Tuesday 29 July 2014

A Versatile Blogger? Me?

Thank you to Patsy Collins for nominating me as a versatile blogger. Patsy's blog is one I follow slavishly because she finds out about all sorts of writing competitions and generously publicizes them on her blog along with snippets of her writing world. A number of her posts explore the varied meanings of words which are linked to writing competitions - take a look at Patsy's blog

My next task as a versatile blogger is to tell you seven random things about myself and then nominate another fifteen versatile bloggers, who are invited to do the same. The idea is of course to introduce our readers to blogs they may not have visited.

I've been told that one's blog should really focus on a subject you are passionate about with interesting and informative posts. My blog was originally created with the intention of focusing on writing, but it has stayed into other territories. All writers must read so book-talk must be allowed on a writing blog. Working as a speech and language therapist, I'm interested in language and communication in general so that sneaks in too - but again that is related. My other passion is travel so I can't help giving that a mention every now and again. I figure so long as I'm writing about travel then it's OK for a writing blog. So really that means writers can write about anything at all and it will count as perfectly relevant for a writing blog.

Whether this makes me versatile, disorganized or just incredibly well-rounded, I'm not sure. Now seven random facts...

1) I have been to Timbuktu.

2) I have three great-nephews - but am trying not to emulate my own great-aunt who smelled of peppermints and had whiskers.

3) I have danced on the stage of the Shaw Theatre in London (odd, considering that I can't dance).

4) I drink coffee but not tea.

5) The possession that I have had the longest is a small wooden cow that my sister brought back from Switzerland when I was four.

6) I once had dinner with George Clooney.  I never tell fibs.  I might have told the odd fib here and there, but prefer to call it poetic licence.

7) I have secretly cast most of the characters for the film for my unpublished book.

Here is a list of writerly blogs that I enjoy who I have nominated:

Wendy's Writing Now, but I know that Wendy has already been nominated.
Julie's Quest
Tina K Burton
The Elephant in the Writing Room
Brightwriter60
The Literary Pig
Helen Yendall's Writing blog
Cobbled Together
Dan's Adventures in Fiction
Living the Write Dream (ah, but Samantha has also been nominated already)
Get On With It
Rebeccah Writes
My Kind of London

And two from Greenacre Writers - whose work I have had the privilege to read and even critique!

The first from Helen whose blog focuses on OCD, with a lot of interesting and informative insights, The Reluctant Perfectionist. Helen has also written a novel with this theme at its core - and which I hope will soon to be published.

And last but not least, the blog from fellow Greenacre Writers founder Rosie Canning  who writes about writing but also about campaigns to assist care leavers. Rosie has written extensively on this subject both in her fiction and various articles.

Enjoy!

Tuesday 1 July 2014


Words with JAM have now published the winning stories from the 2013 competitions judged by David Haviland (fiction agent for the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency), Polly Courtney (author of Feral Youth) and Susan Jane Gilman (author of The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street). This is their second collection of work from new writers.

Words with JAM describes An Earthless Melting Pot: 'A heady mixture of stories, from romance to spine-chilling tension and from the virtual world to the extreme worlds of the self-deluded, these stories will take you to places you’ve never been before.'

A mixture of longer stories and flash fiction, I'm thrilled that my flash-fiction piece, Beneath the Arches, is included.

For more details see Words with JAM