14 Mar 2012
Shall I Compare Thee
“Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you.” ~Unknown Years ago, my almost Father-in-Law came to visit from England. Unlike his son, he was a mostly kind, quiet and unassuming man. Over a beer he told me how the family was involved in ‘the hunt’ and how proud he was to host them at their farm. It is a rather prestigious... read more
13 Mar 2012
Training for marathons as well as sprints
In assessing my own strengths and weaknesses as a writer, I cannot help but refer to one of my articles in January on maintaining a productive attitude throughout the whole year, and not just around the enthusiasm at the start of the year. Because between writing that article and it being published, and then furthermore between that and writing my article for March, my productivity has declined and though,... read more
13 Mar 2012
It’s Not As Bad As It Looks
Weakness: an inadequate or defective quality, as in a person’s character; slight fault or defect In my years on this planet, I have done many self-assessments. One thing I’ve learned from doing them so often is that it is simple to fall prey to the ease of tearing yourself down. We are certainly our own harshest critics, and in a conscious or subconscious effort to appear humble, we may... read more
12 Mar 2012
The thrill of killing millions
There’s a new anthology out that has one of my stories, a piece titled “Sunset at the Sea of Fertility“. Unlike the flash fiction I post to my blog, which run about 1000 words, this science fiction story I wrote for “Ride the Moon“ is around 4000 words, a more traditional short story length. It’s fun to write flash fiction, but having the space to really dive in and tell... read more
12 Mar 2012
Self -assessment, and project updates
Project 1: I’ve submitted my manuscript as a candidate for the Kundiman Prize, hosted by Alice James Books. Response expected in June. The website doesn’t say “no simultaneous submissions,” so I expect to submit the manuscript other places as well. Project 2: As of Feb 8th (will probably update before this post goes live), I’ve written 12 calendar poems. We’re 6 weeks... read more
11 Mar 2012
Form and Genre Challenge #6
“The Comedy Challenge” For submission the week ending Sunday, 18th March. Challenge: Write a comedy. Form: Open Word Count: 1500 words Submission Guidelines 1. Submissions open for a 24 hours period every Sunday starting 00:01GMT (UCT). 2. Submissions are via the Mr Linky widget on the first post every Sunday. Any stories linked via the comments section will be considered ineligible. 3. All stories... read more
11 Mar 2012
Form and Genre Challenge #5 Submission
“The Twit-Fic Challenge” Challenge: To write a twit-fic style story. Form: Open Word Count: 140 characters Judges: Gayle Beveridge and Jodi Cleghorn Congratulations to the Twit-Fic winners… Judges’ Choice Award goes to Douglas Rigg’s The Life Pursuit. Readers’ Choice Award goes to Mitch Johnson’s Saviour (with 31% of the vote) Honourable mentions to Carolyn Wagner,... read more
10 Mar 2012
PROMPTed #6 Let’s Dance
PROMPTed is a weekly collection of writing prompts to inspire your writing week. The prompts are loosely grouped under a common theme and include a random line prompt, a photograph, a song/music video, a sensory suggestion and a famous quote. This week’s prompts are programmed by Deputy Editor, Jodi Cleghorn. (See below for more information on how to be a guest programmer of PROMPTed) Random Line... read more
