WELCOME 2017. ( Being Positive )

So far it has been a crazy start to the New Year but not because I made resolutions, I never do, but with planning some writing strategies. You see, I always have great ideas/intentions. Meeting with fellow writer and playwright, Mary Angland (https://maryangland.wordpress.com/ ) to share and toss around these ideas and listen to hers was the first thing, to kick-start the year.
I don't think strategies is the right word. Anyway, we sat and got out our diaries for 2017 and listed, short story competitions, magazines, and something else that we wanted to be part of. Plays! We are hopeing to have our plays performed again this year. Keep our Blog's up to date too, of course!

Mary A & Mary B

We have the names of the competitions and the closing dates, all the guidelines too for the places we want to submit. Now we just need to write the stories!
Mary and I also took note of the magazines that we must pen articles for. We are taking it, that the editors will want our work, its all about being positive and sending it out to the universe. Not worked for the lotto yet though. Plus I want to aim for two blog posts a month.
In between all of the above, we are writing our novels at present and also we both have a play each to write by February for an Arts Festival. Honestly us ladies don't do things by halves!
It shall be interesting to see if we can stick to our plans. If by some miracle we do, look at the wealth of writing we shall accomplish.
Entering competitions can be expensive so we set a budget for ourselves, €50 for the year. Usually it is €10 per entry, so allowing us 5 competitions. Which means we will be choosy about where we send our work. There are also a lot of free competitions which we hope to take part in too. Plus of course when our articles are published, the payment received will make us back our €50 plus profit. All about positivity, people.
I got off to a good start over the last two weeks. I've entered 3 story competitions, 2 of which are short stories up to 2000 words and 1 a flash fiction piece of 404 words. One comp. was free, the other two cost me €13. This is my blog post. My magazine articles are memory style pieces, so I have been thinking about those.
There you have it, part of my good intentions. Yes, part, because there are loads of other ideas rattling in my head that I need to attend to. Will share more in future posts. It will be interesting to read my last blog post of this year next December and see if my plans worked out.
What have you planned for the year? Let me know, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy writing

🎭

Best Part of being a Writer

When I sat down to write my first short story many years ago, I never entertained the idea of writing a novel. I was happy scribbling down the antics of my children while they were toddlers and as they grew, I started writing stories and secretly had hopes of publication.
I joined creative writing courses and enrolled in Kilroy's College and did their course and received my Diploma with Distinction in Creative Writing. I was thrilled with the results.
I was always lucky that I had excellent tutors who were lovely people also.

After moving from Dublin back to my hometown in County Cork, I continued with my writing. I made new friends in writing circles and by now my short stories were in national and interntional magazines, newspapers and anthologies.
I must be honest and say I had promised myself that in my forties I would write my first novel. As usual, life has a way of getting in the way of plans and I ended up with major health problems in my forties resulting in open-heart surgery.
So now my goal was put back to my fifties. I am thrilled to say I achieved my goal of writing my first book.
My Husband's Sin, published by Tirgearr Publishing was launched as an eBook in August 2014. It has been successful since being published and my publishers were happy to bring it out in paperback in June 2015.
To hold my novel in my hand was the best feeling ever. It is so worth all the hard work, the long hours, the writing, rewriting, the nerves will it, wont it be published, the rejections, the encouragement from fellow writers, the exhaustion and oh the celebrations.

So if you harbour the thought of seeing your book on the shelves, go for it! It is the most wonderful feeling ever.
I have since had published, The Runaway and One Night in Barcelona and I am aiming to have a new western romance out for Christmas.
A writers day never ends.

5 Useful Tips That Work For Me Page

Anything that makes my writing life easier is always welcome. Thinking about this I thought that if a particular tip helps me it may also help others. So with this in mind I have put together 5 tips that I use and that just may help you too. Rather than list everything here I have put it all on a page on the RHS of this blog, please go check it out. Maybe you use some of the list already or maybe you have tips of your own that you might share in your comments below. If so please do, either way we will all benefit and that can't be bad.

To Do List

I sat to write today but I couldn't get started. The white empty page remained without a blemish. So I doodled and thought about all I had to do, housework, family runs and of course my writing.  I deciced on a to-do list. I filled my blank lonely looking page with a list of ironing, polishing and all the household chores that need attending to. Then I wrote about the places I needed to go or take family members to and shortly after I found myself writing a short story without meaning to.
I had cleared my head and now my inspiration was taking over. I wrote 500 words and shall continue it to about 1500 or so. Imagine from a blank page to a list of stuff, to the beginnings of a short story about a woman under pressure to meet a deadline and has distractions thrown at her which makes her task all the more difficult. So you see, it's amazing what can come from an everyday to-do list. Happy writing !