Culture Night

Culture Night is a great idea and a lovely way for people to engage with culture. People are often a bit worried bout seeming out of place in a gallery or museum and the idea of being able to try it out on a night when lots of other people are doing the same thing is definitely appealing!

The programme of events gets better and better every year! And over the last few years the idea has seeped out of the capital and into individual counties as well. I'm a Kildare woman and for the last few years I've led a nature walk for the local programme. However, this year I'm delighted to be taking part in a Dublin event.

Big Smoke Writing Factory are holding a Pop Up Reading in The Gutter Bookshop and they've invited me to take part! I love The Gutter Bookshop and am so happy to be involved in the event. If you're interested pop along between 6 - 7pm!

Boyne Berries

I got some great news earlier this week! One of my pieces has been chosen for the Autumn Issue of Boyne Berries. I'm very excited to see my first story in a print magazine. The launch is on 25th of September in the Castle Arch Hotel in Trim and I'll be reading my piece on the night.

This piece of good news has given me the push I need to finish two pieces I've been working on for quite a while. When I say working on them what I really mean is thinking about them and not writing a single word. In the end I resorted to my normal approach of getting them down on paper in a kind of free writing stream of conciousness. I'm hoping to have a productive weekend of editing and rewriting and to have two complete pieces by Sunday night. I've two competitions in mind that I'm aiming for but more of that next time!

A Piece of Good News

Another of my stories has recently been published in the wonderful Wordlegs.

I've been reading this online magazine for quite a while and am so excited to have one of my pieces chosen for the Summer edition. I'm especially pleased as this is the last publication open for submissions. Wordlegs has been on the go for a number of years now and is finishing up at the end of this year with a twentieth edition which will be a best of collection.

Click here to read Our Pilgrimage.

As for the piece itself it came from a trusty technique used by a lot of people while free writing. Basically open a book, pick a line, and then follow on from there and see where it takes you! A creative writing tutor of mine gave me a good piece of advice before: don't be afraid to come back to things! This is so true. I can be impatient and if something isn't going my way I can get frustrated and decide that the idea isn't working and consign it to the failure pile. Luckily for me, I'm a hoarder!

I mentioned in my last post that I did a course about 4/5 years ago but was disappointed with my efforts. What I've since realised is that they lacked a good edit. This piece was rescued from the pile of notes and scribbles, so sometimes all you need is a bit of distance between a piece and then a critical eye.

Let Me Introduce Myself!

I've always loved stories. I've been reading them, creating them and telling them since I was a child but it's only very recently that I've started to write them. About four or five years ago I did a beginners' creative writing course. I loved it but at the end of it I just didn't know where to go and my enthusiasm dwindled.

For my Christmas present in Dec 2012 my husband gave me a gentle nudge when he bought me a voucher for Big Smoke Writing Factory and after that everything changed!

I love new year's resolutions and that year I promised myself I would have a proper go at writing. I'm very serious about my resolutions; I make lists, set targets and deadlines, and review my resolutions regularly to see if I'm making progress. So once it was on the resolutions' list I knew I'd have to take it seriously!

I decided after much deliberation to give the Intermediate level a go although I was nervous. However, from the very beginning I felt comfortable and soon discovered the beauty of Flash Fiction.

I love free writing and find a real release in sitting down and putting pen to paper and seeing what pours out of me. I always manage to surprise myself though! I find free writing the easy part but it's the editing that I find really challenging. I love typing up my free writes and then trying to take the chaos and craft it into a meaningful story.

Since 2013, I've been busy writing and I'm happy to say I've had some success.

Big Smoke has always been supportive and I've had pieces chosen for the Flash Bulbs, Winter Literary Café, and Flash Fury readings.

I've had two pieces published this year.

The first is in Silver Apples Magazine. If you'd like to read The Done Thing click here but be warned there is a nominal fee of €1 to download the magazine. It's well worth it though as there is a great variety of writing in it from memoir to sci-fi!

The second is in Flash Flood Journal which is published as part of National Flash Fiction Day. Here's the link to Missing Future.