Ash & Feather

From Time Capsule Back to Website

So I’ve not put a lot of new content on here, I know. It’s really going to get in the way of my meteoric stats rise, and that’s a shame, but let me explain.

I’ve been reconsidering where I place my work online, and how best to use my website. For now, I think there’s going to be a lot less new content on here. What you can expect are larger monthly update posts. These will attempt to capture what I’ve been writing and creating elsewhere in the world.

Writing

Now of course, you can always check out my writing portfolio page for a master list of everything I’ve written and put out into the world, but here’s what I’ve been up to so far this year:

• I moved the following poems to my Medium account:
  • Sand
  • Captivating
  • Tie Pie Cal
  • The Day that Didn’t Exist
  • Tardy
  • Suspicion
• My short vignette ‘You Lost Your Pen’ also moved to Medium
• As did my sci-fi flash fiction piece ‘Mix Up, Gig’s Up’
• And a rewrite of my history essay ‘Aiding and Abetting’
• I also wrote a number of original articles for Medium, all but one were picked up by their curators for wider distribution:
  • Depression Didn’t Make Me A Poet. Zoloft Did.
  • No Author Is An Island
  • In Defence of Irresponsibility
  • My Depression Saved My Life

So at a glance, it looks like I’ve abandoned Ash & Feather for Medium. That’s not entirely true, but going forward a lot of my short-form writing will end up on Medium. Why is that? Honestly, because it pays. Not a lot, but enough to usually cover my phone bill each month, and certainly more than the nothing I was getting out of publishing directly on here.

I also won the February qualifier for Hammer & Tongue Solent. They’re a poetry slam competition, and I’ll be competing in their regional slam in December. If I’m one of the two best poets that night, I’ll go on to perform at the national slam at the Royal Albert Hall! So wish me luck!

Speaking of poetry performance, I’m regularly going to open mic nights and improving my technique, and I’ve started recording my readings. I’m hoping this will lead to a poetry-based YouTube channel, but in the meantime any videos will go up on the Ash & Feather Facebook page.

Workshops

Itchen to Write has been growing as a platform for affordable, accessible writing workshops across a broad range of disciplines. So far this year we’ve hosted workshops on screenwriting, plot and structure, found poetry, and this month we’re doing editing! You can find out more about our events on Meetup or Itchen to Write’s website.

I’m also teaching a variety of courses for Eastleigh College:

• Website Creation
• Using Social Media for Business
• Marketing for Beginners
• Introduction to Poetry

If you’re local to the area and fancy learning a bit more about these subjects, head over to their website and book your place!

Freelancing

My freelance writing work has tapered off somewhat, so if you’re interested in working together, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I have a wide range of experience in copywriting, fiction writing, and other forms.

Miscellaneous

As mentioned before, I do have an Etsy shop now. At the moment it’s mostly ceramics and vintage books, but I’m hoping to add a wide range of bullet journal layouts, prints, and planner PDFs in the future. If there’s anything you think would be good to add, let me know and I’ll look into it!

My social media presence has been growing; I’m over 1k followers on Twitter now, and creeping up on 200 followers on Instagram. Neither of these are particularly branded, but I post a lot of nice photography and political memes so if that’s your thing consider adding yourself to a growing crowd of people with excellent taste.

Anyway, I think that’s about it for now. As always, comments and suggestions are always welcome!