Tag: blogging

inspiration, writing prompts

From Small Things …

carolyncordon

I’m quite excited about what the month of February might bring – a little work for me, in the posting of a new creative writing prompt on this blog, every single day of this month of February, as well as the birthday of my super dooper bestest ever best friend, also known as my husband, Graham.

I hope that by the end of the month, I, and anyone who wants to come along for the ride, will have at least 29 new pieces of creative writing, that one hopes, might go on to become something more than just the small thing it began as. From a single writing prompt, may come an entire novel! Or, as in my case, the improvement of a poetry collection, that goes on to be published!

If you’re reading this post, and are excited about what may happen for you, for this month, I’d love to hear about it, please feel free to leave a comment, and we may begin a worthwhile discussion about writing related things – hopes for our writing, ideas about how to improve what we write, anything. We are writers, and we write – may our words bring worth to us, and to all who read our words!

I have dreams, I have ideas. If anyone reading this blog is interested, I love to give workshops to small groups, especially those who aren’t really sure about the scribbles they do, when they feel the need to get the stuff in their brain out, and onto the page. This writing can be rubbish, at times, but it can also be wonderful.

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Sometimes you can match the rubbish up with something else, give it bit of a polish, and it can become something far larger than the individual parts! Dare to dream, dare to write, dare to be your most fabulous self! And remember to tell people I helped you! Haha.

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An image I took recently, when there were so many very important things going on, that I knew I had to capture images of, but I felt impelled to take a photograph of the ground at my feet, and in that image, are so many individual things. Stones, pebbles, sticks, leaves, sand, dirt, and who knows what else. There’s the toe of my foot, and part of the chair I was sitting on, and a tiny piece of the pants I was wearing …

Is it, could it be, inspirational, who knows, but right know, at this very moment, I’ve begun thinking about the series of Cosy Murder Mystery books I’m thinking of creating, and maybe this image could have been taken by my amateur sleuth, Meredith, and it turns out to contain a vital clue to the question of ‘Who done it?’

Inspiration, what a lovely word it is. If I can inspire more loveliness in February, how awesome that could be, would be, should be! I ask of all to help the awesomeness manifest, for the month of February! Let this blog be inspiration for a more awesome world, filled with the awesome creative writing from February!

 

Philosophy

Looking Back, and Satisfied!

carolyncordon

It’s been an interesting year, this year. 2019 – it was filled with opportunities, those taken, those left, and I’m satisfied with what I achieved, even though there could have been more.

There can always be more, of course there can. But less is another option, and sometimes taking less leads to deeper, more meaningful things instead of the big and shiny things. And of course, there are the things that life throws at us, unexpectedly, and we have to try to deal with them, in the best way we can.

So in this year, I attended book launches, included my own, I lead a writing group that put on monthly Poetry Readings, sourcing Guest Poets to bring new interest to the event. The group Adelaide Plains Poets Chapter and Verse, also successfully put on out fifth Festival of Words. Good things happening, with words, are excellent!

I wrote much poetry, and probably have enough quality poetic words for a new full size poetry collection, and will  into taking that further in 2020. I also broke my right ankle, in September, which could have been terrible, but instead lead to a completely different kind of poetry collection being written, and launched in this final week of the year of 2019.

“Angles on Ankles” is a chap book, all about my broken ankle, and contains my thoughts about this whole broken ankle ‘thing’, all written poetically, 21 poems in fact. This book has been declared to be a good little book, and given I only wrote it initially as a kind of therapy as I was in rest and heal mode in October after doing the damage, I’m happy to have got the book published commercially here, or by leaving me a comment below.

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Other members of the writing group have also had success with their own writing, and I am so glad for them for what they have achieved. What else? Well after breaking my ankle, I have begun an exercise/rehabilitation program, using exercises given to me by the physio I saw when I was actually able to stand up and walk.

I added in a couple of my own physio kinds of exercises, including using our family Wii Fit exercise machine. I’ve been doing most if not all of these exercises every day now, for the past week or so, and I hope I can keep this habit going, because it is certainly a good one.

I have also got more into the habit of blogging much more often, on at least a few of the blogs I have. This blog, focused on me as a ‘wordsmith’ – writer, poet, blogger, etc, is my most important blog, but the blog I began when I was diagnosed with MS, has morphed into a blog that took on things related to my broken ankle, because of course both MS and a broken ankle have mobility issues happening, and falls can be lessened with strengthening of the body …

I was going to work at becoming a writer of Cosy Murder Mysteries this year, and did in fact do some planning, and writing in this particular genre. But it was bad timing, because that broken right ankle happened, and my brain couldn’t focus on fictional problems, when my own physical problem was right there with me … But 2020 is a new year, and certainly I’ll be looking at getting back into my “At Talloola”  murder mysteries!

I am happy with all of this, for sure. 2019 has also been a year of becoming serious about becoming a Stoic. Holding to Stoic thought, thinking about things and acting in a Stoic way has certainly aided me in my life, this year. As I was ‘getting over’ this broken ankle, I had a Stoic outlook, rather than a ‘woe is me’ outlook, and so the time went well for me, with the poetry happening, and then the book.

Stoicism helps in so many ways. Thinking things through, then acting in wise ways, rather than acting with no real thought at all, is almost always the best way. It is a work in progress, and I know some of my thoughts are still far from in keeping with Stoicism, but my actions almost always are more considered than those initial thoughts may have been.

I was pleased that a bit of Stoicism made it’s way into that ankle poetry book, and hope to continue working hard at moving upward and onward with my Stoic Wisdom. This is my Stoicism blog – My Stoic Life. I will be using it more and more, and will endeavour to post there much more often, as I go … I look forward to reading comments on my blogs, often! I will follow, if you give good and thoughtful comments

The theme for our writing group’s Festival of Words next year is “Vision”, and I have my own personal vision, of 2020 being the year my writing really takes off!

inspiration, poetry, Story Ideas

My Next Book

carolyncordon

My next book is with the Publisher (Ginninderra Press), and it’s out now!  The book, “Angles on Ankles” proves to me, yet again, that writing about the less than lovely things that are in our lives, can give widespread interest to readers, and that has to be a good thing, right? Right!

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This book is a chap book, a small collection of poems I wrote after I recently broke my right ankle. I fell over, breaking two bones in the ankle. An ambulance took me to one hospital for treatment, then I went to another hospital, for more treatment for a day or so, and then I went, by ambulance again to a third hospital, where I had my ankle operated on, and fixed.

While I was in hospital a friend gave me a small notebook (many thanks Laura), and I wrote a couple of poems about my broken ankle experience. Then once I was home, and having to keep zero weight on my right ankle, I spent lots and lots of time sitting around, with my right foot up, and healing.

There are 21 poems in this book (more really, but I’m including the page of Senryu, as just one poem). So even though a writing friend didn’t think there was that much to write about breaking your ankle, I’ve certainly proved him wrong! I forgive him though, and have invited him (John Malone), to launch this book for me!

In this little collection, I mention pain, gratitude, friends, things that happened, or things I saw or was a part of during this time, as well as my thoughts about the whole process. When you have to sit and you’re unable to do much because you’re not supposed to put any weight at all on your broken ankle, it gives you lots of time to think.

And think I certainly did. I was fortunate, that my pain has been minimal, apart from the extreme pain when I fell over and did the actual breaking part of this drama, that was the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Once the ambulance and medical people got involved though, zero pain.

I was given extreme pain relief at the very start of all of this, when my ankle was initially treated, to get the ankle back into its proper position, and then after that at the hospitals, I was given medication so I could be comfortable, and pain free. Once I came home, I had the pain medication I picked up at the last hospital I attended, all good and all pain free now.

Some of these things are in this book, “Angles of Ankles”, and I hope I get many sales, and many hugs too, from people who want to have a copy of “Angles on Ankles”. I think this book would certainly be of interest to other people who have broken their own ankle, or perhaps sustained some other break of a limb. There are also thoughts about being in hospital, and about the resting and rehabilitation process.

This is the link about how to get yourself a copy of this book, if you’d like to. The book is not for sale by the publisher to people out of Australia, but as soon as my own copies of the book arrive, that I’m going to order, I will be able to see copies to people from anywhere, as long as those wanting a copy are prepared to pay for the postage costs, as well as actual book cost.

Because these chap books are so small, they only cost around $5, so that minimal size, and cost, means even with postage overseas, the cost isn’t high. And below, for your interest, is one of the poems from my book, I hope you enjoy it!

And if you have your own stories about injuries, and extended and unexpected times of rest and recovery, Please leave a message, I’d love to commiserate with you!

 

Tibia & Fibula

 

Boredom, 

ding! bang! 

people talking,

I remain here, 

still wriggling 

& wiggling my toes,

and learning a truth 

about time –

Hospital Time 

is not the same

as normal time, 

& plans made

by hospital staff, 

while worthy,

are as brittle 

& breakable

as a bone, 

or two bones 

at once.

Writing

The Writer as Juggler

carolyncordon

Today was not the day for being a novelist, not during the day, anyway. I was the Editor of a community Newsletter, rather than being a Poet, or the writer of a Cozy Mystery book series …

This is how things go, sometimes, we all have certain responsibilities and we prioritise things, and do the best we can with all of the things we need to do … It’s a frustration, but at least I’m in the fortunate position of not needing to do a paid job, so I can arrange my life to suit myself, to a far larger degree than many other writers.

The newsletter needs to be ready to send off to be printed before the end of the week, for preference, the poetry is going to be less in focus for the time being, and the novel may happen if I don’t have access to the household’s PC (because my husband uses it too).

I did manage to write, or rewrite more like, around 500 words that are in the chapter breakdown I began yesterday or the day before, where I’ve been writing notes for chapters, or cut and pasting shorter pieces to their best spot in the novel I’m doing most of the work on. This will be book 2 ‘Kissing Cousins’.

I need another day to put in more novel work, I think, perhaps tomorrow morning dedicated to novel, and leave the newsletter until after lunch, when things I’ve requested to go in there, should have arrived.

It’s a busy writing life, and I love it, juggling from non fiction to fiction, newsletter to novel, and some poetry in there as well. And blogging and other Social Media too, of course. Not as much as that though, as sometimes. A bit of Twitter, and more Facebook than there should be …

It’s all going well though, and as I said, I love it!

New Ideas, Story Ideas, Uncategorized, Writing

Themes in a Writing Life

carolyncordon

I have been ‘a writer’ for perhaps twenty years. Over my time as a writer, I have written about a variety of different things. I tend to write about what my mind is connecting with, at the time, and I think about many things.

An early theme was Sexual Abuse, which resulted in both a poetry collection, and a blog. Another theme has been Dogs, and that has so far resulted in three books with at least one more book in the same series to be published perhaps next year. Since I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010, I have published a book about it, and again, have a blog regarding that theme.

My current theme, one I have also begun a new blog about, is living a Stoic life. I began thinking about stoicism around two years ago, and I based much of my early thought around a book I received for my birthday last year (or it may have been a Christmas present). It is the book “How to be a Stoic” by Massimo Pigliucci, a well written book and very informative.

I am enjoying looking at my life, and considering it in regards to Stoicism. I wrote a blog post on my Stoic blog this morning, which shows this, I would love you to go there and read it, it tells a bit about me and how I live my life!

Being a writer means you have to have things to write about, and living a life made up of many different things means the range of your writing can be a diverse one. And exploring different genre means you have more options and avenues for your words. I am a writer, as I have said, and I write different things.

I am currently working on an adult novel, I have an idea for a Young Adult novella, I am a poet, I am a blogger, and I’ve written short stories too. I also have a memoir, which was the book mentioned previously, about multiple sclerosis. I am also the editor of a newsletter for the people living in the town closest to where I live, Mallala. This newsletter comes out monthly, and I enjoy putting it together, with my own writing, and the articles sent to me for it.

My life is one of writing, and also of working with and for my various communities. It is a good, simple, and Stoic life, and I love it!