Christmas paragraph. Clouds settle into the sparkle of Christmas lights. Children count their sleeps. I hear the wistful strains of 'Silent Night' and hope that Christmas brings you all your dreams. Happy Christmas. Miki.

Catching up again.

The week before Christmas. I am feeling much better following a long drawn out attempt to get new drugs for my condition. I finally have them and feel that my life is getting back on track. I have to say that recent events have affected my writing. Some of my poems are dark, reflecting how I felt. I do however have a lot of work in my 'work in progress' folder. I shall continue to edit and re-work these pieces until such time as I decide to send them off somewhere. I have recently had seven poems accepted by a magazine in the states, which is great. It's nice to have ones work read further afield. I have also sent out a copy of my Christmas poem to all and sundry and had very nice responses to it. It is the same one I sent last year but in all honesty I haven't bettered it yet.It says how I feel and that sums it up. Why gild the Lilly? My novel is coming on. I'm about half way through. I have the ending and I'm working my way toward it. I intend to go back and add to it to give it a more 'writerly' feel when the plot is down. I don't know if other people do that but it's my first novel and I'm feeling my way. all in all the terrible months of illness haven't wreaked the havoc I thought they might and I'm thankful for that. I'm suspending writrng now till after Christmas, unless inspiration strikes. I wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and all that you wish yourselves for the New year.

It's been a Long time.

As the title says it's been a long time since I wrote this blog. This is because the spectre of ill-health and disability has dogged me for the longest time since childhood. Since my knee replacement last march I have been in a sort of 'three steps forward, two steps back' routine of becoming ill then picking up sufficiently to do minor things then falling ill again and having to recover. Unfortunately this has become almost normal. I've had pneumonia and pleurisy followed by numerous side effects from various drugs. My respiratory consultant says that I am 'beyond textbook' and is trying to come up with some preventative regime to ensure my lungs don't fail again this winter. Still, enough of the boring health stuff. This is meant to be primarily about writing. So, I have written during the lulls of illness but I have had to leave my novel until very recently. I left it for so long in fact that i had to read all the wok I had done in order to remind myself of the plot. Despite having a structure for it I couldn't remember all the names, places, nuances etc and had to refresh my memory. so far I am up to 108 pages and the pace is going quite well. Alongside this is my poetry. I've written a fair bit. More than I realized unit I gathered my notebooks in order to put the scribbled poems onto the PC. I was surprised by the amount. I've also entered a few competitions and submitted to magazines and to my publisher. Talking of that, it's been confirmed by the lovely people at Indigo Dreams that my new collection will be out in April 2013. Later than I had thought but as it's my birthday month I won't mind. Also, my publisher,Ii know is going through a terrible time personally with family illness so I would not expect things to be moving too quickly at their offices. I've had some rejections as usual and I've had some successes. Four poems accepted by Toasted Cheese Magazine, who I haven't submitted to before and another couple by United Press and another one I can't remember. I do keep records of what I've sent, to whom, and when but I'm too lazy to check for now. I wasn't placed in the Gloucester Writers comp this year nor in the Buzzwords comp. Still, you win some, you lose some and that's writing. If we took notice of rejections and failures we would all stop writing. I've developed a thicker skin for rejections over the years and feel that for every person who rejects my work, another one will accept it. It's often simply down to the editors personal taste. I'm going now before this gets tedious. I hope it won't be another five months before writing this again.

Finished manuscript.

It's been almost a month since I last wrote. It's been for many reasons. I have been busily editing my poems for Flying Through Houses but yesterday I finally got it neatly placed into the template that the publisher uses and sent back to them. Getting the poems into the template was a further learning curve. It is one that they use, a particular size, shape and font size. Therefore there was a lot of cutting/copying and pasting to do. Then of course, on some of the longer pieces the line endings weren't the same as the original poems so everything had to be checked for that. As you know, where a sentence ends and what punctuation ends it, can be very important so I had a lot of checking to do. I admit there has been a fair bit of dithering on my part. How do you know where to end? It's the same question a painter has. Is this the last dab of paint or not? and a musician-should this be the last note of a composition? Well. I bit the bullet and ended the whole thing and as I say It's now in the hands of the publishers. I know there will be further edits on their part. They might find some of the pieces too long for their printing-run budget.The collection has run to 51 pages. they might choose to ditch a few of the poems, I don't know until they get back to me.So, what am I doing now? I'm working on a set for Buzzwords Cheltenham next Sunday where I am one of two guest poets. I like to time my material before reading it and to write out and time my in-between blurb that explains the poems. My view is keep it short. I think that if a poem needs a lengthy explanation then it needs simplifying. I feel that most audiences want to understand, not walk away puzzled. My work is certainly not over-intellectual and I like it that way.I am also taking the poetry workshop and have had to time that too and find an exercise that is both interesting and stimulating. Buzzwords has a lot of very intelligent and thoughtful poets who write wonderful stuff. I want to give them an exercise that they will enjoy. I've also been asked to take part in the final selection heat for Gloucestershire's Poet Laureate. I need to find at least three poems to read for that in August. Sending of the collection free's up some time to do these things. It's lovely to be asked to take part in the Poet Laureate selection. I don't know though whether I am well enough to be able to do everything that a poet laureate does. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out what would be expected of the winner so I shall wait and see. I don't expect to win. I never expect to win anything. I do have hope though and for me that is enough. People either like my stuff or they don't and that's fair enough.

Back at last.

Well, leaving my blog for a few days turned out to be a wild miscalculation. My surgery to put a new knee joint in my left leg left me feeling like death for two months. I have only recently been able to sit on an ordinary chair for more than ten minutes and my brain has been so fuddled with feeling ill and taking lots of drugs that I haven't been able to do anything writerly at all. I had a bit of a shock when my publisher emailed to say that they needed a cover from me. I had thought that they would sort out cover art. They will if needed but I thought the challenge might be good so I enlisted Harry's help(he's much better on the PC than I am) and we set to to create a few cover mock-ups using Word Images and other functions I hadn't known existed. What a learning curve! We ended up with six reasonable cover mock-ups that have been sent off to the publisher. I'm waiting to hear whether they will think they are ok or just plain rubbish. Time will tell. Of course my jumbled head had forgotten that publishers deadlines fall well in advance of actual publishing. Thankfully I had done a lot of work before going into hospital so I don't have a huge amount to finish. I have edited a number of times and will soon be sending the manuscript off. H is helping by casting his eye over it too. He's very good at punctuation and pacing so he's a great ally. I have done a bit of poetry writing and entered a couple of competitions. The crime story though has ground to a halt. I'm not concerned as it was, and is, a winter/ rainy afternoon project. I will finish it by the end of next winter but for now the poetry collection has priority. I've missed not going to poetry readings and workshops and can't wait to get out and about again. This brain needs stimulation. I can't be too bad though. Graffiti magazine recently accepted a poem written post-op so that cheered me up immensely. I hope all you other writers are going strong-or are you being pulled by the lure of the sunshine. I know I am.

Busy few days.

My new website is up and running on a number of search engines. I have written over two thousand more words on my crime novel and I'm still waiting for a response on the self-help book. I have decided to leave my new poetry collection for a week or so while I go in to hospital. I think if I see it with fresh eyes I shall be able to edit the new poems more judiciously.I'v been a little too close to it recently. Today I have sent out submissions to three poetry magazines. I must admit though, it's getting harder to sit and work when the sun is out and the spring flowers are beckoning me to the garden. I have a Hyacinth on my desk and its perfume is filling my office. My gaze keeps going to the window and I long to be outdoors.

Work continues.

I have now completed my revised collection. It consists of thirty-six poems now. I've just run through them editing and checking punctuation etc.It's amazing how you can read a poem through countless times and think it's ok, then go back and spot a glaringly obvious error. It's as if we go word-blind from looking at them too hard. I'm sure that if I leave them for a couple of weeks and go through the whole process again, I will find even more changes to be made. I have till October to finish this collection so now I'm glad to have a few months to simply finish off and polish the poems. I completed and returned the review I was writing. I was pleased to see that it was well-received and hope it helps the sales of the authors collection. I have received a few rejections this week and one acceptance. all in all quite a productive few days.Almost forgot. My old website has expired but the new one is up and running at www.mikibyrnepoetry.co.uk.

Today's bits of stuff.

In all honesty I couldn't find the impetus to work on poetry today. First off I was fed up waiting for a plumber to arrive this morning. The cistern had sprung a leak and was causing puddles on the floor. As usual the time-scale for the said plumbers arrival was between 8am and 12 midday. I don't know about you but I can't settle if I'm waiting for a work-person to arrive. I know that if I do sit down and try to concentrate they will arrive and if they don't I get impatient because I want to begin work. In the afternoon I couldn't settle because Harry was at the dentist for quite serious treatment. Although he isn't afraid of the dentist,(brave man) I am. Very. So I projected my fears onto him and worried until he came home. I did manage to add a little bit to my crime novel though. I was cheered by receiving an acceptance of four poems by a magazine then fell back into the pit when Mslexia arrived through the post. Every time I read that magazine with all the comments about how hard it is for women to succeed and all the high brow expectations they have to live up to, it seems like they are actually reinforcing the difficulties we have to face. I go away thinking I'll never write again because no-one will ever want what I write. We need more encouragement and self-belief. Still in fairness I haven't read the whole magazine yet. Maybe it will improve. Still, today is International Women's Day, so to all women everywhere. Keep on doing what you do. Do as well as you can. Keep the faith because, as they say 'You're worth it.'

New website.

I forgot to mention that my old website will cease to be on-line from March 12th. There are compatibility issues between my PC and the host site. I am working on another website and will let people know on Facebook and on this blog once it's up and running. Hope you like it.

Still working on it.

Since the last entry here I have been in touch with my publisher to ask a few more questions regarding the forthcoming collection. They sent me a template which ,I have to admit, I didn't know what to do with. That's been cleared up and I simply have to cut and paste my poems into it. That will give me good idea of how it will look when finished. I have also added a few more poems and started writing a couple more to add. I went to Buzzwords Poetry last Sunday and the workshop really got my brain working. It was great to have such a stimulating time. In addition to the collection I am reviewing a book of poetry by an american poet who I had not previously heard of. It's an interesting and challenging thing to do and I am enjoying it. I'm also grateful to the publisher who sent me the book to review and to Alison Brackenbury for pointing me toward the Happenstance website. This is an excellent place to check for tips and advice on making a review. My crime thriller is progressing but I am still waiting for a response to my self-help book. I don't expect to hear anything for a few months on this. So, as usual, there is plenty to work on. I want to get things up to date because I go into hospital again in three weeks for my knee replacement. I don't know how difficult it will be to sit at the PC or for how long I might be away from the computer. Leaving things tidy will put my mind at rest. Besides that, as soon as the sun becomes a little warmer, I shall want to be outside, in the garden.

Today's work and the progress of my collection.

I'm now adding my 'extra' poems to my collection. I have made a copy of the existing collection which numbers twenty. That has been saved for reference. To the copy I have inserted the new poems where I think they fit most appropriately. At this stage they are still moveable. I want to read through the whole collection next to see if they 'flow' well in that order. If they don't they can be re-arranged. When they do all fit and at times when things strike me, I shall be editing the new poems. Running concurrently with this I am still submitting poems to magazines. I sent four poems to Fleeting Magazine today. I have sent them stuff before but so far I haven't had anything accepted by them. I did read a few of the poems in their magazine archive to give me an idea of what they like. It always pays to do this when you can. Also, I have worked on another chapter of my crime novel. All in all, a good days writing.

Charting my new collection.

I haven't written much here for a while but I have decided from today to keep journal style entries here to show how my recently accepted collection is coming along. So far I have read and signed the contract and returned it.I also had to send in a photograph for promotional purposes.
The contract was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. I have used music business contracts in the past and the standard contracts used by the Musicians Union. This one was a lot easier to understand and for that I was grateful. I also needed to ask a few people who were credible in the world of poetry to read my work and write a bit of 'blurb' for the back cover . I am very pleased that two talented poets who I admire and respect have agreed to do this. Angela France and Alison Brackenbury will be reading my collection at a later date.The next step was to establish whether the amount of poems I had sent in was to be the total number in the collection or whether I could add to it. The way the collection was first viewed was via a six-poem selection, followed up a few months later by a further fourteen. It now transpires that I can (and will) add to this number. I have about six months to finalise the next set of poems which currently numbers ten or eleven. My next question to the publisher will be whether I should send the poems in as I feel each one is finished, or send them in en-masse at the end. This is quite an exciting time. My first collection was self-published. (If Robert Graves felt it was OK then it's fine by me). The next was via a publisher who rewarded me and other people who had appeared in many of their collections by printing a collection of our works. I hadn't realized there were so many ways to get work published when I first began to send my work out. This is all very interesting and I am enjoying the learning curve and the experience. As I work on the poems I shall put it down here. It will be nice to look back on when I am at the other end of the publishing process.

What a very good month.

This year has started very well indeed. I am just about back to normal after the bout of pneumonia and my writing head is firmly back in place. I have had eight poems accepted so far this year. Two by The Dawntreader magazine. One by The Pen in the USA, one by Aspire Magazine, one by United Press and three by Message In a Bottle Magazine. True, most of them were actually submitted last year, these things taking the time they do, but the actual acceptance letters came through recently so I can class them as this years. The best thing though is this: I found out yesterday that my collection of poems entitled 'Flying Through Houses' has been accepted for publication by Indigo Dreams Press. These lovely people have been using my individual poems for ages in their three magazines. I sent the collection last August. First the sample poems, then the full collection in September. The long wait has been worth it. I haven' told anyone yet, except Harry of course. I'm waiting until the contract is signed, then I can be really pleased. I don't think many people look at this blog so I'ms sure it will stay quiet until l I am ready. I'm pleased and nervous in equal measure. Silly really as I have had two previous collections out. They weren't as good as this one though and they weren't taken up by such a good company. Am I allowed to be pleased with myself? yes,Ithink I am.

Getting started again/last years statistics.

I can't believe just how long it is taking to get my writing head back on. I'm not back to full health yet and the constant tiredness is getting me down. However I have started editing again and over the three days of this week I have begun to submit poems to various magazines. I should be back in my stride soon. I have three collections that I am currently working on , The Pneumonia Journal, Cornish Memories and my Shell Island Poems. I also have a lot of work in my 'work in progress folder'. this being the case I won't worry if I don't begin anything new just yet. Editing will keep me occupied and the creative streak will show itself when it is ready. I am disappointed not to have been able to go to Buzzwords last Sunday. I always find the workshop and guest poet very stimulating. I am determined to be at the February Buzzwords, pen poised and raring to go. I missed the Writers in the Brewery too in Cirencester. Another stimulating and entertaining poetry group. Oh well, things will settle soon enough and be back to normal. In the meantime I shall try a few writing exercises and see what happens.

One thing I have done is to work out the stats. of the work I did last year. Just for interests sake, I have put them below.



Stats. 2011. January ’11 to January’12.

Sent work off to 110 places.
55 magazines.
8 small presses.
3 collections. 10-20 poems each.

33 poems published this year.
2 competitions won.

Out of this figure of 110 submissions/entries a huge number of places did not acknowledge receipt or rejection.
I think 33 acceptances is quite a good figure for acceptances over a 12 month period.