Just Can't Help Writing

She’s baaaaack. Well, sort of. Today I have an extra special treat. This is going to sound super conceited but whatever, it is MY blog 😛 . But first lemme caveat with this.

I feel I DO have a knack for predicting the next big thing. Case in point, in 1993 I was at an air show and there was an unknown all-female band I chatted with because no one was really over there. I loved their unique sound and gushed over how one member employed the banjo (an instrument forgotten at that time).

I told them I was sure they were going to be the next biggest thing in country music, and even bought some of the cheap merchandise they sold to support their music and prove I meant what I said.

That little band was The Dixie Chicks.

I’ve done this time and time again with authors and…

One of the world’s biggest and most prestigious poetry contests, the National Poetry Competition is now open for previously unpublished poems of up to 40 lines on any subject. (Publication includes being posted on blogs, twitter etc etc)

The competition is judged by Moniza Alvi, Gerry Cambrige and Jack Underwood. Every entry will be read by at least two judges – they don’t just get to see a selected short list. All poems are judged anonymously.

1st prize is £5,000
2nd £2,000
3rd £1,000 and there are seven commendations at £200 each.

Winning poems are also published in an anthology and on the Poetry Society website, and there are other exciting opportunities for each year’s winners, including the opportunity to read at some of the UK’s biggest literary festivals and events.

Entry fee: The first poem submitted costs £6.50. Subsequent entries in the same submission cost £3.50 per poem. Poetry…

“But…but…but…THAT”S not YOUR name as the Author!” I hear you declare indignantly…

That’s TRUE – I’M not the AUTHOR, my Mother is, but unfortunately she is not alive to publish it herself, (she died in 2000), so I’ve published it in her name.

Today would have been Mum’s 90th birthday if she’d still been alive, so my sister and I felt that this book would be a nice way to celebrate Mum’s life and memory.

What’s it about?

As stated in the book description:

We all have dreams, loves and hopes; but what if you are a girl growing up in 20th century Northern Ireland before, during and after the ‘Troubles’?
From the poetic thoughts of our Mother, we get a sense of what it was like, ranging from humour, sadness, wistful thinking and sometimes just downright nonsensical, these are the words of one such girl.

Each poem tells a story.

My sister…