by

Beyond the Fringe – After Hours with Christian O’Connell

I just posted a new post to my new blog/website, about my trip to the Edinburgh Fringe and a great evening with radio presenter Christian O’Connell. Please visit here and remember to reset your bookmarks and please sign up at the new site. You can read my short stories as well as get involved.

Advertisement
by

My Web Page Has Moved

Sorry to be posting so late… I changed my website addy a few weeks ago and it is now all up and running. Please re-direct your bookmarks to MY NEW SITE and I will see you over there.

To read any of my short stories you need to be a member (this is purely because I am entering some in competitions and need to prevent anyone “stumbling” across them). To join is really simple and more importantly, free. Please take a couple of minutes to do so.

Any feedback about my site is welcome. I will be including resources for new writers, features on best selling novelists, competitions and much more. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

by

New Look Blog

I hope you like the new look I have given to my blog. They say that a change is as good as a rest, and who knows, maybe the new colours will inspire me a little.

Check out the menu bar down the left hand side; from there you can follow my Twitter Feed and also Like my Facebook page to keep up to date with what’s going on in my writing world.

More changes will be coming soon. Some features I hope to have on here are:

Regular book reviews
Links to great writing sites
Posts from blogs I read and admire
Poetry
Serialised stories
News about my competition entries and their progress
List of upcoming writing competitions

And much more…. watch this space. 🙂

by

Words from the Writing Desk – Inspirational Spring

Okay, so it is getting scary now!  The sun has been here for days and no rain!  Could it be we have turned a corner?

As I walk to work in the morning, it is still icy cold though, and my breath plumes out in front of me.  I still have to wear my scarf and gloves for now. But I know it is just a matter of time until that sunshine that bathes us in its light also warms our skin.  Spring birds are already chirping.  They know….  🙂

One thing about this time of the year – I seem to get more productive.  It might have something to do with the fact that I have a ton of competitions at this time of the year, or it could just be that I am feeling the world’s rebirth and some of it is rubbing off on me. Despite the mild panic I feel inside about an upcoming deadline, I can still appreciate that.

So here is a little tribute to “Chirpy”, which is what we have christened the blackbird who visits us at this time of the year.

The blackbird on my chimney
Lifts his head to sing
A little ditty that he wrote
About the coming spring

The lyrics are so beautiful
And they bounce across the air
He’s such a gifted poet
And he doesn’t have a care

He sings of things like waking buds
Bluebells upon the hills
Leaping lambs in lush green fields
And roadside daffodils

He doesn’t mind the chilly air
It never stops his singing
And when he leaves us we’ll still hear
His song in our ears ringing

by

Words from the Writing Desk – I’m Officially a Part Time Writer!

It’s official… I am a bona-fide part time writer (albeit an unpaid one) – or at least I will be from the beginning of April, when my new work contract comes into effect.

This is very exciting news for me. It is something I have been thinking of for quite a while. With my increasing hours spent writing after I get home from my day job, it has become more and more difficult to get organised and motivated. I find it hard to really settle down into a proper writing schedule. So, I spoke to my boss and eventually we came to an agreement to reduce my working week by one day, and now I will get every Monday off!! Yay… the worst day of the week too! Double bonus!

From 7th April my Mondays will be dedicated to writing, and I will not be idle! I have so many irons in the fire at the moment. Novel, Short Story, Poetry and Scriptwriting contests, plus lots of research for my new book set in the south of France. I am currently working on an entry to the Bath Novel Award and will enter the Bridport Novel Award by the end of May. Bath’s deadline was last Friday (28th) but the rest of the book needs to be polished and ready by 24th March just in case I make the long list (not likely but of course anything’s possible and it’s best to be ready!). Bridport’s deadline is 31st May for the first stage and 25th July for the second. As well as this, I have four short story contests to enter by the end of April. Busy, busy!

And, of course, I will be able to dedicate more time to my blog and to getting my profile as a writer lifted on Social Media. I have been on Twitter for just over two years, and have always known how fantastic a marketing tool it can be. I’ve tended to stand back from that because some people overuse it to the point of abuse, and every Tweet they send has an ulterior motive. That gets wearing. But others use it well, with just the right balance of content, and it will be to these that I will be looking when I get stuck into it more in the coming months.

So, look out for more posts from me on a more regular basis. At first, in the early weeks of my new venture, I will be finding my feet and working out a writing/research schedule, but once I get into it, I am so looking forward to being more productive.

In the meantime, I am always keen to hear from fellow writers out there, so if you want to post comments on any of my posts, please feel free. If you haven’t posted here before, my blog is set to moderate, but I will get around to that very quickly, so don’t let it put you off. Once I okay one of your posts, you will not be moderated again and can post freely.

I am always interested to hear about any advice you have to give, links to writing help articles elsewhere on the web, your own experiences of competitions and writing in general. If you want something you have to say to be published as a full post on here, please email me using the link at the top of the page (Submit to My Way by Moonlight) or here. I will be happy to share my space with you. J

Take care and happy tapping!