Peaks and troughs

We've all been looking at graphs more in the recent months - looking at how the curves could be flattened and wondering when the peak would become a trough.

I've had a week of mixed fortune regarding my writing - mapped out it would make an interesting graph - whether that be a pie chart, histogram, box plot or scatter graph! Maybe something a bit like this:

Sunday: I received news that a regional UK radio station was interested in featuring poems included in Inspiration in Isolation's website. https://www.inspirationinisolation.co.uk/
I'd had a few poems published on this site and was hopeful one of mine might be selected to be broadcast. 😀

Monday: I received the news that a poem of mine had been unsuccessful in a poetry competition. 😕

Tuesday: I received a rejection from a publisher on one of my manuscripts 😕

Wednesday: I heard one of my poems featured on Inspiration in Isolation had been selected to be broadcast by Tring radio later in the week 😀

I also received another rejection from another publisher on one of my manuscripts, but it included some positive feedback. 😉

Thursday: I heard another publisher had liked a sample of writing I'd submitted and was requesting the full manuscript 😄

Friday: I received the news that another poem of mine had been unsuccessful in another poetry competition. 😕

Later I received very helpful feedback on a piece of writing from an online critique group I'm part of. 😃

I also received a rejection from an agent on one of my manuscripts. 😞

Then, I listened while my acrostic poem 'Coronavirus' was broadcast as the 'Poem of the Day' on Tring radio https://tringradio.co.uk/ read by Natalie Spence. 😊 You can listen to it here:

Saturday: I finished off the writing week by joining my Coney Island writing buddies for a Zoom catch up, sharing our news and listening to work some had written. 😃

Mixed fortunes, but on the whole, a writing week I'm pleased with, and one that ended on a high.

National Writing Day in lockdown

Today is National Writing Day and this year like most things this year it's a bit different. In previous years I've participated in writing workshops and gone to outdoor theatre events.
They say things come in threes and today that was true. Among the emails I received today three were encouraging and all in different ways.
The first related to an Amazon delivery- at last it was on it's way. After ordering a copy of the book some of my poems are included in a few weeks ago I was disappointed when it got lost in transit.

So the email heralding it was finally nearing its destination was warmly received. And a couple of hours later the package arrived. (Deliveries seem to have taken on a special delight over the last few months!)

And it was lovely to open the package to find a book I have contributed to inside. I'm looking forward to reading all the pieces soon.

The second email arrived about an hour later. It was a rejection of a piece of work I had submitted. And while I was disappointed to hear my work wasn't quite what they were looking for  I was touched that the email wasn't just a standard rejection and that the sender had taken the time to provide some constructive feedback on my submission. This is not common practice so it was the best type of rejection to receive.

The third email arrived around another hour later and it was the best one. It was an acceptance of a piece of my work which will be included in an anthology being published later this year. More details to follow.

National Writing Day has been very special in lockdown.

Pitching again...

I'm enjoying  a couple of days off work at the moment. Unfortunately the beautiful weather we had earlier in the week has disappeared to be replaced by cold wind and rain so I'm not out in the garden as much as I might have anticipated. But there's plenty to keep me busy indoors. 

Yesterday's entertainment included experimenting with the new coffee machine. It's amazing how exciting a parcel arriving at your front door has become in recent weeks! Prior to lockdown commencing I knew that one of my most essential items would be coffee. It's my drug and I need it to function. Just the right amount is required each day, of the right variety and blend - too little isn't good and too much is not good either.  The cafetière is not used every day, being kept for weekends and holidays. Usually instant coffee is the staple interspersed with a take away latte (or two) from a city centre café and I'd recognised a few weeks ago that (aside from seeing my family and friends) the one thing I was missing desperately in lockdown was a 'real' latte. 

I also spent quite a bit of time taking part in PitchWars' PitMad event on Twitter and really enjoyed the experience, my second time pitching on Twitter. This event is mostly for the North American market so it started at 8.00 EST (13.00 BST). Again I released my three pitches 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 or publisher would like them. 

This would be the signal to go the next stage and submit something to them. I was delighted that my pitches received a ❤ from three publishers based in North America (one Canadian and two in USA). 

I've now followed up on a couple of these - and will pursue the third soon too.  And I'll wait and see what happens with them.

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. You can get a copy of the book here  - I'm looking forward to reading it! https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088X4XVFH/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1590003774&refinements=p_27%3AAndrew+Tinney&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Andrew+Tinney

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.

You can read the poem here

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAAbxeWn0tH/?igshid=1b4t4kxiaicrp

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. You can read it here https://www.inspirationinisolation.co.uk/post/we-ll-meet-again

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 my story 'What's Tickling Toby?' which today was 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.

You can read my story and enjoy it here https://smartypantsmagazineforkids.com/2020/05/03/storytime-sunday-whats-tickling-toby/

And in the spirit of National Share A Story month, feel free to share!