Archives for: 2007
Creative Writing CV
Sarah's extensive poetry and short story publications and competition successes.
Why read Sarah's blog?
This short piece should help people find their way round the various categories of my blog so they can get the most of the many posts on offer.
Nine in the house...
I don't think my parents will be inviting guests to stay again...not after the catalogue of things that have gone wrong since we arrived!
Merry Christmas!
Hi guys, I just made a total elf of myself. Check it out by clicking the link:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1686612316
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
You've got to laugh!
A lot of proverbs/cliches sprung to mind this week after what was really just a silly, stupid mistake!
Webs of Wonder
Another writelink Yule Sing Me One Song entry: whatever our race or religion, there is one thing we can all have faith in this Christmas.
As One
An entry for the writelink Yule Sing Me One Song contest about how Christmas should be celebrated across the globe.
Does all practice makes perfect?
A little while ago someone put a poll up on the main writelink forums. It asked something like would people rather be paid for a story published in a popular woman's magazine or be unpaid but published in a literary magazine?
I spoke too soon!
Yes, I did tempt tempt fate by blogging about my son being a sheep (not a train, thank goodnesss) in his school nativity play!
At least my son isn't a train!
Oh, the joys of being a parent in the run-up to Christmas! If it isn't cards and negotiating Santa's shopping list then it's nativity costumes and Christmas parties.
Yule Sing Me One Song - but it's gonna be hoarse!
I started work on a couple of entries for the writelink Christmas song competition a while back. To say it's not going well would be an understatement!
First Choice
This piece is as much a puzzle as a piece of flash fiction, though it was inspired by the message for 30th November on the Messages website. But would you be able to guess the right answer?
Blatant publicity but...
This is blatant publicity but also a chance to enjoy some beautiful photos and poems for free.
Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to have one of my poems (Dandelion Clock) chosen for a writers' calendar. It would make a great present for any writer, poetry lover or photographer, but anyone can get a free sneak preview here.
Boobless, clueless and speechless/wordless
Well, the title says it all really. It's just been one of those weeks. Now I'm so tired I've forgotten how to sleep and can't remember which one of the above I lost first!
Your Father's Knife
When one of your boyfriends said the knife in your dreams symbolised a penis, he was wrong: it was wishful thinking on his part. (His real blade, which marked him out as gang leader, was big and he wielded it impressively.) No, your father's knife that you dream about is not his penis but his tongue, which cut deftly and repeatedly into you and your mother:
Yellow Roses
It had been a long day; children-filled and noisy. There was nothing new about this and, as usual, Jenny was past wilting and the boys nearly in bed when John arrived home from work, late again. However, unlike usual, half-hidden behind his back was a bouquet of yellow roses, bursting with scent and sunshine.
Express Body Parts Exchange
Maria was Bridget's first. Of course, she had originally pioneered her revolutionary surgical procedure for herself and her husband Brian. But it seemed safest to test it on other people first. Desperate, hairy Maria and her bald husband Tim were the obvious choice.
Recipe for Recalling One’s Childhood
Serves: one typical adult
Ingredients:
1 familiar childhood object;
5 favourite family photos;
250g of memories;
a pinch of nostalgia;
a handful of often-repeated phrases;
1 packet of love letters or a Valentine’s card;
some imagination;
3tsp related tales.
Your hands
You try to wash your hands of them; free yourself from the lists. But they keep your life within neat, well-defined limits: controllable. Every action is timetabled, ordered in your head, laid out in advance. It stops you slipping up, losing the plot, so...you swallow pills, wash your hands, bleach floors, check windows, lock the door. You mustn't get sidetracked, check doors again, lock the window, bleach floors, wash your hands again, and again and again till the skin crumbles and your blood runs free into the clear water.
The necklace
Carol has a necklace of numbers. The concept reminds her of the sweet necklaces she wore as a child, sucking them off slowly one by one. Only, of course, she isn't losing sweets but gaining days.
Tattoos
Even afterwards it is hard to be sure who begins, or how. Certainly, there is not a patch of skin left untouched, so that one would think he knew all about her and she about him.
Silence
Karen sighed as she picked up the phone and cradled its breathy silence to her ear. She knew already who it was, and why he wasn't speaking.
Gaps
When Annie told him she was pregnant, Gareth was delighted. In fact, he already knew. There was no doubt in his mind that he knew her better than she knew herself. It was the greatest news he could imagine, and he told her so.
Keys
It was amazing what one could find in the sand. Graham wasn't a professional beachcomber by any means, but he considered himself lucky. Over the years, he, his metal detector and spade had unsanded coins, rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and watches, as well as the usual junk like fishing weights, rusty nails, cans and ring-pulls.
Fish Out of Water (or The Mermaid's Tail)
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have” Socrates
"Happiness is the light on the water. The water is cold and dark and deep." William Maxwell
Melting
I’m in bed with Paul for the first time; it should be the best moment of my life, but as usual it has been ruined by chocolate.
The Race
At first Henrietta thought Tony was joking when he challenged her to a race. She had been telling some other colleagues about her latest victory and they had been admiring her long, athlete's legs when Tony butted in.
Mishmash
this mishmash of muddled memories with their strands of colour sounds and sensations knits one purls one knits one into a familiar blanket you hug it close warmed by the cramped school canteen lumpy mashed potato smell of cabbage and disinfectant and your fat teacher called Mrs Middleton the house is big noisy and cushion-filled your pink bedroom flowers beads scarves and scraps of paper covered with messages from your friend Kate her borrowed red lipstick in the middle of your dressing table
The beauty of ice
These days the snow refuses to melt. And when you walk across the crusty whiteness, you leave no footprints. It is not that you are carried by Jesus, as the poem suggests he carries one across the quicksands, snowstorms and other rocky terrain. No, there are no footprints because you have become weightless, insubstantial. You only know you still exist because you can feel the snow's cold wetness. And because you have memories.
Messages
This section of short (300 words) fiction is inspired by Lynne Rees's and Sarah Salway's experimental writing Messages Project. More details about this project can be found here. Throughout November 2007, they posted a daily 300 word piece of writing and asked writers to make any link they liked to create a 300 word response. My responses may be found here. I tried to make each one work as a single piece of fiction read on its own and also when read with the original message that inspired it.
The irony of research - or a writer's life!
Being a good diligent writer, I sat down recently to do some research for a poem I was planning to write. The inspiration for the poem was a theme and I had only one idea for this theme, which was why I required the background reading.
I Googled a few terms on the internet, pulled up, read and printed numerous relevant web pages. So where's the irony? Well, having done all this, I actually ended up being inspired to write a completely different take on the theme, which required none of the reasearch I'd done! Still, at least the process stimulated my creative Muse!
Bitter Pill
My poem Bitter Pill is more autobiographical that much of my poetry, though still not a strictly accurate life story account. It was published in the new writer issue 86, September/October 2007.
Winning, whining/wining and belly dancing!
It has been one of those weeks where I've lost track of the days because there's so much been going on. From second prize in a poetry comp to my younger son being ill and having three GP visits, two hospital visits, an X-ray and an ultrasound in just four days!
Portrait Perfect
A picture of my husband from when we first moved in together. Obviously, we've both aged since then!
Colours
Writelinkers may recognise this photo as the inspiration for various poems and short stories I've written, including my shortlisted piece in the writelink Early One Morning contest. It was taken on the isle of Arran.
Space
This photo was taken on holiday at Gronant Sands, Presthaven near Prestatyn. What I love about it is the feeling of space and the levels of colour in the sand and sky.
Deception
This is another photo taken on Arran. I've called it Deception because it's all about the angle one views the stones from. Although they appear monumental in this picture, they are really only just above ankle-height! Still, they did look spectacular as the whole beach was covered in them!
Magic Messages
I have just discovered the most fantastic site for readers, writers and anyone wanting to pick up tips on how to promote their own book.
Waterfall
A picture of a waterfall on the Scottish isle of Arran. It just goes to prove summer isn't the only season of colour!
Photo Gallery
I've never been trained as a photographer but it was nonetheless considered 'part of the job' at one of the offices I worked in for reporters to take photos for the paid-for weekly paper.
Happy Halloween!
I'm not a big fan of 'trick or treating' but am not one to say 'no' to the chance to dress up in silly costumes. So, to get me and everyone else in the mood, here's a few spooky jokes, a creepy piece of flash fiction and some Halloween pix. Not for the faint-hearted...
Planning a holiday
This "choose your own adventure" poem was published in raw edge magazine (new writing in the West Midlands) number 24 [spring>summer 2007].
Unique
I never cease to be amazed at how the genes from two people mixed with environmental factors create a completely unique being!
Early Days
This poem was entirely inspired by a photo of my nephew (who I've not yet seen in the flesh), though partly informed also by memories of my own boys as babies.
Jack of Hearts
This was written after I saw my two-day-old nephew for the first time on webcam - and cried. He was so beautiful.
Jack's Book
My nephew Jack was born in San Francisco on June 15, 2007. This is very much a collection in progress. I will be publishing the first four poems every other day and then adding to them as and when I write new poems for him.
Another thought re subscribing to blogs
I've had another thought re subscribing to blogs. This is really only relevant to anyone who is concerned about keeping their email address private.
I don't know if everyone is aware that the email addresses of people who have subscribed to their blog appear after they publish a post. (The screen that goes on about pinging people etc.)
Now this doesn't tell you who's email address is whose but if you have a fairly obvious email address eg my name@yahoo.com, then it will clearly be obvious whose email address that is.
Hopefully, most people won't be bothered about this but if anyone is they may want to get a new email address with a fairly obscure/vague address.
Just a thought
This is just a thought and I don't know how practical it is for most bloggers. However...
All shapes and sizes
When it comes to clothes sizes I really don't get it. I mean, what is the point in a size 10 by one manufacturer coming up closer to a size 12 in another brand? How on earth is one supposed to work it out!
Behaviour that should be binned!
I'm not the first person in the world to dislike things getting in my way and I have been particularly hacked off recently by people blocking pavements.
Why subscribe to my blog?
Why subscribe to my blog? Because it's the best, most brilliant, most interesting...this goes without saying. But exactly what benefits does subscribing to my blog (or anyone else's) bring?
Selling irritation!
What is it about sales people? You're rushing through town with your friend's screaming youngsters in tow and a look of desperation on your face because you're already running late and they still stop you to ask if you're interested in buying double glazing, a new conservatory or a thousand other inane items.
Fake Tans
What is it about women with full-on fake tans? I'm not talking about those with a lightly sunkissed skin, I'm not adverse to a slight tan myself. But what I can't understand is the ones who turn their skin a completely different colour.
Fed up to the back teeth
Yes, I'm fed up to the back teeth (or would be if I still had any!) with my aching mouth and being banned from exercise. It's not that I'm impatient but...
Supermarket Rage
What is it about supermarkets in Britain that they seem to try their hardest to make sure shopping is an unpleasant experience?
Eye, eye
Question: How long does it take to see an eye specialist at the weekend if you live in Worcestershire?
Answer: Nearly a whole working day and x miles of travelling, in my case at least!
Recycling rubbish!
Sometimes I just don't get recycling!I don't mean the principle itself. I'm a big fan of doing one's bit to try and combat climate change and the save the planet. But I don't understand why different areas seem to have such different ways of tackling the issue.
Mysterious Ways or Sweet Dreams
Happy National Poetry Day! And, as the theme this year is dreams, Sweet Dreams to those who don't normally dabble in stanzas and verse. Actually, the theme this year is rather apt for me for several reasons...
Litterbug
I'm the first to tut when I see rubbish thrown down in the street, but stories of the 'litter police' pouncing on people for not throwing away other people's rubbish seem to me to be taking it a step too far!
Do you like my skin?
I've just changed my blog skin as people seemed to find parts of my text missing on the old skin. I'd be grateful for any as to whether the situation is any better with this new skin? Cheers.
Chewing it over!
So the ban on smoking in indoor public places came into force across England at the end of the summer. Hurrah! But while we're at it, why not go a little further and ban other forms of antisocial behaviour - like chewing gum in public or those irritatingly tasteless mobile phone ringtones!
Hypochondriacs!
It often seems like the world we live in these days is super-competitive - even when it comes to illness and suffering!
Bovine Brothels
Sometimes the very things that made a novel a great classic and literary landmark when it was written are what would cause it to be rejected by a publisher today.
(This was written as an entry for the writelink Classic Rejections competition and was a runner-up in the contest in October 2007.)
Beauty in the eye of the advertiser!
What is it about beauty ads on tv these days? Do advertisers really think I am going to buy their products simply because they use a few technical-looking illustrations and sophisticated-sounding scientific terminology (or pseudo-scientific babble-ology!)? I mean, do I look that stupid? Or that desperate?
Finding Mr Right?
Maybe it's me but sometimes I feel overwhelmed by choices. Nowhere more so than on the internet, take search engines for example. That's not to mention the proverbial field to play or fish in the ocean when it comes to modern dating. So imagine what happens when you combine the two!
Down-to-earth
The current writelink Classic Rejections contest calls for writers to imagine they are the author of a classic novel, play, poem or song and have just received a detailed rejection letter from a present day publisher or agent. But how do you deliver a down-to-earth rejection letter for a manuscript that still seems divinely written?
(I originally started writing this for the competition but as there is already another entry on the same work, I thought I'd post it here.)
chocolate, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE!
If only chocolate tasted like celery, I'd be a size zero and probably a whole load richer than I am now! I don't know what it is but even talking about that dark rich warm sweetness melting on my tongue seems to cheer me up - and make me feel ten times fatter!
Women can have it all - not!
Let me introduce you to the biggest myth of modern society - women can have it all!
By all one means children and high-flying career. But in my experience real life just doesn't work like that.
Men and PMT
What is it about men and PMT? Normally, they don't want to talk about anything that could be considered to come even vaguely under the category "women's troubles". Yet when it comes to pre-menstrual tension, they are only too happy to bandy the words round. Not that they want to discuss it like a serious issue, oh no. They just use "the time of the month" to cover for their own shortcomings, namely their inability to understand women even the tiniest little bit.
Opinionated (not to be taken too seriously!)
I've just set up this new category as a kind of a test, to see how it goes. A few months back I wrote some opinion pieces for a television website. Normally, I'm rather an indecisive, see both sides of the story kind of person but I quite enjoyed trying on different opinions for size. Anyway, I figure it may also come in useful at some point for creating short story characters and hopefully provide some amusement or spark some debate in the meantime.
Pondering performance poetry
Since yesterday's poetry reading,
I've been pondering (feeding
my desperate need to know
how to better my po-
etry) the differences between
the heard and merely seen.
Podcasts, poetry and people
I recently found Aidan Andrew Dun's Ode to a Postbox on the Guardian unlimited website.
Virtual cocktail bar Happy Hour
I thought I'd just set up this blog page/post as a substitute water hole while the writelink cocktail bar is being refurbished!
Sunflower
The twenty-eighth poem from my poetry collection Conception. It was shortlisted in writelink's New World in the Morning poetry contest in October 2005.
This morning
The twenty-first poem from my poetry collection Conception. It was shortlisted in Oxfam’s UK Poetry Competition 2004, donated to the charity and included in the anthology Poems for a better future in September 2004.
Tulips
The twentieth poem from my poetry collection Conception. An earlier version of Tulips was first published as the June 2004 poem on writelink.
The Sofa
The seventeenth poem from my poetry collection Conception. It was first published in raw edge magazine (new writing in the West Midlands) number 19 in autumn 2004.
Up and down - the write way to go!
This week I feel like the Grand Old Duke of York - always marching up and down and never time to stop in the middle!
Beauty and brains
I've just seen a beauty advert on television for some skincare product/cream boasting of its 15% oxygen content. I wonder if one of the company's boffins forgot to tell the advertisers there's 21% oxygen in the air!
Birth of a Collection
I first published my poetry collection/pamphlet Conception nearly two years ago after the birth of my second son.
Glutton for poetry - and being pampered!
The problem with lounging at the lido all day is that one gets into relaxed mode... Actually though, with a two and four year old 'lounged' is probably not the most accurate way of describing the experience!
Fog, blog, creativity and coherency!
I have invented a new illness - called fog. The symptoms are easy to recognise, namely repetitively falling asleep on the sofa for eleven hours at a time and being unable to speak or write coherently, let alone blog!
Back to reality!
Why do holidays always have to end with unpacking, five loads of washing, getting up to speed with hundreds (600 in a week!) of emails and opening piles of post? Still, I have come up with the perfect solution...though my husband disagrees!
Distances brought close
Recently, I have been enjoying a real treat - Close Distances by writelinker Marilyn Jenkins (croescade).
Love Bites
The poem I didn't enter for the writelink Battle of the Bards 24-hour contest on Saturday for reasons that will become obvious...
Nah-nah! (Don't ask about the spelling cos I don't know!)
I know it's childish but I can't help it: nah-nah, nah, nah-nah, I'm on holiday! - Or, at least, I will be by the time anybody reads this.
Unlucky Omen?
I think I may have jinxed myself with my post earlier this week entitled Lucky Omen? Fingers crossed! In it, I spoke about things not boding well for my entering the writelink Battle of the Bards competition today. I wasn't laughing at the irony then this morning, when I found out the theme of this year's contest.
Hot water - or an embarassing moment!
We have warmth and hot water again, hurrah! Actually, the whole thing is a bit embrassing really!
When I am big!
My four-year-old son has already told his younger brother (2) that he will be his Daddy when he is bigger! Today, he had a new announcement!
:Laughing logic!
The boys have had great fun today using me as a human slide. I hope they're still laughing when the effects of having no central heating or hot water kick in!
Glorious sun, dampened spirits!
Well, the sun lasted for the party in the park - not that it made any difference though, seeing as we got down there only to find it had been cancelled!
Lucky omen? Fingers crossed!
Blue skies! And I thought they didn't exist any more. Let's hope the good weather lasts for our town's 'party in the park' this afternoon - and, come to think of it, for our holiday next week!
The final straw!
I am seriously going on strike! No, seriously, I mean it; my pay's awful and the working conditions atrocious!
The wonder of women's creativity
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how creative we women are, even if we don't always do ourselves full justice.
Hopefully, we won't be flooded next!
We have spent most of the morning wondering if we will be next as roads flood, cars start to float and we hear tales of people nearby being evacuated. I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it, as these pictures show.
Flooded!
It's been a wet day in Worcestershire, so wet that my parents-in-laws' house is now one foot under water and their lane flooded to about five foot high!
Linguistic lumber puncture!
Well, my elder son has tonsillitis and an ear infection and now his brother also has a high temperature. So all I have to offer for the moment are a few more of my cinquains (from the writelink cinquain game):
Opposites attract - or not!
The recent blog discussion on on misogynism and misandry has set me thinking. Is it really that men and women are so different they cannot fully understand each other? Or simply that for any close couple, the things that initially attract us to one another will, over time, become the things that cause most discord?
Inflammatory Language!
I shouldn't be surprised (so I don't know why I am!) that one of my two-year-old son's first words was "fart"!
Word Play
My four-year-old son seems to be coming out with a joke a day at the moment. And his latest offering, in particular, has given me pause for thought.
Men and PMT!
A challenge was thrown down elsewhere on writelink recently for a 'female warrior' to stand up for women against some men's apparent misogynism (eh, David). I wouldn't even aspire to that title but thought I would share a comment piece I had broadcast on yourkindatv on June 27 this year.
The colour of my skin
A few people have commented on my virtual skin ie my blog template so I thought I'd describe what I think the choice says about me - or not!
Ignorance is bliss - for everyone else!
Question: What do Big Brother and the Boom Town Rats have in common?
Answer: Nothing as far as I know, but they've both set me thinking this weekend!
Unlucky Friday the 13th?
I'm not superstitious, but I should have known, it being Friday the 13th and tipping it down with rain, that the day wasn't going to turn out as planned!
Oh no! The summer holidays already!
I can't believe it's here already! Today is officially the first day of my elder son's summer holiday and we've kicked it off in style - with my un-P.C. joke of this morning now explained (and don't I feel foolish!) and my elder son suffering from what looks like being tonsilitis again!
Well, it's funny for a four year old!
Another joke from my four year old: I'm not sure that it's really P.C. (so apologies if it offends), but he did get it off kids' T.V.
Question: Why aren't lepers any good at playing hide and seek?
Answer: Because they're always getting spotted!
Obsessed - me?
I have just finished reading the latest issue of Mslexia and was going to compare reading its new writing section to simultaneously having an orgasm and being slapped in the face... but my husband objected! 
Manic Monday - or should that be Sunday?
Panic set in yesterday when I realised my car's MOT should have been done a week ago! Our lazy weekend suddenly turned into a mad whirl of activity.
It must be a mirage!
The sun has got its hat on,
Hip hip hip hoooray!
The sun has got its hat on
and is coming out to play!
Competitive streak
My son is only four years old and already show signs of a very strong competitive streak. This has set me thinking (always a dangerous thing!) about how and why I got my own competitive nature and whether there's anything I can do about it.
No, this is not a joke!
Question: What's the quickest way to completely destroy one's chance of getting writing done of an evening?
Funny hee-hee!
My elder son came home from kindergarten with his second joke today. What did one dinner plate say to the other dinner plate?
A walk in the park?
Of course, I know I shouldn't be writing this.
Stranger than fiction!
The three Rs!
Reading, writing and rearranging. It's great to have some time to read again. But the more I read, the more ideas I get for writing. How can I fit it all in?
Ant-tastic!
Well, I'll say one thing for the rain, it certainly seems to have solved our ant problem!
Immaculate Conception
This tongue-in-cheek review was shortlisted in the writelink reviewing the situation contest in June 2007. Well, my user name is the same as my pen name and it seemed like a perfect marketing opportunity!
Picture Perfect
Brain building?
Glutton for punishment (Or life's too short!)
Well, I must be a glutton for punishment, as one outdoor birthday party for my son turned into two indoor ones, thanks to the appalling weather!
Dylsexia?
As a blogging virgin, the last few weeks have been interesting for me. And, while I am glad to have been initiated into the practice, I still have a few questions...
Off my chest!
Jinxed
Well, I know it's my own fault for jinxing things by saying what a wonderful end of week I'd had!
New Arrivals
I am now officially Aunty Sarah and I couldn't be more chuffed, despite a little sadness at knowing I probably won't get to hold my nephew until he's six months old!
'Aving a Larf!
I've another opinion piece on TV today for the daily show (main screen) at www.yourkindatv.com.
Rediscovery
Sneaking five minutes to myself in the bath this morning (while my husband dealt with the children's demands) I picked up Ruth Padel's 52 Ways of Looking at a Poem.
Rookery Barn
My father comes from a farming family in the Forest of Dean, Glos, near the Welsh border. After his retirement, he and my mother went to live in an old tithe barn on the family land, which they had converted into a house. They also converted a second barn, Rookery Barn, as a holiday let. Here are two versions of the poem (one rhyming, one not) I wrote for them and some of the family history.
Bugged!
I have been bugged all weekend - quite literally after being told my son needed an 'ugly bug' costume for his school summer concert. The first word that came into my mind was "Help!" - Okay, I admit it, the word that actually sprang to mind was too rude to say, let alone write.
Gratitude Ode
As a poet, I owe a great deal to one particular book...This review won first prize in the writelink reviewing the situation contest in June 2007.
The day it poohed!
I wish it was fiction, but this story is not a fairytale. Though Grimms' classics are almost as gruesome as the sight I saw when I walked into our lounge last night!
Some (mostly) not too serious cinquains
Some more cinquains inspired by the cinquain game on writelink. Not to be taken too seriously!
Life!
Life of Pi is a fantastic read - despite its initially daunting subject matter!
This review was highly commended in the writelink reviewing the situation contest in July 2007.
Clogged up and blogged out!
I'm beginning to wonder if all my blogs could be aptly renamed What a day! or Another one of those days!
Is it worth it?
I had a fantastic time away with the girls Friday night and Saturday. But, coming home to find the house and garden a mess of children's toys and unwashed dishes, there is only one question on my mind.
Picture this - in multicolour!
I've never been more glad of turning an invitation down than when my husband's costume arrived for this year's work ball! And you can see the reason in full multicolour here!
I'm on TV!
I'm on TV! Well, not me exactly, but my work, complete with credits, at www.yourkindatv.com!
House prices!
Out of the mouth of babes, as they say. In town with the boys the other day, I was idly looking in the estate agents' window at some lovely looking houses, priced from around £250,000 to £350,000.
Pen and Ink
My sons have been busy this morning tattooing themselves and the kitchen floor with felt tip pen!
Illness anyone?
Well, my husband hasn't abandoned us overnight for business in Dublin - but only because he got to the airport and was sick!
Poetry
Some of my favourite poetry anthologies, collections and books about poetry, in no particular order.
Cinquain Fragments
I am currently working on a poem inspired by a couple of my own (sometimes slightly tongue-in-cheek) posts in the writelink forums' cinquain game. So I thought I'd collect some of my other cinquains together here as snippets that I may one day develop further.
Wanted: Non-rain dance!
Yes, this is a very important wanted ad...
Burnt fingers!
It is always ominous when one can smell burning. Usually, it's down to my cooking. Only this time it wasn't...
It's Not Easy Being Green
Well, I always knew there must be some truth to the claim, or the BBC wouldn't have a TV programme with that title. But recently, we have been finding out first hand how hard it can be to do the best for the environment.
Toilet paper and skating!
The children decorated the kitchen floor this morning - with pieces of white toilet tissue!
Yellow Feet
Yesterday, I treated myself to an aromatherapy massage. Or rather I finally got round to booking the massage one of my best friends had bought for my birthday some months ago. But it wasn't until the end that the therapist remarked on my yellow feet.
Other work and Interests
Some of Sarah's other voluntary jobs and interests,as well as other paid work.
wow, Wow, WOW! - or not!
I've just finished reading my free In Love poetry anthology (Leaf Books) and part of the accompanying Out of Love anthology and they do exactly what it says on the packets. Well, in the introductions: "to provide readers with a pocket-sized read in the places where they are waiting, relaxing, taking a break." But is this enough?
Russian Doll
Russian Doll was published in an anthology of selected entries from the Univeristy of Birmingham's Centre for Lifelong Learning's diploma literary competition 2003.
Crocus
Crocus was highly commended in the writelink.co.uk Spring Fever poetry competition in March 2004 and published in the new writer issue 77, March/April 2006.
Inside Out
Inside Out was published in raw edge magazine(new writing in the West Midlands) number 22 [spring>summer 2006].
Summer Heat
Summer Heat was commended in the writelink Battle of the Bards 24-hour poetry competition in August 2004 and published in the new writer issue 78, May/June 2006.
Sunflower
Sunflower was shortlisted in the writelink.co.uk New World in the Morning contest in October 2005 and is also included in Sarah's pamphlet/collection Conception.
Fate, freecycle and rain!
Well, it was inevitable...after moaning yesterday about trying to decide what to read next, what should pop through the letter box than a poetry anthology I'd ordered some time back from Leaf Books.
PR Work
Sarah's work gaining general publicity and press coverage for a charity and pre-school.
Journalism
Sarah's years of experience in newspaper and magazine journalism.
Qualifications and Awards
Sarah's academic and work-related qualifications and awards.
This Morning
This Morning was shortlisted in the Oxfam UK Poetry Competition 2004 and included in the anthology Poems for a better future in hard form and on the web at www.nthposition.com (September 2004).
The Swimming Race
The swimming race was published in the new writer issue May/June 2005.
The Sofa
The Sofa was published in raw edge magazine (new writing in the West Midlands magazine) number 19 [autumn>winter 2004/05].
Tulips
Tulips was published as June 2004 poem on writelink.
Dandelion Clock
Dandelion Clock was published as September 2004 poem on writelink. The middle stanza of Dandelion Clock was reprinted on wrappers around the front of 12,000 copies of Agfa's 2004 annual report.
Inspiration
Inspiration was published in Worcester Evening News on November 29, 2004.
The Last Cup
The Last Cup won Third Prize (and publication) in the Observer Standard Newspapers' (Warwick Words festival) One Page Wonder (300 word short story) competition in September 2004.
Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!
At risk of sounding ungrateful, I feel swamped at the moment by choices - little ones and big ones!