative juices flowing again after the holidays and to try something new. Coffee and cranberry and chocolate muffins (new recipe) helped on a grey, cold day.

 

We shared our writing news. In the last few weeks I've received news that one of my short stories has been shortlisted in a local competition and another one longlisted in a UK wide competition - fingers, toes and everything else crossed for the outcomes in both of these!

We engaged in fun writing exercises to help warm up our brains as we composed a few limericks before thinking about writing in a new environment for all of us - in Gaming. It's big business now.

And like a story, for a game to be successful, there has to be a hook which draws you in, keeps your attention and makes you want to keep engaging in the story, identifying with the characters and trying to solve the problem. At the start of a new writing year it was good to think of writing in a new way.

Happy New Writing Year! Here's to more fun!

Looking back, 2018 was a really good writing year.

I continued to submit stories and poems to publishers and competitions on a regular basis during the year, resulting in 100 rejections. I achieved the magic number again, along with some successes. One of my short stories was runner up in a UK competition, one was runner up in an Irish competition and one was published. One of my poems won a competition in Northern Ireland and one was published in a UK anthology.

The highpoints haven't just been these successes, which have been very enjoyable, particularly where there have been celebratory events related to the competitions and I've made new writing friends. The day I spent in Longford library in October particularly stands out.

I've attended a number of great book launches and events during the year. The most memorable one was the one which was the most fun - Kelly McCaughrain's launch of 'Flying Tips for Flightless Birds' in Belfast in March definitely set the bar for how to launch a book!

Most importantly it's been a fun writing year. There's lots of support and camaraderie when I meet up with the two writing groups I'm involved in, where cake is usually involved. Jenny's book-themed cup cakes in December were the eating highlight at a writing-related gathering.

Aside from eating cake, we discuss serious writing topics. Where creative minds meet it's guaranteed there will be lots of adventures (evictions) and giggles (exploding eggs).  I'm looking forward to continuing having fun writing in 2019!

I'll be continuing to refine my draft novel. This year will see the launch of my children's story about St David with Sainted Media https://www.saintedmedia.com/ and I'm going to have lots of fun writing!

Happy New Writing Year!

books and cake and book-cakes

It's a busy time of year in the run up to Christmas. Last night I was double booked with writing events. The previous day I'd received a lovely personal invitation, (along with writing group members) from Anthony Quinn https://www.anthonyjquinnwriter.com/ to the launch of his new book in Belfast's No Alibis bookshop. From accounts on social media it was a successful launch and I'm looking forward to reading a copy of 'The Listeners' soon.

My other writing engagement had been in my diary for several weeks. One of my writing friends https://twitter.com/IdreamofNarnia - tweeted this photo yesterday to give a flavour of what was in store.

Not only is she a talented writer- she's also a very accomplished baker. I can confirm that these fabulous book-themed cup cakes tasted even more delicious than they look - well 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' one did. The occasion was a pre-Christmas get-together with some writing friends last night, which was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Cake is a common theme that accompanies many of the writing meetings I go to - whether it's my home baked muffins or coffee shop cakes - but the prize for the best book-cakes this year has to go to Jenny!
Looking back over my writing year, one of the highlights has to be the many catch-ups I've had with fellow writers. Writing is a solitary business so meeting and chatting with other writers is important in supporting each other and learning from each other.
Another common feature in these groups is laughter - always a good barometer of team spirit. There are several times this year I have laughed so much I have cried in the company of fellow writers - usually over the antics we get up to, or the situations we have found ourselves in. And if we wrote some of these down, you wouldn't believe them! - but maybe we will at some point - exploding eggs, evictions etc....

Writers are generally nice people and I feel very blessed to be a part of two separate writing groups where I can now call these like-minded people who share their passion for writing, my friends. But, as another of my writing friends blogged earlier this week,   https://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/2018/12/on-finding-one-kelly-mccaughrain.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR0ZdXLGQFuUPQDnkv8FvOFUtfzHn-TK_aP9Q5HxaLbsfXaiK6-mIAgyjbM it doesn't always work this way - which is why I feel so blessed to be part of not only one, but two such groups. Our groups are special and I look forward to seeing everyone each time we meet up.
It's also nice to have made new writing friends during the year as new members have joined the group and when my own writing has taken me to other events further afield I've also made new writing friends. So as this writing year draws to a close, thanks to everyone who is a part of these two groups - you know who you are and I look forward to many more writing adventures in 2019!

Can pantomime change the world? Oh yes it can!

It's that time of the year again - pantomime time - oh yes it is! Last night some of my favourite little people, big people and I were entertained at one of our local theatres to a fantastic performance of Peter Pan.

It was a close tie between Captain Hook and Tinkerbell as to who our favourite character was.

Mr Hullabaloo and his team never fail to impress with their songs, costumes and puppets http://www.mrhullabaloo.co.uk/mrhullabaloo_hom.html Going to the pantomime usually heralds the start of the Christmas festivities for us. One of my nieces recently told me it's her favourite part of Christmas and it is lovely to enjoy this magic with the little people in my life.

 

This pantomime is probably my favourite for a number of reasons - it's not the traditional fairytale with a prince and a princess and it's a more modern story than most. But to me it's much more than this - it's story behind the story and the legacy the writer JM Barrie left. 

Peter Pan first appeared as a character in 1902 and the book has never been out of print since. In 1929 he gifted the copyright from Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital - that's what I call a writing legacy. You can read more about this here https://www.gosh.org/about-us/peter-pan/history and how the House of Lords took an unprecedented decision a few years ago to ensure that the hospital receives the rights in perpetuity.  

There's still tickets available - so get along and see it!

Christmas at Coney

Cranberry and orange muffins can only mean one thing - it's Christmas time at Coney!

So while it may only be the first day in December we celebrated Christmas in Coney today in style. After catching up on news and completing a few writing exercises, a veritable feast was had by all. We writers certainly know how to enjoy our food! - smoked salmon to start, roasted goose with all the trimmings, followed by a selection of delicious home made desserts.

We also know how to have a good laugh together.  I just love my new slippers - Hungry Haggis lives on! Heelin coos rock!

Not only are we a great bunch of writers, we have a few very talented artists in the group and it was inspiring to view some of their work today as well as looking at 'real' picture book illustration proofs.