Despite the weather being so changeable, I am all geared up for Summer. Lots of commissioned childcare articles to work on right up to Christmas (including such diverse topics as learning with buttons, playing with ice, dressing up races, and children's poems). I'm getting lots of new fiction ideas too and have submitted a few finished stories in recent weeks. My Weekly used a story of mine in the 22 May issue, and PF have a few yet to appear in print. And I won the Saturday Write Invite competition again a couple of weeks back, and have been sitting comfortably in the top 4 in their weekly winners league tables for months!
My article about writing, perfecting and selling short fiction and poems made it into Writing Magazine for June, and I am still getting away with the very flattering pic of me they have on file. One day I will have to send a more recent one - proving I am getting older and wider (yes, I do mean wider, and not necessarily wiser!)
Got commended in the annual poetry comp run by the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, which I am pleased about as the entrants are all professonals so standards are high. The 'poem a day' challenge idea just didn't work - for me anyway. The one thing it did achieve was to get me writing a poem - yes, just one - on Day one, but it was a good one, and I edited and tweaked for several days until I had produced what I think is one of my best ever. It's gone into a competition. And I managed one other poem which I quite liked, and which won me the monthly challenge on the Writers News members talkback site for June, so mission more or less accomplished! I hosted another poetry evening in a library last week too, which went well. And am taking part in the annual Poetic Republic onlne competition again, where all entrants are the judges. Just waiting for mid-June to come around to see if I have made the final shortlist and if not whether I like any of those that have -last year produced some excellent finalists.
I will be attending the SWWJ summer lunch/AGM tomorrow, so lots of writer friends to catch up with. And then off to Caerleon in July for some great entertainment, enlightenment, fun and food!!
