A Thought For New Years Eve

Bugsy Malone - You Give A Little Love...

New Year's Resoloutions

The Celtic new year was at Samhain on 31st October and probably the time when I should've written a New Year's Resolutions list; I was "in the mood" then whereas now, not so much...

Not at all. You see the thing about the writing...(now I know I'm definitely heading towards my years of twilight delight - I've started to refer to things as "the" - the Lidl, the writing, the drink, the old head... - it shall be henceforth known as the "the" of middle age. Not that I mind stepping into middle age...better than the alternative isn't it? Six foot under and everyone whispering that you were great to keep going as long as you did but you can't hear them because your ear drums are full of clay or alternatively you're celestially strung out on a higher plane...whatever's in store. No, I'm nurturing my grey and look forward to being the kind of old lady that no one would ever ask to keep an eye on their children. And no cats, no. And I'll not be wearing purple and eating as many sausages as I like... oh please, how liberating is that!? I'm sorry but I'd like a bit more anarchy with my arthritis than sausage meat.

...I've gone off point. New years resolutions, I feel a bit antagonistic towards this coming new year, not in a bad way, in a fairly good humoured way...(I think negative emotions get far too much bad press. What's so wrong with not being buzzy?) but yes, I suppose I might be channeling a touch of Eeyore!

For the last few years on every New Years Eve I've been ordering myself to -
complete x amount of hours writing, per day, per week / to finish x story by 30th of the month/ to finish the novel within another 6 weeks...but this year I'm giving myself a break . So...

In 2011

I will

• not write any do to lists.
• not have any writing goals
• gorge on language and not be disciplined

What are your New Years Resolution!? Have an easy going 2011!

Seasons Greetings

Cecil Collins

Spellbound
by Emily Brontë

The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.

The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.

Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing dear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.


All snowed in again, pipes frozen, laptop down with virus...but after all's said and done, it doesn't really matter! I started reading The Passage by Justin Cronin - it could afford lose about a hundred pages and a dozen characters but it's a real page turner and I can't put it down...so a bit of snow doesn't really compare to legions of vampire virals that stalk the world I actually reside in at the moment!

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings!

Blessed Solstice and Keep Warm!

Don't forget to feed the birds! (And your family!)

...See you on the other side... X

The Yellow Room

The Yellow Room
The Yellow Room publishes short stories of up to 5,000 words by women writers twice a year. The Yellow Room also gives helpful and constructive feedback on those stories the editor, Jo Derrick ( pictured above) considers unsuitable for the magazine.

My story, The Breaking Point Ball, is in the latest edition. Jo Derricks submission guidelines are well worth reading for her discussion on the short story. I particulary like this quote from Carver:

“There has to be some tension, a sense that something is imminent, that certain things are in relentless motion, or else, most often, there won’t be a story. What creates tension in a piece of fiction is partly the way the concrete words are linked to make up the visible action of the story. But it’s also the things that are left out, that are implied, the landscape just under the smooth (but sometimes broken and unsettled) surface of things.”

Looking forward to getting my copy in the post...

(Jo also blogs here )

Poetry Workshop

Here's some information on a one day poetry workshop in Croi Anu, Moone, Co Kildare. I've attended workshops in this creative centre many times and would highly recommend it. So if you fancy something to look forward to in January...! Experience the power of sacred poetry to speak the heart and bring us home. Anne F O' Reilly. Ph. D - "brings to her work many years training with voice, poetry of the heart, sacred clowning, drama and meditation. She is the author of Sacred Play: Soul journey's in Contemporary Irish Theatre (Carysfort Press 2004). In 2009 she published Singing from the Belly of the Whale, a book of poetry, with original paintings by Caroline Hunter." Saturday 22th Jan 2011 10.00am-4.30pm €80 Concessions €60. Light lunch/Refreshments included Croi Anu Website is here.

International Put Your Poem In A Shop Month

It's International Put Your Poem In A Shop Month! So with kids and camera, I went to the nearest SuperValu and Centra....it's amazing how furtive I felt!

Centra

Mind the snow

It's mushy

slushy

- the colour of

a rat's tushie

SuperValu Fruit n' Veg


SuperValu Notice Board

For Sale

Sentimental Heart

Going cheap

(good enough to eat)

Read more about "International put your poem in a shop month" and see the other poems over at Various Cushions Blog. Warning: I think it may be slightly addictive........

The Dream Is Over.

I'd a dream about Simon Cowell last night.

This is how it went.

Simon could grant me one wish but I had to whisper it.
I asked for five thousand euro. Simon didn't understand my accent.
He kept asking - "You want a new haircut?"
(And his hedge head parting would flash into view.)
"No," I'd whisper- "five thousand!"
But he still didn't understand my accent.
"You want new haircut?" ...
(And his hedge head parting would flash into view.)

This conversation repeated itself over and over again...

My first thought on waking was "I only asked for five thousand...I could've asked for millions..."

Now I'm more worried about the fact Simon Cowell has gotten into my subconscious. The subconscious is meant to be my well of mystery, the source of my inspiration...primeval, irrational, untamed..a place from which poetry will one day leap...not Simon Cowell's head!
If he can get in...who's next? Louis?...Wagner?!!!

I knew telly was dangerous. No more x factor.

The dream is over.

The Hating Game

Talli Roland's running a publicity campaign for her first novel today. She has enlisted her blog followers, facebook friends and twitter buddies. Here's an author working hard to make sure her book sells and I wish her well...read on, who knows one day it could be you, or me!

About THE HATING GAME:

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

Help Talli Roland's debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/hNBkJk Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/hX2ieD