A Happy Little Update

Just a quick post today to share a bit of writerly news with anyone who may happen to be vaguely interested. In the last couple of weeks I’ve had two prose poems published in the newly launched literary magazine, Cauldron Anthology. Drawing on mythology and the ‘wild feminine’, the theme for the first issue was Sirens, which formed the basis for the inspiration behind each of the poems I submitted.

One of them is entitled Incubation, and it uses imagery of Sirens to explore gender inequality and the culture of victim blaming. The other, Protest, was inspired largely by the recent women’s marches and a growing need for unity.

Warmest thanks to anyone who checks out the poems and supports Cauldron Anthology in their early days as an emerging publication.

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Allergic to the Letter ‘E’

writing challenge

I was kindly tagged my Melissa Barker-Simpson to take part in this frustratingly fun writing challenge, which has us write a paragraph without using the letter ‘E’ anywhere. Having been at a loss as to what to write about, I decided to write precisely about that very predicament. So, here is my entry:

—

A man sits by his laptop, staring blankly at a monitor which has stood idly in his stubborn watch for far too long. It’s only an unassuming blogging task – how could it possibly birth such a bout of dumfounding block to all logic. Alas, that blinking cursor taunts with its flashing joy. But snubbing a loss, this man will hunt victory with words; small in many minds, possibly, but crucial for his own sanity.

—

Here are the rules:

1) Write a whole paragraph (a paragraph sounds easy right?) without any word containing the letter “e” (still easy?)

2) By reading this you are already signed up.

3) Challenge at least five bloggers to do the challenge. They must do it within 24 hours or it is considered as failure.

4) If you fail or pass, suffer in the Page of Lame.

5) If you win, wallow in the Page of Fame.

—

I’m making it an open tag because, yes, let’s face it, it’s the easier option 😉 but also because I found this a surprisingly worthwhile exercise and want to encourage you all to give it a go.

February in Books

books, books, books!

It’s time for my second short reading update of 2015! When it comes to books, February was a good month for me. Not only did I release one of my own, I also managed to read 6 of them, taking my yearly total up to 15 thus far and keeping me well on track to reach my 40 book target by the end of December.

Within the mix this time round were a graphic novel and an indie poetry collection, keeping that sense of variety and diversity going which I’m really pleased about and hope to carry forward into March.

How are you getting on with your reading goals? Did you read any good books in February?

Reading Update

January in books!

Since this is the first time I’ve set myself a reading challenge over on Goodreads, I thought it would be a nice idea to post a sort of monthly update throughout the year to keep track of my progress so far. My official target is at least 40 books and within that I am hoping to include a mix of adult, YA, kid’s lit, graphic novels, poetry, traditional and indie books – a bit of everything!

As things stand, I’ve read 9 books so far this year, which I’m pleased with (here’s hoping the momentum lasts). Within those, there’s a decent mix of fiction genres, a poetry collection and 3 indie books which feels like a pretty solid start to my 2015 reading ventures.

How is your reading going? Any good books to recommend?

We (don’t) need to talk…

Writing can be intensely personal

I was doing a little digging around to find out more about Amy Zhang, whose recently released debut novel, Falling into Place, is creating a bit of buzz, partly because it was written and published all by the time she was just 18 years old. Everything about this girl is knocking stereotypes right out of the park: She’s young; she’s female; she’s of Asian ancestry, and yet she’s already chasing and achieving her dreams. I can’t speak for the quality of the book, having not read it yet myself, but can say that regardless; Amy Zhang is pretty darn impressive.

More to the point, I was reading an interview with the author when I stumbled upon this quote:

“I try very, very hard to keep my writing life and […] the rest of my life separate. I can honestly count the number of people who know me personally and are also aware that I write on my fingers. Writing is something I love so much that I’m honestly terrified to talk about it with people I know.”

This hit me like a ton of bricks because I relate to it so much. Obviously by this point, having released two books of my own, people who know me generally know that I write, but I can honestly say that – like Amy – I can count the number of serious, in-depth conversations I’ve had about my work with loved ones on just one hand. Sure, they get excited for me when I release something. I post about it on my Facebook to let everyone know at once; some of them like the post; some of them share it; heck, a few of them even buy and read it, but very few of them truly understand the extent of what I do.

This is, ironically, largely down to my own doing. Whenever a friend or family member has attempted to show an interest in my writing, be it asking of the ins and outs of publishing or the details of my current projects, I clam up and mumble a half-hearted, awkward response that tells them next to nothing of any significance. This isn’t because I don’t care. On the contrary, it’s because I care so much that I find it difficult to let them into that part of my life. I can’t explain it; it just feels wrong somehow to talk about my imaginary worlds, fictional characters and royalty payments with the people I’ve known since our schooldays… They know what I love to do and are happy to let me get on with it.

That’s why I love this platform so much, as – whether it’s odd or not – I can happily chat away endlessly about all things literature with fellow readers and writers around the world, many of whom I consider dear friends but who are, I suppose, technically strangers.

I like to hope this is something that is universal. ‘Real life’ friends are, for many of us, all about escaping the stresses of our day to day routines. They’re the people we go to at the end of a long week to unwind, take our mind off things and recharge, so we can start all over again. The last thing most people want to do after work is talk about their day at the office; maybe this is just my equivalent of that same feeling.

I’d love to know if this is something you also experience or if it is yet another quirk to add to my list?

Never Give Up

Never give up – You never know when you’ll hit success.

A while back, I wrote a post urging budding writers to take a moment to overlook the often pessimistic view of ‘making it’ and look instead on the bright side for once. As a means of encouragement, I shared a number of examples where well-known books or authors pushed past hardships and rejection to reach the dizzying heights of success. It went down pretty well, and in the interest of spreading a little more positivity, I decided to follow it up with a few more cases.

• George Orwell was told that there would not be a market for his now classic book, Animal Farm.
• In a rejection letter for one of his books, John le Carré was told he “did not have a future” in writing.
• The iconic, world renowned book, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank was rejected 15 times before a publisher agreed to distribute it.
• Dr Seuss was told his work was “too different” to find a place in the market. He went on to become the 9^th best-selling author of all time.
• The War of the Worlds was described as a “horrid book” but has never been out of publication since it was first released in 1898.
• Despite leading a troubled life and battling with ongoing mental illness, Virginia Woolf produced some of the most celebrated works of fiction in the English language.
• Rudyard Kipling was told he didn’t know how to use the English language properly. His work, The Jungle Book, is now one of the most recognisable stories of a generation.
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov was rejected by 5 publishers, who feared backlash for its controversial content.
• C.S. Lewis was repeatedly rejected for years but persisted regardless. The Chronicles of Narnia became a global phenomenon and has so far been translated into 47 different languages.
• Bestselling author James Patterson was turned away by 12 publishers before securing an agent.
• Veronica Roth became a best-selling author with the widely popular Divergent trilogy and had already secured a massive multi-movie deal by her early 20s.
• The cultural smash hit, Chicken Soup for the Soul, was turned down a whopping 140 times before it was picked up.
• A cutting rejection letter claimed The Wind in the Willows would “never sell”. It has since sold more than 25 million copies.
• Fearing her work would not be taken seriously, Mary Anne Evans decided to take on a pseudonym. Under her male pen-name, George Eliot, she solidified herself in the literature Hall of Fame, with her novels still discussed and enjoyed hundreds of years later.

There you have it; another glimpse into the lighter side of the seemingly cut-throat world of publishing. Work hard and keep chasing your dreams; success could be right around the corner.

On the Home Stretch

The end is near!

It’s just a quick update today to say that edits and read-throughs of my work in progress, False Awakening, are – generally speaking – finished. Today I begin the exciting but often complicated process of formatting to finally get this manuscript ‘book friendly’ so that I can place an order for a proof copy. By that point, it’s a case of getting a feel for my new creation, making sure I’m happy with it, ironing out any last creases and then, dare I say it, releasing it into the world. Things seem (*touch wood*) to be on track for the October release I’ve been hoping for. Excuse me while I simultaneously squeal and hyperventilate.

Are you working on anything at the moment? Are you making good progress?