Author: carolyncordon

Wife, mother, Poet, Writer, Art Installationist, Stand Up Comedian, Dog Enthusiast. Spending most of my time being creative in a variety of sometimes quirky ways! I have suffered in my life, I have had wonderful things occur in my life. Concentrating on the wonderful things makes it easier for me to live a great life.
inspiration, poetry

Responding to a Writing Challenge

carolyncordon

I have recently put together a new book of poems, all responses to breaking my ankle recently. I’ve written about this new book, titled “Angles on Ankles” both on this blog, and also on this one & this one as well. The book is going to be launched very soon, by a poet friend, John Malone, who is also a blogger, who posts regularly on his own blog, and sometimes comments on mine.

So when John suggested to me that now that my ankle is getting better and better, I could perhaps write poems about the good news, as I formerly wrote about the bad news. So, I thought, nah. Then I thought, well why the heck not? If I can write some poems about the good news regarding my ankle, that might indeed be a good thing.

So, having written that, I can now reveal that I have indeed written a good news  poem about my steadily improving ankle. And I’m thinking about other ideas for more possible poems I could write, celebrating the good news about my Right Ankle!

And because I believe a poem without an audience is a sad thing, here is my first good news poem about my ankle:

 

On the Road to a Resolution

The way is winding, like the bandages

formerly wrapped around my lower leg,

holding together the good work done.

 

Bandages gone now, medical procedures

completed, recovery now my task,

not someone else’s … Can I do it?

 

So far, yes, actually. I’m exercising 

daily – physio and others, as diligently 

as those former procedures were done.

 

Early days yet – these things, bones

healing, body and mind confidence

emerging, slowly, but surely, I hope …

 

Are balance and strength increasing? 

I hope so, yes – falling over isn’t on my

New Year’s Eve list of things to do!

 

So, the first of my new poems about my Right Ankle, is now revealed, is it a good poem? Who really knows. I hope writing this one makes it easier to write more, and if I can get some thoughts and feedback, who knows which direction/s my further poems might travel?

Therapeutic creative writing is definitely a favoured genre of mine, as and when needed, and it was definitely needed with my ankle, it helped to keep my mind active, when I had to just sit, and not put any weight on my right foot. Writing is a way to find out what the brain is thinking, when we’re not paying attention to it!

So if you have anything to say about this, please leave a message, I’d love to chat here with you about it!

poetry, Writing

My Beautiful, Broken Ankle

carolyncordon

I am a woman, middle aged, no raving beauty, for sure, but the sight of me certainly doesn’t frighten children. My ankle though, my right ankle, that is a beautiful thing! I’m not an expert on ankles, but I know more about them now, than I used to know, because I’ve discovered more about ankles, in particular broken ones, than I knew before I broke my right ankle on AFL grand final day at the end of September this year..

My broken ankle was certainly not a thing of beauty, when I fell, and, on landing, and in twisting the ankle, broke two bones of my ankle, the tibia and the fibula. It was a twisted and painful thing, something of horror. The pain I felt when I broke my ankle was the most extreme pain I had ever previously felt.

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Now though, after three ambulance rides, three hospitals visited, an operation, and some fine nursing, it has all come together, to mend the break, and with some fine further work from my podiatrist and physio, I can honestly say when I look at my right ankle now, it is no longer an ugly twisted thing, but a soft, supple joint, that, even though is not as flexible as my left ankle, it is definitely now fit for the purpose of walking, with or without the help of a walking stick.

I have worked on my ankle, obeying the instructions from the surgeon and podiatrist, as well as the physio. These are the people who definitely do know a lot about ankles, and the healing of ankles that are in need of work.

My x ray I had taken recently, before seeing the surgeon who operated on my ankle, is beautiful too, with the surgeon extremely happy with how things are going. When I read of others afflicted with broken ankles, I can honestly say the way my right ankle has healed since I broke it just nine weeks ago, is a beautiful thing indeed!

And to add to the beauty and positiveness of it all, I have, in my time of needed rest and rehabilitation, written a small poetry collection, written, edited, published and now ready to be launched and made available to the world.

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Yes,”Angles on Ankles”, will be launched just after Christmas, the perfect late gift for anyone who has had physical injuries, that kept them resting, and healing! Whether a broken ankle, or any other physical mishap, there will be something of interest in this little collection for everyone!

The collection will be launched by popular South Australian poet, John Malone, at the P/A Hotel in Gawler, on 29 December, at 1.45 PM, just before the usual Gawler Poets at the Pub event, with Carolyn Cordon as the Guest Poet. There will be much happiness, and a possible showing of scars, to anyone interested!

Carolyn Cordon

Cozy Mystery, Writing

Time for a Holiday!

carolyncordon

I have returned today from a short holiday in the country, and it was a delightful time! I had plans to write, and took a notebook and pen with my for the purpose. Surely staying somewhere else, with a writer friend would be inspirational, I thought. Might it result with some words written in my Cozy Murder Mystery series again, at last?

I have to admit that, no, there were no new words written for my “At Talloola” series, but I did get some ideas that I could write up and work on, perhaps when my writing group next has a lock in. We don’t actually have  lock in booked in, but it might be a thing we could talk about at the next meeting, tomorrow …

Any way, I may not have written anything for my fictional prose writing, but I did write a few things very much inspired by the place I was staying. The house I was staying at is a friend’s place, just across the road from the water of Spencer Gulf, beautiful blue water, when I am far more accustomed to beautiful green trees.

I was writing short poetic pieces, not knowing if they would lead to anything more, but happy to be capturing some of my thoughts about a different but still beautiful aspect of Nature. They might go together in something larger, perhaps a collection all about locations, or Nature …

Or I could take it further, and write about how lovely it was to be staying with a friend, and muse on the whole idea of what friendship is, and what it can be, what makes it good, what makes it bad … Early stages yet, who knows where it might lead.

And regarding the Cozy Murder Mystery series, I was certainly thinking about what I need to do to make it all actually happen. This short holiday was about being with a friend, and just have a good though quiet time. It was not a time for me to lock myself away to get on with planning my books, not at all. I did talk a little about it all though, keeping my interest happening in it, and hoping to interest someone else too.

Now that I’m home, I can see I have to get on with this series, to make it real, to help me to get it written in the easiest and least time wasting way. So, my next step will be to finally set up a template for these books, and to put it all together, then bite the bullet and just get on with the writing of them, consistently!

I spend/waste so much time on Social Media, could I stop doing that and commit an hour a day, every day, to working on this series? Hmm, I don’t see why not … I have characters, I have possible titles, I have story ideas, I need to set out the template and fill in the gaps, creating plots, subplots, and method to turn the current bits and pieces method into something methodical and doable.

So that’s it, I will now go and get my Template done (after some online research on the topic) and the “At Talloola” Template will be created, and the series properly begun!

inspiration, Uncategorized

Road Trip Inspirations?

carolyncordon

Today I’m heading north/west, to visit a friend. I will be driving, my car is ready for it, and I’m nearly all packed ready. I’m not taking any electronic device for writing, except for my phone, but I am taking a notebook with me to write down anything I see that inspires words …

I don’t know if any words might lead to anything, but I hope they might, and it will be good to look back later to see what I thought was important enough to write down. I’m a stay at home kind of person, so this visit to stay with a friend is a new thing for me. I hope and expect it to go well …

Surely if you begin your travels with an upbeat expectation, it’s better than expecting doom and gloom, right? I hope so. The roads can be dangerous, I realise that, but I am a careful driver, and am practiced in driving on National Highway One, I’ve done it many times.

So, nearly packed, I’ll top up with fuel soon, then by lunchtime, I’ll be on my way, Hooray! It’s good to have things to look forward too, and I’m sure looking forward to this! Maybe I’ll find some plot ideas for my Cosy Mystery series, with Meredith, my main character going on a road trip herself, finding and then solving a murder or two!

So I’ll be taking pen, notebook, Meredith (my main character who is in my head), and expectations of a fun and word-filled little holiday with my friend, who is a writer too. Poetry may happen, good food will happen tonight (already planned what I’d like to order), and lengthy chats will happen too, with a friend I’d love to be able to see far more often.

Puss in Boots is coming with me too, I hope he enjoys himself!

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poetry

Getting Back To It!

carolyncordon

Sometimes life will give you a proverbial kick in the guts, and what you thought you would be working on until completion, has to take a back seat. This doesn’t mean that project isn’t important, or won’t be worked on, it simply means something else is more important at that particular time.

I know what this is like, because recently it has happened to me, and even though my Cozy Murder Mystery series was taking up much of my thought processes, in August and September this year, something bigger hit me, and I ended up writing, and having published, something else entirely.

It was a big thing, and there was nothing I could do to change things around. I fell over and broke my right ankle, needing an operation to fix it, and then a healing and rehabilitation period of two months. In that rehab time, I wasn’t thinking much about cozy murder mysteries, I was thinking about ankles, and healing.

I didn’t give up writing though, not at all. What I did was write a series of poems about aspects of broken bones, healing, the things I saw and went through as my ankle mended. It’s all more or less fixed now, my ankle, and I now have a completed book, a chap book of poetry related to my broken ankle!

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This chapbook is titled “Angles on Angles”, and I am so pleased with what I have done! I had to rest (a lot) with my injured ankle resting up high, and that was almost the only thing I could do … I had a nifty ‘Knee Walker” that allowed me to get from sofa, to next point, but it was tiring, and I only moved on if I absolutely needed to.

The making of this little book went smoothly and quickly and I am so pleased the publisher, Ginninderra Press, like this collection and printed it super quickly. So, I now have a new book to launch, and I love book launches, especially when the book is one I have written!

“Angles on Ankles” will be launched at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler, South Australia on 29 December at 2pm, and signed copies will be available for $5 on the day. People who have seen this little book have loved it, and the more I look at it, the more I’m loving it too. The pain is fading, and joy in new poems is growing!

They say ‘Write what you know’, and I now know a fair bit about broken ankles! Sometimes “life” is the best theme to write about there is!