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.