Thursday 28 May 2015

Travel Writing Competition Win!

See my article here :


http://seniortravelexpert.com/castlecroft/


the first ever fictional piece that has been used on the Senior Travel Expert website.

the feedback should be interesting.....

Friday 22 May 2015

It's Flash Friday again

Waterfalls and the conflict between man and nature.  Great prompts.


209
@Viking_Ma
The Water Man
He stared up at the waterfall. Water magic took extreme concentration, and sacred knowledge of the world and natural physics.
The crowd around the top of the falls whooped and yelled in excitement, the TV cameras and news reporters jostling for the best view.
The Water Man had been travelling the globe, performing miraculous and unsettling magic stunts on famous bodies of water. Thousands of people had seen him walk the Amazon river, lie flat on the Nile without sinking for five full days, even walk on his hands on the Atlantic.
People who had been sceptical began to listen, to watch him with hungry eyes. Who was he?
Today he would walk up the world’s tallest waterfall, after turning it to ice in the middle of summer. The crowd leaned as far as they dared, as he began.
With a lightning crack, the rushing water froze solid. Faces full of amazement were beamed all over the world. He began to climb, without rope or spike. The molecules buoyed him upwards, and he rose swiftly in front of his public. As he let go to wave to them, his foot slipped and the ice instantly melted. With a wail, he disappeared into the foam, never to be seen again.




In other news I have won a travel writing competition with a fictional version of Castlecroft.  I will link it to here when it is published.

Saturday 16 May 2015



If you want to write to live, first you have to live to write

Friday 15 May 2015

Today's Flash Friday entry

I wrote this today, and I just really like it.  The prompt was 'downtown' and a picture of a Native American guy.   Some feedback suggested it could be a longer piece, and I do think there's a short story there somewhere. 



(210)
@Viking_Ma
Travelling Spirit
More taxis than stars in the night honked and barged, squabbling for lane space. The people on the pavements pushed and elbowed to force their way through cracks in the mass. Downtown was packed, heaving, smelly. The skyscrapers leaned in menacingly, blind window-eyes watching.
Behind it all the sky was a putrid yellow, the clouds dull smog wisps. Nobody had seen a tree for six years now, and the only greenery downtown was in the tang of the acid rain.
Even the lowest weeds were grey, scrabbling through the dust and grime. Car tyres kissed the shining roads, and enormous advertising hoardings screamed the next big gleaming things.
These people have chosen their gods, thought the Indian. He had walked through time, seeing the future of his lands with increasingly worried eyes.
He moved his head slowly, observing all he needed to see. The pavement people walked through him, a ghost from a forgotten past. They chased their dreams, frowns and sad eyes discouraging kindness.
He spread his hands and rose above them all, sniffing the sick sky and feeling the dirt in the very air.
There was a loud CLAP! And he whooshed back in time and space to the meeting and the Elders, with bad news to tell.

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Writing Updates

Time flies...when you write

I have a 3rd draft of my first YA novel completed, it is now 'breathing;' in other words, waiting until I re-read it and wonder what the hell I wrote it like that for.

My second YA is underway, and I am experimenting with genre (thriller) and narrator, trying 3rd person for a change.  I'm finding it challenging, but it's early days yet.

The good thing about YA at my comfort length - ie, 40-45k, is that I can write two concurrently.  Work on the other while the first rests.  It still feels productive to do this.

One thing I've noticed that since I have been going hell-for-leather on the novels, is that I have nothing left for flash or short stories.  Just haven't got the time!

I like the look of Molotov Cocktail online magazine though - excellent horror collection on there.  the standard is very high.  Will have to come up with some ideas to give them a try...

As for Castlecroft Writers - HUGE exciting news.  Skylark Literary Agency are going to come and visit us, giving us a talk on the competitive world of children's writing.  It's booked in for September 25th, so lots of time for us to prepare the event.  What an opportunity for local writers to come and hear directly from the experts!

One last thing...a tweet I wrote got broadcast on channel 4seven yesterday.  Sadly, it wasn't funny or clever, but amusing to see it on the screen! #BeCarefulWhatYouTweet