Some published work this week!

I've got printed thanks to two of my favourite music/feminism sites

the first one is a short piece I wrote about the influence of Joan Jett on me, included in a zine made especially for Ladyfest, that's here

and the other is my first review for the amazing website The F Word, it's a book review here

In the Sky

He hid his face amid a crowd of stars
and placed his feet just behind the planet mars
he wished not to see
didn't want to know what was down below
the sky was his refuge
a shelter from the Earth's corruption
here in the solar system there's no disruption
just purity and beauty
no need to escape
just sit and dream
and watch the night float by

first line from the beautiful poem When you are Old by W.B Yeats

Magnetic Poetry Part 2

Don't say that now
you and I lie awake
while she's there
if this has to be the way
I don't wanna see the light
we're phoney
there is nothing in the night
take down your crossfire
it was a long way off
it got out of hand
guess I must just live now
and there's a hurricane of bleakness
baby you got worse
a deaf kiss plays us out

I finally won NaNoWriMo!

Further to my last blog post, I have now finished my novel for national novel writing month! And after six years of trying, I have finally managed to reach 50,000 words after a lot of hard work, dirty tricks etc to get that word count up! I'm pleased with myself that I finally managed to complete it.

Anyway I know quite a few people have said to me that they want to read it or that I should put it online. Well I'm not going to publish it online (at least not yet).
What I want is to get three volunteer readers to read this first draft- but don't get excited just yet- this means reading the novel without any editing, so with possible spelling mistakes, errors, and all the dirty tricks I used to boost the word count- like not using any contractions and turning words like whatever into two words- what ever.

I want those people to give me honest positive and negative feedback about what they liked and didn't like about the story so that in January (in theory) I can start editing it and improving it, and I'll keep improving it until I think it's good enough, and then I'm hoping to attempt to get it published- but it needs a lot of work first!

so the first three people to comment on this blog, or respond when I put this link on twitter and facebook, can be the volunteer readers and help me make this labour of love into something publishable!

November!

Hello readers,

Sorry I haven't been updating too much recently, this month I am taking part in NaNoWriMo! it's actually my sixth year in a row, but I've never managed to get anywhere near the 50,000 words. This year I have been doing really well with my word count despite not knowing what my plot was going to be, and I'm still not exactly sure. I thought it was a sci fi novel to begin with but now it seems it's actually a fantasy novel, and is getting more and more complicated and ridiculous by the minute! I am finding listening to shouty riot grrrl music very helpful to my creativity as well as following @NaNoWordSprints very helpful.

the funny thing is that since I've started this year, I have started to feel inspired to write other things too (and inspired to actually do some other things too) but I have to focus on this for now!

I'm off to write my novel!

Black Dog

Alarmed bleakness
calling in a blind light
don't want to feel this way
but I don't get a say
it hovers over me like a dark cloud
likely to burst at any moment
(and often it does)
it hurts deep down inside
and times like these I just want to hide
it's like some part of me has died
when I get like this
it's hard to find the switch
I know what I'm feeling isn't necessarily true
and I don't really have to feel blue
but I lose all control
and everything around me comes to a halt
I should by now, take these thoughts with a grain of salt
there is always hope
if I can't feel well today
maybe tomorrow
I might feel okay

27/10/10

Magnetic Poetry fun and randomness

I love magnetic poetry, everytime I go anywhere near any I have to play with it, so I was most pleased when we got some free with Classic Rock last week. Here is what we made with it, some really random and silly, and some I thought were pretty good!

Don't wanna be hollywood dumb
you're nothing til it's been said
anybody could be a little worse
now live some kind of today
if you're sure who you are
here down the back
we're bitten
(written between me and migs)

I woke in a crossfire blind
calling myself a london neverland
born from up there
it gets away
dust
(by Migs)

lots of random lines:

I said plays don't bustle

I enter the alarmed jungle, suppose bleakness that's phoney!

Welcome to silhouetto megadon

my pinball hurricane of beatlemania

never light a muffin

this morning the beer got a mighty hello

must I see 42 in every question

a liverpool wild eyed joker is awake there