It is always lovely to announce when a new story is live for you to read.
My new story, The Overripe Plum, is about a son at his father’s funeral and explores the chasm of masculinity between them (in under 1000 words).
I encourage you to subscribe to Flash Fiction Magazine for stories that are posted daily, or are sent to you via email once a week.
Here’s a preview:
You can read the rest of the story HERE.
Advent
A waiting…
an anticipation…
about hope, of hope, and for hope
for our success, our health, our dreams and visions
a pregnant waiting and pause
believing for the fulfilment
to hold that one thing in our arms.
In the meantime,
send the text
ask the question(s)
pick up their groceries
mow their lawn
fold their laundry
make them cups of tea
and the time of hopeful waiting
will be shared, encouraged, unburdened
because you have loved your neighbour
as yourself.
(frangipani flower photo taken in my garden)
Posted in Short Stories
Tagged creativity, fiction, just because of thoughtfulness, microfiction, poetry, slice of life, writers, writing
*GOOD NEWS KLAXON*
I attended the Blacktown Mayoral Creative Writing Prize ceremony last night and came away with the chocolates (an Antipodean way of saying I won) for short story in the adult category (that’s two years in a row).
I was humbled by the win but more so I was very chuffed for the judges’ comments.
I bumped into fellow WestWords Academian, Jasmyne, who won for poetry in the adult category, and we posed like we were at a primary school assembly with our certificates. This came about because last year at the WestWords Living Stories ceremony, there were a few of us from the Academy who had picked up prizes, so we stood like primary school students and had a good laugh.
In the photo I am wearing my new t-shirt from Solkyri (this is my aim as a writer: to wear my fave band t-shirt/merch in photo ops and spread the good word).
In the words of Australian writer, Nigel Featherstone, I have 24 hours to celebrate the success, then it’s back to work. And there is work to be done.
Well, this is embarrassing. There’s nothing here.
No, that’s not an error message. That’s the state of affairs for August.
No submissions. No new stories started. No new stories finished. No old stories finished. A couple of ideas for new stories happened and very brief notes were made. One pointillism piece finished.
Here’s the answer to the question you didn’t ask.
Two cups of emotional fatigue. Splashes of mental health that resembled a dropped trifle. Combined with work demands surrounding the HSC and Major Works. Stir and bake in a tepid oven for ages.
It was about the middle of the month when I pulled the pin on everything and simply stopped worrying about producing work and let the ground remain fallow. The idea of a fallow time is something I want to think about in the new few months.
That’s a wrap on August.
Posted in Short Stories
Tagged art, end of month wrap, fiction, just because of thoughtfulness, pointillism, writers, writing
End Of Month Wrap for May
At the end of April I posted a summary to Twitter of what creative work I had completed (I had to go searching for it)
Sometimes it can be hard to see progress until you look back and take inventory of what you have completed. So I kept a tally of positive creative steps from the past month
What did I get done this month?
Looking forward to June, I know it will be a creative write-off with marking assessments for at least the 1st half of the month. There may be opportunity for creating small art pieces but I will be holding off on large scale pointillism pieces until the end of the marking phase.
In terms of writing, I am lining up a series of short stories to finish for a few places I’d like to sub to, and then I think I’ll be turning to some longer form work in the 2nd half of the year. I love the brevity of short form but want to push myself into longer form works. There will be lots of note making and researching to be done with the hope of making 2024 a year to pursue the novel I have been thinking about for a while (and put finishing touches on a novella but I need to focus on one month at a time).
Will see how we go.
What have you been up to?
Posted in The Writer's Life
Tagged art, creativity, fiction, novel, pointillism, short story
Very soon, Postmarked Piper’s Reach will be going out of print with Vine Leaves Press but there’s still a chance to grab a copy.
Jodi Cleghorn and I are enormously grateful to Jessica Bell and Amie McCracken for giving our book a home, and for a cover that I was totally enamoured with from the very first time I saw it.
Read the story of Ella-Louise Wilson and Jude Smith as they unravel their lives through letters.
LINK HERE
Earlier this year I sold a story to The School Magazine. The New South Wales Department of Education releases 10 issues a year to public school students, catering for all reading levels through different titles aimed at stages.
My story, The Diving Tower, was released in Touchdown. It is an appropriate story as we come into the summer season in Australia as it is about a young boy, Zeke, who wants to conquer his fear of the diving tower at his local pool. I will say Zeke is a braver boy than I ever was.
It is beautifully illustrated by Australian artist, David Legge.
You can read a digital copy of the story HERE.
If you are a primary school teacher, there are a range of resources you can access to accompany the story created by The School Magazine. For specific activities to accompany The Diving Tower, click HERE.
A teacher friend of mine sent me a picture of the magazine at his school, and I was very chuffed to see kids still draw all over the cover of magazines.
Last Monday 18 July, WestWords held the launch for Living Stories Things Unsaid, and announced the major prize winners.
I was able to attend, and came away as the grand prize winner for the 18+ category for my story, We Three Kings.
Westwords have released a FREE digital copy of the book containing all the winners and highly commended pieces from the thirteen Local Government Areas with the judges’ comments.
The link to read my story, and all the other stories and poems, is here: Living Stories Things Unsaid.
I am looking forward to reading all the entries, especially the younger writers who I hope will continue their pursuit of the craft because it will be awesome to see their writing journey into the future.
Posted in The Writer's Life
Tagged competition win, creativity, fiction, flash fiction, Living Stories Things Unsaid, microfiction, WestWords, writers, writing
* GOOD NEWS KLAXON *
That’s my name down there on the bottom of the picture telling me I have won the 18+ category of WestWords Living Stories competition.
Last year I was also the winner for my local government area and backing it up with a win this year is amazing.
The next step is all the winners of each category are judged for the grand prize which will be announced in July. What is extra cool, and perhaps a little daunting, is other winners in my category are also part of the WestWords Academy I am participating in this year (all judging was blind so no one knew we were a part of the Academy or indeed if we had submitted). The chat was a flurry of messages yesterday when the announcements were made. I am hoping to meet them in real life at the book launch. I loved reading the stories in last year’s collection as there were amazing pieces written by people from all ages, and I am looking forward to reading the winners and highly commended stories and poetry this year.
I really loved what I had written, and was completely satisfied that if it didn’t place or anything, it was a piece I truly believed in and gave it everything I could. However, it did win, and it made for a lovely surprise (when you submit a piece for a competition, or any publication, you have all hope and no hope simultaneously) after what has been a brutally exhausting term at school.
The announcements were being released as I was teaching my writers’ class so I was able to share the good news with them when it happened (after I had messaged my wife and told her).
You can see all the winners’ names HERE.
Posted in The Writer's Life
Tagged competition win, fiction, Living Stories, WestWords, winning, writers, writing
My chosen word for the year was #relentless.
It was a word chosen to keep my focus on writing and submitting. On that scale, it has been successful. I have written, I have submitted, I have received rejections. I have had a story sold to appear later in the year in The School Magazine. I have been accepted to a local writers’ Academy where we meet monthly to discuss the business and practical aspects of writing. And the year is only half done.
In saying that, it has also been a year of relentlessness in other ways. The best way of describing it would be “Unexpected items in the bagging area.” It has taken its toll mentally and emotionally.
This afternoon, I took stock of where I was at with some old projects, added in potential new stories and lined them up in my notebook. I need lists; it keeps me accountable.
This is how I choose to define progress in the year of relentless: I am continuing to write and work on new projects, submitting when I can, and looking for new opportunities to get help, wisdom, knowledge and advice. If you don’t ask, you don’t receive.
I am curious to see what happens in the remainder of the year, and when I look back over 2022, what lessons will I have learned? And that is, perhaps, the more important part of this creative journey.
Posted in The Writer's Life
Tagged creativity, fiction, just because of thoughtfulness, progress, relentless, writers, writing
I am an English teacher and drummer/percussionist with an interest in literary pursuits, creative endeavours, rhythmic permutations, theological amplifications and comedic outbursts.
Here you will find my creative detritus: articles on living a creative life and writing explorations.
And other ideas I have snaffled from the papers stuck on the fridge door.
Twitter: @RevHappiness
Instagram: @handwrittenpages
My collaborative epistolary novel, "Post Marked: Piper's Reach," written with Jodi Cleghorn (@JodiCleghorn) out now via Vine Leaves Press.
Come and browse through the library; there is no need to be silent.
A Fullness in Brevity - Adam Byatt 