All posts tagged: work

Mired In Translation – #WeekendWritingPrompt

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In some cases, the letter won’t translate. Specified language is always a little tricky, not like asking for directions to the swimming pool, or how much for the loaf of bread behind the counter.   You craft an art-form of assumptions. Cut loose the odd words, ones which clearly don’t fit in the rigid confines of business, ones surely not meant. Leave a framework of mundane.   Puzzle a meaning from the scraps, a rhythm for the found poem butchered out of miscommunication.   Send a response in English, cringe a little for the recipient, know they will likely do as you and turn to an app, a browser tab, punch in the words, frown at the nonsense.        

Afternoon Shallows

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I found the pip between my teeth an hour after the bitter bite of garden currents had faded from my tongue.   In the middle of a meeting, too close between collegues to spit or pick the pith from my mouth.   Instead I chased it from cheek to cheek along the ring of my lower lip to the hollow beside my molars.   The presenter lost his place, tapped again at his laptop, muttered a word , asked someone to call IT.   I swallowed by accident. Choked, drew a worried glance, waved it away with a glass of water.   Outside the cleaner checked bins, roll of bags at her hip, quick, quiet between the desks, she whisked any evidence away.   The Summer heat has been making it difficult to sit down and write. Nowhere feels comfortable and I’m constantly shifting position to try and ease that sticky, gross feeling that comes with trying to do anything at all during hot, summer days. I’d really love to hear people’s thoughts on this …

#IWD – What It Means To Me

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Until five minutes ago I had no idea that tomorrow was International Women’s Day. I knew that the day existed, but it has existed on the periphery of my consciousnesses and I haven’t paid it as much attention as I should have done. Especially as being a woman impacts on pretty much everything I do. Take for instance my ten year plan. Please ignore the tea stains and the ripped edges, this is very much an ‘under construction’ version of plan. Ten Year Plan – Commencing June 2015 [Graduation] Get a Job. [Tick! Working as an Accounts Assistant.] Finish my AAT Level Two Accountancy Qualification. [Tick. I decided to do this to help with my job and to add another string to my bow so to speak.] Buy a house. [Tick. The boyfriend and I did this last June.] Finish my book Shadow Dawn. [62,000 words in and going well.] Get and agent and a publisher. Publish book. Get married June 23rd 2018. [No. 5 and No. 6 overlap timewise.] Try to make enough money as …

I’m Back!

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So as you may have gathered from my last post, I’m back from my little absence in the blog-a-sphere. Basically I just got busy. Really, really busy. This summer I decided that I wanted to do the following: Take a summer module. Volunteer at my local museum. Run Race For Life 10K Start researching my dissertation. Continue working at Hawkstone Park Follies. Continue working for my parents. Finish writing at least one novel. Start a new poetry collection. Publicise my poetry collection ‘Before The Words Run Out’ Continue my 100 book challenge on Goodreads! and… Work out a blogging schedule. Guess which one fell through. I am doing Camp Nanowrimo and I’ll stick up a widgety thing so you can see how that goes. [Not so well at the moment.] But anyway, my point is that things are moving forward and next week I have a bit of time off from work so I can write and study like a fiend! If I can get at least 10,000 words down for Henry Granger then I …

Always Room For Something Else…

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“Busy?” he asked when her voice finally answered, breathless and distorted through pen caps. “Just a bit.” she mumbled, phone pinned between her ear and neck as she juggled ring-binders, manila folders, notepads and tea-cups. “Deadlines.” she told him, throwing back her tea and scowling when she swallowed. “Urg, stone cold tea, definitely not the right mug.” she said, “but never mind that, what is it you need doing?”

To Do.

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I am a Queen of ‘To Do’ lists. I write them out over and over again, adding little things here an there, things that have to be done, things I should have done, things that I thought about doing three years ago and never quite got around to. Most of those things are already written out on older ‘To Do’ lists, but I often find myself losing the list and in so doing, forgetting what was on the list and what I was supposed to be getting done. It is not a good system for productivity. So this is my current ‘To Do’ list: (I’m having quite a bit of fun with my new BAMBOO tablet.   Links: Shrewsbury Flash Fiction 5 Sentence Fiction Prompt: Blades Main Character… Not So Much New Plot For Henry Granger! My Poetry Book   Now let’s see if I can actually get some writing done.

Writers Block, Creative Friends, Art and Literature

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Now I was supposed to do this a couple of weeks ago. But for those of you who know me, asking me do get something done that is not deadline specific is close to asking me to do a triple backflip. I may do it, the likelihood of it taking place is just very low. But when it comes to promised favours I just have a sieve like memory, it’s a struggle to keep thoughts from slipping through the cracks. Anyway, back to the original point of the post. Those of you following will have already seen that some of my friends are somewhat creatively minded, (and completely off the wall.) Now I’ve been told that my blog is apparently drawing in a reasonable amount of traffic (this may be an overstatement) and that as a ‘friend’ it seems reasonable that I will try and introduce those who read my work, to the fantastic works of those I know. Now I have no problem with this. I really don’t mind including such pieces as Amber …