Flashback Spring (May)

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If I thought April had been a whirlwind, I wasn’t quite buckled in for May!

I was enjoying off screen time in the garden, had already taken photos of the blossom and enjoyed the early Spring flowers.

You know it is easy to misremember how it was? I closed the last flashback with the realisation I had not travelled more than 1.5 miles from my home – actually my perimeter was a lot smaller in April. I hadn’t started walking outside of my home and the supermarket is not that far away so thinking back, the frame of my life was caught in a circle of 3 roads, just one small block of life!

This was the month it expanded to 1.5 miles.

I do remember I stayed in, if I wasn’t in the garden I was in the house. Most of the street were out in the back gardens, enjoying the sun, building new sheds, cabins, garden furniture, slides and swings whilst I was indoors fighting the good fight for Furlough or burying my head in the sand of a writing world that became my Narnia.

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May started with more festivals: Avon Book Festival, Stay at Home Fringe Festival (organised by the Students/graduates of Glasgow Uni), The Urban Tree Festival and of course HAY (which I managed to blog in a timely fashion). Huge gratitude to everyone who has worked so hard to give creatives access to platforms and festivals at this time.

Big gratitude to Julia Webb for the prompt/course she ran this month. To Kim Moore for braving the online world of workshops and furthering my year of learning. To Carys Hannah who started a Golden Girls Watch Party, which reminded us what laughter is and made us all hope we get to grow old.

To Anna Saunders and the team at Cheltenham Poetry Festival for delivering a feast of poetic pleasure with numerous events and a great line up of poets. To Seren for creating a series of reading events, AWP for giving us a night with Joy Harjo (Poet Laureate of USA). For the universe for keeping my neighbour safe the morning she climbed up on our conservatory roof to clean and I couldn’t stop her!

Thanks to Helen Ivory & Martin Figura for events at the Butchery and to Jinny Fisher for her Poetry Pram Party. Thanks to Jane Commane at Nine Arches Press for videos, live readings and Book Launches, to Emma Wright at the Emma Press for Book Launches and webinar readings/Q&A. To Phillipa Slinger and Chloe Garner who moved Ledbury Poetry Festival and the Salons online.

This month I also enjoyed the Saboteur Awards and Book Launches for The Unmapped Woman by Abegail Morley (Nine Arches Press), Dorothy by Briony Hughes (Broken Sleep Books), Apple Fallen by Olga Dermott-Bond (Against the Grain).

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And I finally realised online events meant we could travel after all… and travel I did, first stop back to Australia. I headed back to Perth and Freo. Thanks to all at VoiceBox. I reunited with some of the Perth crew at Zoomouth, which was brilliant!

I finished the 6 weeks Writing to Buoy Us course with Cath Drake and writers from Europe and Australia. I started a Hybrid Experimental course with Tawnya Renelle https://tawnyaselenerenelle.com/ , who I also met through the Stay at Home Fringe Festival. And who also needs a huge shout out of gratitude. I was glad to help where I could at the beginning and have loved watching the take-off!

I completed work on the animations for Poetry Renewed with Elephant’s Footprint and wrote lots in journal form and a few poems. Covid had crept into the writing and I was attempting to not write about it in the beginning. And the BIG conservation started about the artists place in all this, whether it is our job or not to almanac the times (which is what a lot of writers/artists do). I believe most of us do, but also agreed that writing books about it probably wouldn’t even make it to the slush pile, of course I am sure there will be some, there already are. But I’m still processing last year and things which happened at the beginning of this one (pre-Covid).

May was the month: I realised my back can’t manage Yoga and gracefully I saluted the sun for one last time, started to walk in nature, used my walking stick for the last time (hadn’t needed it for 3 months), I blamed the yoga but looking at this it was more likely all that sitting at the desk! It marked the milestone of my first submission in 5 months! I have been very slow to get back on that horse!

WOW – Do What You Want to Do and The Universe Will Assist You!

I am getting so truly excited by this year of writing! I had no idea where it would take me really and I feel like I am exploring new and yet deeply familiar territory all the time.

My spirit thanks me daily, when I wake up happy and enjoy being alive!

I do feel blessed and I know this is only the beginning!

I was just off to bed after an evening filled with writing and poetry and I had to check emails for work contacts tomorrow. I came across 2 other exciting emails – I ignored several 100- well it’s late….

I have now signed up for a unique reading opportunity in December at a local university (more on this in December probably) and have also had an email regarding a special conference in December also.

The reason I had these emails was because I attended the Literature Festival last month and said YES by signing up to mailing lists and talking to people. Including organisers.

I go to bed, tired and happy!

The Launch of the Literature Festival

If you have been reading the blog lately you will have realised that I have had a busy fortnight (10 days) with my first Literature Festival of the year! (Despite having noted Literature festivals on a calendar in the Spring.)

I had hoped to post live the daily feed from the festival events and successes. The laptop mouse control put pay to that… but we are back online with a shiny new USB mouse, very well behaved balanced on the armchair arm for most of the time. (I keep trying to use the laptop one and then I remember the new one next to me! Shhhhh, don’t tell him, he might stop working as well!)

My photos were taken from a smart phone with intention of atmosphere rather than clarity and (as with the rest of the photos on the blog) I own the copyright.

The Launch

The launch night of the festival was a great atmosphere to revel in. I have missed most Literature Festivals I planned to go to this year, so I was happy not to miss one held so locally.

 The launch night was also an opportunity to watch performances from the current Poet Laureate Stephen Morrison-Burke and find out who had won the coveted position of City Laureate for 2013/14. Congratulations to Joanna Skelt.

They also announced the Young Poet Laureate – a title I wish they had awarded when I was younger. Congratulations to Lauren Williams.

I went alone, but as I have heard a few times in the past week… the poetry world is a small one and I soon bumped into people I had met at Sarah Leavesley’s book launch (back in September).

As it was National Poetry Day I was delighted to be at a poetry event and I hadn’t been to the new library since it opened, I treated myself to a tour and a browse. Loved it, so new, shiny and exciting… sometimes I have struggled with library modernisation, loved the old system of tickets and stamps, but this new space is incredible and despite size and modern interior, still feels welcoming.

I spent time in the rivers and oceans book areas making a pictorial record for my National Poetry Day effort, the theme was ‘water’.

You can see my poem here

I had another adventure returning to my car, I tripped over on a cobbled street, falling face first onto all fours, trying to catch my glasses, I threw my handbag and all the papers to the floor… a nasty gash on my knee that still hurts and jarred shoulders.

Which was a great shame as I had an epically brilliant night!

End of the Month Review – August 2013

The summer has basically been one long break from writing. After NaNoWriMo in July, the house move, finishing work late July and having friends to stay throughout July and August – not to mention unpacking, de cluttering, a birthday and attempting to sell property. As I have already confessed August had no working action plan – I kept dipping in to write a little but then didn’t stick to it!

 I am glad to announce that the final day enabled me to submit poetry to two online locations AND I have a very full and challenging SEPTEMBER action plan to follow. My muse (which has been lacking) is seeping its way back into me. (Thank goodness)

I have done a lot of reading this month, other than research and articles on writing, I read two novels is as many days this week (I was avoiding all the jobs I needed to do.) I have read 4 books this month and am halfway through my 5th, I must find time to upload my Goodreads profile. (Which looks like I haven’t read since March!)

I worked on several projects that I am mid edit /re-write on, completed more research into markets and publishing opportunities. I wrote a morning journal in an attempt to keep writing through the block. I also attempted to keep up with writing challenges on other blogs for this reason also – that and they are fun! A fast way to learn how to… a new genre and meet more writers.

I also enrolled on a Stunt Writing course  online and attempted to log a daily gratitude.

I celebrated a birthday

and more recently have completed job searches for this Autumn. I have secured an interview next week and signed up with several agencies.  

Today I managed (by the skin of my teeth) to make deadlines for poetry submissions. I have 6 poems under consideration for e-publishing anthologies. They were written in a rush though, we will wait and see.

I also found out about scriptwriting opportunities – I will look out for them next year because I didn’t have time to work on my ideas this time round. I also sent off for information about a Literature Festival and have booked my tickets for lots of events and one workshop (all to look forward to in October!)

And FINALLY I started marketing INKSPILL – the online writing retreat taking place here in the final weekend of October (25-27th), the programme is coming together and I hope to drum up lots of interest over the next month.