I’m currently working each morning from a little B&B room in a farmhouse in Pembrokeshire, while Nick is here playing the organ for St David’s Cathedral. Apart from occasionally getting up in the night and bashing into furniture it’s all very pleasant. A cockerel and a swarm of hens outside. Peaceful countryside views. We’ve hadRead more ⟶
Category: Rejections
Being on the happy side of a fine line, and other August musings
August. Already. Do you remember how summer holidays seemed in childhood – a long holiday starting late July (for those of us in state schools) and extending only really to the end of August? But it seemed like ages, and that summer didn’t really begin until the school term was done with. But now, theRead more ⟶
On redrafting old material, and a welcome acceptance
During my mini-retreat in Cork I dug out a number of old as-yet-unfinished or unpublished poems to see what I could breathe new life into. Re-use & recycle! Nothing’s wasted! Or is it? Sometimes when I get out an old poem I find I’ve put enough distance between it and me, and now I’m ableRead more ⟶
On #100rejections … (and 2 subscriptions)
The other day on Twitter I saw Penny Shutt mention #100rejections. Intrigued, I followed the hashtag and felt I’d stumbled on some sort of masochistic cult… “Heard the outcome of a GDC scholarship that I applied for…! Didn’t get it! All good, another ✔️ for #100rejections.” “Holy EFF I might make #100rejections in the first monthRead more ⟶
Delighted and amazed to announce that…( just kidding)
I bet you were dead excited for me there for a second or two, weren’t you? No? Oh well…it’s that time of year again, when thousands of us come to accept that we’ve got nowhere (yet again) in the National Poetry Comp, never mind the other comps who promised to inform winners ‘by the endRead more ⟶
2018 poetry submissions stats
Dear oh dear. Well, I promise to deliver the ‘ups and downs’ of poetry submissions, and 2018 was slim pickings for sure. Number of poems sent out to journals: 25 Number accepted: 4 Number declined: 15 Number awaiting reply: 6 (3 have been out for 300 days/43 weeks, 3 for 53 days/8 weeks) Number poemsRead more ⟶
Small milestones
At the end of October it was my birthday, and over a boozy supper my dear husband suggested we do a ‘dry November’. I couldn’t think of a reason why not – no social events planned, Christmas to look forward to, and I certainly couldn’t face giving up alcohol for January, the most depressing monthRead more ⟶
The new ‘How to’ guide is finally done…
Things have been a bit quiet on this blog for the last month, mainly because I’ve been full-on with the new booklet which arrived from the printers today – hurrah! More about that below… a quick zip through other news: Workshops, readings etc Last month I went up to London for a Coffee-House Poetry workshopRead more ⟶
New: how-to guide to submitting to UK poetry magazines, plus new collaborations
New book! With the UK poetry magazines submissions windows spreadsheet becoming so popular, I’ve decided to take it step further: a how-to booklet – everything you need to know about submitting to UK poetry mags – well, pretty much everything apart from how to write stunning poems – ha ha! I leave that kind of adviceRead more ⟶
Catchup for a rainy day – news, upcoming etc
With a real sense of summer coming to an end, I just wanted to mention a few things before August is up, and that feeling of moving on to the start of a new year. (Still haunted by school terms, decades on…) Excellent Events Back in July, I didn’t manage to make it to TheRead more ⟶