Monthly update!

We’re closing in on a year of ups and downs, redundancies, temp roles, and dipping my toes in the freelance waters. I’ve made some really positive changes and significant progress on my mental and physical health, and I think 2019 is shaping up to be a fantastic year indeed.

News!

NaNoWriMo, unsurprisingly, was a bust for me. In retrospect, November strikes me as a really inconvenient month to try and write a rough draft of a novel (or at least 50k of a rough draft). There’s Thanksgiving, and Christmas is looming on the horizon. And it’s on the back end of Halloween and Bonfire Night.

But, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy! I’m excited to have a few opportunities going:

• I’ve been featured in Medium’s publication I Quit!
• Another story was curated in their humor section
• My first collection of poems, Belts: A National Snapshot in Poems, is available on Kindle
• I’ve been writing poetry and short stories
• If you’re in the Hampshire, UK area, I’ve been teaching evening classes on Website Creation, Marketing for Beginners, Social Media for Business, and of course, Poetry!
• Red Feather Threads is a new shop I’ve opened on Etsy, mainly selling older items like books and collectibles.
• Itchen to Write’s 2019 schedule of events is live, and will be continuously updated with new dates and information
• and I have my first freelance clients!

If you’re interested in working with me on proofreading, editing, or writing, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

And what does all that mean?

It means I’ve been busy, but like a good busy, not the unproductive sort of busy that’s plagued my life for so long. I’m happier producing creative content, and I look forward to sharing all of it with you in the coming year.

If there’s anything you’d like to see more of on this website, please let me know–I’m always looking for new ideas!

Monthly update!

It’s a little late, but better late than never. I’ve been thinking about how I’m framing these monthly updates. They’re supposed to be part accountability, part actual news updates to let you guys know what I’m up to when I’m busy not posting. So I might play around with how they’re laid out and what I actually talk about in them. If you’ve got feedback, you know where to leave it.

So what’s going on?

1. I’ve been accepted to teach an introduction to poetry course through a local college! I’ll also be teaching some IT and marketing related courses, so be sure to check it out!
2. Itchen To Write also had a very successful workshop on editing your writing with writing coach and screenwriter Craig J. Rickard. We’ve got more in the works; watch this space!
3. I was featured on Medium, in their publication I Quit!, a collection of the best times we quit the worst jobs. You can read my contribution here.
4. My first poetry collection, BELTS: A NATIONAL SNAPSHOT IN POEMS, is available on Amazon! It’s less than £1, so please consider downsizing your coffee one morning to make room in your budget for a copy.
5. Ash & Feather is on Facebook now, officially. I post industry news, behind the scenes snippets of what I’m working on, and the occasional bit of new content. Give it a like, what’ve you got to lose?
6. I’ve had a chance to work on my photography, and I think it’s getting really good. You can find out for yourself, either on Instagram or on the photography website YouPic.
7. If you like what I get up to on here, and poetry’s not your thing, you can buy me a coffee now, or if you’re in it for the long haul, become a Patron.

Whew! And all that while juggling a re-entry into the workaday world, even if only as a temp. There’s been a lot of positive energy and good momentum behind me lately, so don’t be surprised if you see more posts like this, jam-packed with new content and achievements!

I’m also looking for opportunities for freelance writing and editing, so if you like the feel of my writing, please drop me a line.

Monthly update!

June wasn’t exactly the rip-roaring month I was expecting, but in many ways I think it’s for the best. There were some reality checks and I’ve really buckled down on assessing my priorities and developing a workable strategy. I started a Patreon to help support my writing habit as well as subsidise Itchen to Write so that I can offer workshops very cheaply or for free depending on the support levels. Currently, Itchen to write relies on donations for its meetings, and the workshops have fees. I’d like to eliminate those because I’m a filthy socialist. Sue me. Become a patron. Or buy me a coffee.

Additionally, if that’s not your jam or you’re not able, consider doing your shopping on Amazon through my affiliate links. They don’t add to your costs when purchasing, and I get a kickback. You can find affiliate links in all of my book reviews, and anything you buy in the hour following the clickthrough applies, apparently.

I’ve got a lot of projects going at the moment, most are in the startup phase, so hopefully once the foundations have been laid, I can reveal these in their neat little schedules. But I’m really excited about developing new material!

Reviews!

I’m still getting back into the swing of making regular reading time. It’s a bit strange that it’s so hard, because I always enjoy it when I do. A bit like going to the gym, another thing I’ve not done in a long time.

However, we’re getting down to the wire time wise, as I may be starting a new job soon. More on that as and when (and if) it happens. A nice deadline like that is usually really good for my productivity, and I’ve got an exciting TBR pile to work through. So I think it’s fair to say I’ll get several reviews out this month!

Writing News!

 

I’ve been rapidly growing as a poet, including developing poetry workshops and a short poetry course to offer. My current thing I’m into is found poetry, which I plan to start sharing on my Instagram, so follow now to avoid missing out!

You can also expect to see a greater focus on self-published material from me, and I’ve been laying the groundwork to really diversify my online presence and build a solid fan base, so y’know, watch this space!

And of course, if there’s anything you’d like to see here, let me know!

Monthly update!

The year is half over and I’m pretty offended about it if we’re perfectly honest. The humidity is settling in and the heat is rising and it makes it pretty hard to get things done here in a country with no home A/C. But I’ve persevered.

The recovery from April has been a little slower on the visible side of things, but rest assured, my absence here has been supplanted by a surge of activity with my writing group, Itchen to Write, and really working hard on my main projects.

Reviews!

We’ve gotten off track with book reviews and social media scheduling reviews, but I can safely say the ship’s been righted and there are no less than four book reviews forthcoming this month, as well as resuming the social media scheduling series with a look at Later.

As always, please note that my buy links in my reviews are Amazon Associate links, so if you make a purchase I may get a little kickback from that. It doesn’t increase your prices, just helps to support the site.

Writing News!

IT’S PITCH SEASON YOU GUYS.

This month, I’ve got three opportunities to cram my pitch down as many agents’ throats as possible. I’m going to the Winchester Writers’ Festival on 16 June, as well as the TLC Writers’ Day on 23 June in London. These are both amazing events I’m really looking forward to, and as of this writing tickets are still available for both so make sure you get in on that action.

Additionally, #PitMad is coming up on 7 June, so you can keep a look out for my tweets as I try and catch the eye of a lovely agent. Wish me the best of luck!

 

I’m also teaching another poetry introduction towards the latter half of the month, so things are really heating up around here, and for once I don’t mean the muggy weather.

Monthly update!

April was a wash. I spent the majority of the month just treading water and I think it’s pretty accurately reflected on this site. I’ll be going into why that happened in a much later post I’ve got planned.

Reviews!

This month is already set to get back on track, with two book reviews already scheduled, and last month’s installment of my social media scheduling series being pushed forward to this month. We’re basically going to pretend April didn’t happen.

Writing News!

The submission rejections keep rolling in, but I’m not bothered because rejections still mean progress is being made. You can read a really good article about why rejections aren’t bad here.

Another major achievement is a far more robust schedule for Itchen to Write, my Hampshire, UK based writers’ group. You can check it out on Meetup, or on Facebook. Choose your poison.

And lastly, I’ll be giving another poetry lesson in June, time to be determined. I’m pretty excited for the way my poetry career seems to be inadvertently flourishing.

 

Monthly update!

Let’s start with the biggest news: I was made redundant. I’m hoping that years later I’ll be telling people in a keynote speech about how this was the turning point, and when I really started to thrive as a writer. I’ve also got other opportunities in the pipelines, so in no way whatsoever am I counting this as a defeat!

Additionally, I broke my finger, which I did whine about a little bit on my Twitter, but we’re all mended now. It was my first broken bone in my entire life! I must admit feeling a little underwhelmed.

I have a fresh perspective to make the most of this opportunity, so hopefully you can look out for some big things going forward. I’ve been unemployed before and utterly failed to capitalise on a wide open schedule. Working again has shown me how I took for granted my time, and this time around, I’ll be able to really put out some good writing.

Reviews!

Between various things, my reading’s slipped quite a bit. But I’m hoping to recover on this front along with several others. It’s gonna be a huge exercise in learning to better structure my days.

As always, please note that my buy links in my reviews are Amazon Associate links, so if you make a purchase I may get a little kickback from that. It doesn’t increase your prices, just helps to support the site.

Additionally, I’ll be continuing in my appraisals of alternatives to Hootsuite. Last month I took a closer look at Tweetdeck, and this month we’ll be looking at Buffer.

Writing News!

Well, as expected, I bombed out of the first round of NYC Midnight’s Short Story Competition. actually really liking my story. But there’s nothing stopping me submitting my story elsewhere, and I think it’s strong enough to do well outside the constrains of prompts. I’m also waiting to hear results on a couple more competitions I’ve entered.

In more positive news, I was featured on Who Writes Short Shorts? with a short sci-fi story, which you can read here. Additionally, on the 19th of March I had the great pleasure of being a guest instructor on a creative writing course. I taught a two hour lecture on poetry, which went down a treat. It’s looking to become a more regular thing, and may lead to more writing workshops, probably falling under the Itchen to Write umbrella.

Speaking of Itchen to Write, it has its own, standalone website now. So you can find my Hampshire, UK, based writing group here, on Meetup, and on Facebook. With my newfound free time, I’m really looking forward to growing this group!

And what does all that mean?

I’m developing myself as a writer. It’s part of a larger trend of spending more time on myself and prioritising myself and my ambitions. All of my goals fit nicely together, and working towards one works towards all of them, so I’m very excited about what the future holds. And of course, if there’s anything you’d like to see here, let me know!