Review for 2022

 

Mslexia Diary

Well, here we are into another year. It's pouring with rain, so an ideal time to write my review for the last year.

My goal for 2022 was to submit at least five pieces to different publications each month during the year. I began with much enthusiasm, but later things became a struggle, and some months I wondered if I would make it. I did! Some months I sent submitted seven times, but there was no way I could keep that up! So, here is breakdown of what I sent and the results:

Poetry I submitted 59 poems (obviously sometimes I sent two or three at a time as most publications prefer to see a variety of your work). Of those 59, 11 were published and one longlisted. That's about 20% of my work!

Flash I submitted 21 flash stories, and of those 4 were published and one longlisted.

Short Stories Nine were submitted and one was published.

Pamphlets Two submitted. Still waiting on the result of one.

Novellas One submitted on which I am awaiting the result.

I am also waiting to hear on 12 of those poems submitted last year (I heard back on a block of three this month) and waiting on six flash fictions.

At the end of September I published my second Novella, The Chair. 

I took part in several online workshops in writing flash, poetry and horror, as well as a weekend online conference run by Alliance of Independent Authors.

For the second year running I took part in flash-a-day during November and got myself a whole host of new stories to work on.

At the beginning of last year I won Writers' Forum magazine's poetry competition which I had entered in 2021, but the result wasn't printed until early 2022 when I also received my prizes!

The biggest highlight of the year for me was having my flash story published by Popshot, a magazine I admire very much. One of the most beautiful magazine must be Seaborne, in which I was luckily enough to have two poems published in the same issue.

Last year was the most successful for me and the most exciting. So what are my goals for this, I hear you ask. Well, I would like to set up my own website. Over Christmas, I read a book about doing just that. It was a library find, but when I come to look into creating my website, I shall have to borrow the book again! It showed various platforms and the ease of use, as well as what they can or cannot offer. I've more or less decided on which platform to use.

My other goals are to continually review my projects and publish another book. 

What I learned from last year:

• While submitting so much writing helped me gain more successes, I also found I might sometimes submit something that wasn't quite right just to hit my target!
• The Legend Planner I bought for 2022 worked to a certain extent, but there was much I didn't use, and I tailed off half way through the year. It did have lots of pages to write on and I used it to write a list of projects on the go and see where I was at with them and what to do next to move forward. I also worked out my review in it. However, for this year I have purchased the Mslexia Diary as it is written by women writers for women writers. It has listings of publications and competitions at the start of each month and loads more useful stuff depending where you are with your writing. This feels more relevant and useable.
• I over committed myself sometimes by signing up to things with enthusiasm and ending up not being able to give everything my full attention, November being one of those months. I also missed an online workshop I'd signed up for with Mslexia because I totally forgot!

Before I end, I thought I would list my top three reads of last year in the fiction and non-fiction category. I read a lot of books in a year (though not as many as some in a Facebook Book Club I belong  to, but then I also read magazines). I read a total of 72 books and here are my top three:

Fiction

The Island of Missing Trees - Elif Shakaf for it's beautiful prose and story set in Cyprus and England. Outstanding read.

Sea Change - Alix Nathan. A mother waves to her child as she sets off in a new contraption called an air balloon. When it crashes in the sea it is thought the mother is lost. Instead, she is rescued and lives in a different part of the country, but the shock of what has happened makes her speechless and for a while unable to remember. Meanwhile, her daughter is brought up by the artist man who loved the mother, but he drinks and suffers from depression. The story follows both mother and daughter until they are brought together.

Small Pleasures - Clare Chambers. An usual story about a woman who claims she had an immaculate conception and a woman news reporter who is asked to follow the story. This brings her into contact with the mother and daughter and also the man who is not the father but loves the little girl. The story has a tragic ending. When I saw it coming I was yelling 'no!' Have the hankies ready.

Non-fiction

The Wicked Boy - Kate Summerscale. I could not put this down. Far better than The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, this is about a young boy who murders his mother and what happens to him during the rest of his life. The murder is gruesome, but there was evidence of parental abuse. The boy was sent to Broadmoor where he turned his life around. I was astounded at the positive way mentally ill patients who had committed crimes were treated. I thought it would be awful, but they were forward thinking, and the boy was finally released and had a whole new positive life, even serving in the war. An incredible story.

The Seven Ages of Death - Dr Richard Shepherd. If you don't like detailed autopsies, this isn't for you. The saddest were the babies. The evidence the doctor gleans, often proved the opposite of what the police hoped because they wanted to pin a conviction on someone they have arrested. It is fascinating and absorbing. The book is split into the seven ages of man (just like Shakespear's poem The Seven Ages of Man, that I so like). I loved this book so much (I have a 'thing' about forensics and death, it seems) that I've borrowed another of his books from the library. 

Bodysnatchers - Suzie Lennox. Do you see a pattern here? I took part in an online author event about a year ago with Suzie Lennox. Her passion for the subject rubbed off on me and I had to buy the book. I'd seen the film Burke & Hare who operated in Edinburgh, but this subject has always interested me (yeah, I'm weird that way). The book is full of events both macabre and funny of how people made a living from digging up the newly dead and selling them to medical students studying autonomy, as well as selling teeth and hair. A lively, informative book, well researched.

Well, that's it for now. I've submitted my first poem today. Let's see where this year will take me.

 

NaBloPoMo - What I am reading

I will try and keep this post a little shorter today! So, here is a photo of the books I am currently reading. Quite a mix. (Sorry the photo isn't great)

From the bottom up - Story of Ireland by Neil Hegarty came about because I recently went to Belfast with my hubby for three nights. For many years I've wanted to do this trip for the Titanic Experience exhibition and to see The Giant's Causeway. We were blessed with beautiful weather (it rained mainly at night and for a while on the first day) and I was knocked out by the countryside and coastline. Included in the trip was a tour of Belfast taking in the Protest and Peace Walls. We also visited Belfast Castle and there were short stops for photo opportunities during the days out. The day we came home we had hours to spare so we went off to City Hall for a free guided tour and to take in the exhibition about Ireland. After hearing so much about the Troubles on TV and from our most excellent tour guide who grew up in Belfast, I wanted to learn more about this place. Hence the book. I'm half way through it and it covers Ireland's beginnings, some of which is familiar to me as I have an interest in Celtic Christianity and Druids. I've reached the 1840's in the book and I'm learning a lot. Nothing is ever straightforward in history, but right now I'm inclined to think that Henry VIII played a big part. Had he not split from the Catholic church maybe, just maybe things would have been different. Then again, maybe not. There are so many influences surrounding the history of a place as countries are invaded and take on new language, forced or voluntarily convert to another religion and intermarry. It's still going on today. I guess in the end one cannot lay the blame at one person. What I do know is that we must learn to forgive and move on. Belfast is doing that and I found it a very safe place with lovely friendly people.

To Fold the Evening Star (New and selected Poems) - Ian MacMillan. I had the pleasure of meeting Ian at Winchester Poetry Festival and he signed my book for me. This is my dip in and out of book. It's been on the go for quite some time but I'm over half way through. It's a combination of poetry and stories. I love the stories perhaps more because they tickle my funny bone. Hearing him read was great. He really is a character and I could listen to his accent all night. I picked up some poetry writing techniques from him too and tried them out on a couple of my poems.

Sapiens (A Brief History of Humankind) by Yuval Noah Harari is fascinating. I began this one because the library was closed so I had to wait a whole day to change my books. I get jittery without a book on the go. I gave in and began it. It's now my in between book so it's taking a little time to read at over 400 pages, but I am over half way through it now. It certainly makes you look at life in a different way.

The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths. I'm a big fan of Elly's books. This Dr Ruth Galloway Mystery is the eleventh in the series, and yes I've read all the others as well as her Brighton Mystery Series and The Stranger Diaries (a stand alone book). These books are lovely to dive into and meet the same characters again. It's like coming home. I'm almost half way through this one.

The Pocket Encyclopedia of Impressionists. I started this just before beginning an art history course on the Impressionists last month. The book was given to me by a neighbour having a clear out ages ago (he knows I like art). However, the print is so tiny I almost need a magnifying glass to read it! Therefore I've not progressed much through it. I did borrow a library book before that, having forgotten I had this one. Small print puts me off reading. You need a really good light and I fear daylight hours is the only time I'm going to read this. (but not like today which feels more like evening with the rain lashing at the window).

So, there we have it, my current reading pile (not to be confused with the ever growing waiting pile!). What are you reading? Do you read several books at the same time or just one? What are your preferences, genres, authors? I'd love to know.

#wpad July challenge - Best non-fiction read

BEST NON-FICTION READ

I read a great many books over a year and possibly a quarter of them may be non-fiction.  I read a lot of faith-based books and some of those have been really thought provoking but I could not pick out one book from the non-fiction genre as a 'best'.  In fact it's hard enough picking one best fiction book!

There have been many inspirational books on writing where I have tried new exercises in writing and I dip in and out of these from time to time, especially when I get in a rut.

So there are no recommendations, nothing that has stayed in the brain that I can offer you.  I do prefer fiction  and get withdrawal symptoms without one on the go but often I will read a fiction and non-fiction at the same time.  At present I am in the between stage as I have just finished Monsoon Memories, a first fiction book  by Renita D'Silva.  Her descriptions of India are filled with exotic aromas of spices and cooking, colours and sounds, the plants and trees.  I can imagine being there.  I very  much enjoy books set in India or the Middle East and this one did not disappoint.  The story is full of secrets, family loyalty and a mystery to be solved.  I have one non-fiction book I've recently started but I also have a book at the library waiting for me to collect which is non-fiction, Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Maye.  Having been to Italy this year I am into everything Italian and picked up the second book at a charity shop for 50p but would rather like to read the first book first.  The library have had to search around other libraries to get a copy but now it has arrived so I may go down today and pick it up.

Do let me know what your favourite non-fiction book is if you have one.

Just a thought - does anyone else keep a list of the books they've read?  I used to just write them down in an exercise book but now I have graduated to a folder with alphabetical tabs for authors.  Tell me I'm not weird!