A new month, a new flash fiction piece out in Mad Swirl. The Beach out of Reach is another of my literary oddities. A reader got in contact with me to give me feedback on this – she said she felt it had a ‘neat twist at the end of the first paragraph with the revelation, “You’re a swan.”’ and that overall she felt it to be a kind of ecological fable. I suppose that’s what I love about experimental fiction – you take what you want out of it. As the writer of the piece, my view is different to the view of a reader, but I’m more inclined to agree with the editor of Mad Swirl magazine, Tyler, who gave me a little feedback when he accepted the piece for publication. He said he liked it because the story is deceptive and that’s why as a reader he connected with it. He feels that there’s always something morbid in the mundane and that it isn’t cynical to face that fact either – I agree entirely. There are things in life that are futile and at some point we need to give up on trying to reach them. Is this cynical? Not in my humble opinion. Idealists keep trying their best in the face of adversity. Are you a cynic or an idealist? What would you do if you were the protagonist at the end of this piece?
This week, Joseph Robert had a couple of contributor copies arrive in the post – one poem in The Journal and a spread of three in Mistress Quickly’s Bed. These literary magazines are also stocked at the Southbank Poetry Library. Sometimes I have a good old moment of reflection on writing/ poetry/ art: what’s it all about, what’s the purpose etc and most importantly, why do I do it? As all you poets out there know, if you get into the poetry scene it’s most likely for the love of verse, rather than for money as very few poets make a living from it. My opinion on how to make a living from it? Get your work onto a secondary school, college or university reading list! Not very likely for the majority of us poetic voices crying out to be heard from somewhere in the mists of England, of course, so what next? The wave of the future. Spoken word events, poetry magazines in print and online. Find your voice, find your feet then launch yourself down the runway. Where does the runway go? Into the skies of the internet… ezines = your work finding an audience. Would I write anyway, even if I didn’t have an audience or make dribbles of money at it? Yes. I’m my own audience, first and foremost.
The Journal Issue 39 and Mistress Quickly’s Bed Issue 3
.
And back to the topic, from which I have strayed most sucessfully with my poetic ramblings! My favourite of Joseph’s from Mistress Quickly’s Bed? Yesterday, when I read them, I thought ‘Sand Dollar, Holler’ on page 29. But actually, now on the re-read, I’m thinking ‘Baby Needs’ on the next page. What are the tribulations of the human condition? We’re born (not of our own accord!), we grow up, we consume resources… we want, we want, we want. Are adults any different than toddlers, when you get right down to the nitty-gritty? Sometimes. Read my poem, ‘Bell Curve’ for a bit more on this, lest I digress even more. I also like ‘Sunspots’ by Martin Domleo and ‘Small town news’ by Lesley Clucas.
Joseph’s poem in The Journal, ‘Look, keep looking, leave’ is open to interpretation. Okay, you got me on that one – poetry is subjective, therefore, it’s always open to interpretation. But when I read this the first time, I thought it was about mental illness before realising I’d hit the nail far from the mark. This one has many layers. However, as Joseph Robert, after all, IS the man behind the curtain (and camera, when we go to literary events), what’s your perception of his poem? You’re on your own! My other favourites in The Journal are ‘Do not open this door! Dangerous dog on the other side!’ by David Grubb and ‘Waiting for warmth’ by Emily Strauss.
After one year and not quite one month of finishing my literary novel, I’ve had my first request for a full MS! With the current changing state of the publishing world and literary agents tightening their belts in regards to taking on new clients, not to mention the experimental nature of my debut making it a harder one to swallow, I was starting to think I’d have to wait for one of my other projects to kick off the ground first. Some good news has given me a fresh burst of excitement.
liqueurlicious
Course, as any other writer would agree, a writer writes and I’ve been busy working on my second literary novel, which is quite different (some might say more accessible) than my first finished work. For now though, I’m keeping my various projects under wraps – though I’m happy to share with the world my little celebration… a nice box of chocolate liqueurs shared between my fellow writer hubby and I. Since Joseph gave my novel the final critique it needed for that good old obsidian-shine, he deserves credit too – although, I did keep the final Irish-cream liqueur for myself! 🙂
A new month… and new poetry out for both Joseph Robert and I in two more online literary journals. As one half of a writing couple, it’s always fun to have our publications appear simultaneously in either ezines or print. My poem, ‘Rose Tinted’ appears on the Guest Blog of Nostrovia Poetry. Nostrovia showcases a new poet every few days – and as I like my poems short, but not sweet (or perhaps, with a little bite given the poem I’m about to allude to), a recent favourite of mine is ‘Dog’ by Colin Lichen.
Joseph Robert’s poetry is never without bite either! Three of his poems appear at Unlikely Stories – ‘A poem for the Needy’, ‘Postmodern Chimp on Patrol’ and ‘Zoo’. Animal themed? Hey now, Homo Sapiens Sapiens, don’t kid yourselves that we’re anything else! While you’re checking out Unlikely Stories, stop by ‘Broadway Chimes’ by Jay Passer and ‘The Recipe for Zero/ Scream’ by Peter Marra. These two also resonated with me.
Joseph Robert’s latest poem, Memorising The Big Bad, is out in Dead Snakes this week. Call me biased, but there aren’t many poets whose work ‘goes there’ like Joseph’s does! Can you put a full-stop on cynicism? Not in my humble opinion, since I reckon cynicism is honesty and honesty has no boundaries. You go there and you keep on going! Dead Snakes is an online poetry journal well worth a read. The poets deal with honest subject matter, rather than playing it safe with topics that won’t question and won’t explore. Why does honesty make some people feel uncomfortable? Here’s my interpretation:
There’s cynicism and there’s bigotry. Bigotry=denial. Cynicism=truth. Hard truths=hard facts to face. Don’t want to face facts?=denial. Denial= prejudice. Prejudice=limited world view. Limited world view=life is not life. Life is merely ‘existence’!
Interpretation over, no more digressing! Apart from Joseph’s poetry, my other favourite poets on Dead Snakes are Donal Mahoney, Alan Catlin and Jeremiah Walton. 🙂
My poems ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Circle of Friends’ are out in Tips for Writers this month. Issue 94 is Memorial themed with a good collection of sweet, sad and sentimental verse… and just to break the alliterative thread, my couple of poems throw some cynicism into the mix. Does the sun really shine in March? Not in Britain it doesn’t! And as for the ‘Circle of friends’ which my poem alludes to, perhaps a gravestone would be an appropriate photo! My favourite piece in Issue 94 is ‘Microtale’ by Perry McDaid – this fun little two-liner put a smile on my face 🙂
Game of Thrones Season 2 is out this week. I have to say, I’m enjoying it as much as the first season. It’s good to have a TV show that’s well written for a change. Apart from being a writer, and hence preferring to read books, one of the reasons I don’t own a TV is because of the poor quality of shows that are on. I wouldn’t want to pay an exorbitant licence to watch reality TV and ads.
Hopefully Game of Thrones will bring Northern Ireland some good press amidst the ongoing flag dispute. I was so happy to find out that the first season was filmed at the Giants Causeway in the North Antrim coast and in Tollymore forest and that my country was seeing an increase in tourism as a result. But since December last year, the flag situation has put good old Norn Irn back in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Oh well, what to do? As an ex-pat living in London, all I can do is watch and wait. In the meantime, I’ll keep my eyes on the fictional battle, rather than the real-life one. The only question is, how did they manage to make Westeros look so warm in chilly Belfast?!
Titanic Museum in Belfast
Shelf Life… a romantic board walk for a married writing couple!
