Irons in the Fire

#AmWriting for a lot of cool new projects, spotted on twitter and around the internet.

Follow @AuthorCrowd for their modern way to get your writing seen.  You simply submit the next chapter of one of the books they have going.  They pick the best, and then when the book is published, if it makes any money, the take gets split between the writers.

They occasionally do short story compilations, but these are super popular so only send your best stuff.  They want 3000-6000 generally, so had to push myself to reach that with a story, as generally mine sit at 1-2k words.

I even had a go at a poetry competition, where the theme was 'Home' which inspired me to write about my kids.

I've been listed as a Choose Your Own Adventure writer for Lockjaw Magazine, @lockjawmag for info; absolutely LOVED those books as a child - still do!
They are creating a crowd written CYOA; which is a new genre for me as it seems very science-fiction-y so far.  My piece will be added to the continuing adventure on April 15th - keep your eye out!

Finally a Flash Win!!! February 2015 99 Words

Can't believe my horrid little flash ''Fur Fiends'' won for February 2015. 
Thrilled!! Went immediately and spraffed the Amazon voucher prize on a cool t'shirt.  Thank you 99fiction.net :-)

http://99fiction.net/page/winner-22

Fur Fiends by Carolyn Ward

 

They met through coded messages left on lampposts; fake missing kittens with backwards phone numbers.  

If any cat was out alone, it was considered fair game.  Neither man had a job, so both were free to hunt all day and night.

Peter sometimes kept the yowlers for a while, before skinning them and sewing beautiful fur coats and gloves, which he sold on the internet.  Gerry practised unlicensed taxidermy; his flat was full of badly built specimens with wonky glass eyes.

Together they halved the strays in the area.  The local people knew, but chose not to see.

Busy Creating

We have launched a new writing group for Castlecroft, to find other word-addicts in the locality and share ideas.  It is so exciting! I'm Chair <preens> and Em is the secretary, organising online presence and all the clever stuff.  T'will be brill.

Follow us on twitter @CastlecroftWrit

and if you're local, come on by.*









*there is sure to be cake, maybe even port. 

Wild Bytes Cafe Experience

Today my fellow local writer Emma Finlayson-Palmer and I trekked into the big city (Wolverhampton) to visit Wild Bytes café and see our work in the Black Country Writers project.

We were too early though...so wound up visiting Nero's for a caffeine fix while we waited.
It did not start well.  The assistant dropped my chocolate twist (the last one) and Emma's choice of red velvet cake was bizarrely still defrosting. (at 10.15am? Really?!)

We scored a good table; in the window.  The baby got to work demolishing my chocolate muffin.  Emma noticed there wasn't a spoon to be seen... so we improvised with a straw.  Which filled up with hot tea and burned Emma's leg.

Next, baby decided he was thirsty so I pulled out his sippy cup.  While chatting away, I flipped the lid...which spurted a waterfall of cold water straight into my contact lenses and up the window.  It amused the hell out of the morning clientele.  Soaking wet, I dried off on the inside of the baby's hood.

At last Wild Bytes opened and we wandered in...ready to drink yet more coffee.
The welcome was warm and the coffee was hot.  We read the excellent stories and poetry as baby head-butted Emma and tried to steal her pin badge.

It's a great café with a huge menu. Baby beat Emma with his shoe while I admired the art.
Hooray for encouraging local creativity.  Meant a lot that they were very child-friendly too.

check out @WildBytesCafe or https://www.facebook.com/WildBytesCafeAndLounge?fref=ts

and follow @FinlaysonPalmer as well as @Viking_Ma