Wednesday 28 March 2012

Haiku Bombers: the stars in space


Quill Shiv has a new weekly (Wednesday) haiku writing prompt

Today's prompt is this picture:
 
 

Head over to her website to read her haiku, those of other writers' and to join in:


Here are my attempts: 
 
 
Heading for the stars
I feel the silence of space
Wrapt in wondrous blue


Our ship seeks the stars
In our search for new life as
Our home planet fades


Speeding towards light
Sparkling blue cuts the darkness -
The premise of life


Light spreads before me
As my craft hurtles through space
What is drawing us?


Piercing light breaks forth
Splashing the darkness alight
Into the blue we fly






 

Sunday 25 March 2012

Sample Sunday: poetry

Some poetry from Kaleidoscope and some new haiku I'm writing for a book


The sparkling sea

The sea came and sat with me
Laughs in sighing ripples cast away
Lies with me as I sink into its depths

Icy fingers caress my hair, softest flow
Down into the deep where darkness plays
And shadows dance in eerie cacophony
Where silent tears are as silent cries beneath

The loudest crack that rips the heart in two
Is but nothing, only dreamt awhile

My footsteps carry me in their deepest prints
Chasing me down the length of the beach
Softest wet sand tingling between my toes
Dancing momentarily beneath my feet

Never-ending waves stretch before me
Tearing their way into the darkest night
The moon echoes its solitary dance, hovering
As though about to plunge and scoop me up
But the beach lays bare, no shadows stray

No lines mark its purity but my own steps
Straying thoughtlessly away from me
Tracing their own path away into the night
Where the bats chase and dive and flutter free
Into the tops of trees so spectre thin and bare

I’m reminded of the shuddering chill of cold
That wraps me up in its lifeless limbs so old

And in the silence I can trace a solitary song
That passing faint and wild it cries and falls
Out towards the sea’s outstretched blue hands
And cuts down, slices through, down into the deep
Where silence lives and nothing stirs or creates flight

No echoes chide the place in time so bereft
Faint nothingness, its heart stripped cold of sound
Laid bleak and bare in the darkness lit by moonlight
So cursed, so bold, it carries me so far beyond
Everything that stands before me and the deepest sea

And so it comes to sit beside me ebbing forth
To carry me away into its darkest secretive heart


I don’t mind

I don’t mind
If you stare
Or paint the room in blue
While I sleep

I don’t mind
If you walk a while
Or smile in your style
And mimic your expression

I don’t mind
If the urge to be is too much
Or the strength to see is gone
While I dream


Three haiku for St Paddy’s Day

Stick a shamrock in
Your Guinness this Paddy’s Day –
On the piss we go!

Devout Patron Saint
Of Ireland, how did you come
To be beer toasted?

From slave to bishop
We now toast Saint Patrick with
The toucan’s dark pint




Saturday 24 March 2012

Four haiku



Swimming down, below
Channels where the bright fish laze -
Shark with a sharp grin


Bright yellow-white horns
Sway beneath blue skies, blooming
Where the bunnies bounce


Santa speeds over
Chimney tops, reindeer bemused -
He’s kept all the gifts!


“Dear Santa, I’m good,
So where were my gifts this year?”
The sighing boy frowns





Tuesday 20 March 2012

Words with... Charles Colyott

















Thanks to Charles Colyott for this interview

About Charles from his Amazon profile:
Charles Colyott lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere (Illinois) with his wife, 2 daughters, cats, and a herd of llamas and alpacas. He is surrounded by so much cuteness it's very difficult for him to develop any street cred as a dark and gritty writer. Nevertheless, he has appeared in Read by Dawn II, Dark Recesses Press, Withersin magazine, Horror Library Volumes III & IV, Terrible Beauty, Fearful Symmetry, and Zippered Flesh, among other places. He also teaches a beginner level Tai Chi Ch'uan class in which no one has died (yet) of the death touch.


What is your day job or are you lucky enough to write for a living?

My wife and I raise alpacas, and we both work part-time in a bookstore.

What books have you written so far?

Changes - A Randall Lee Mystery; Unknown Pleasures, a collection of short fiction; and Black (coming soon). 


Oooop... I've just been informed that Changes is free today and tomorrow... so what are you waiting for ? :)) - Vickie

What works in progress do you have?

The sequels to both Changes and Black, a YA romance and a suspense novel.

How long did it take you to write your book/s?

It varies. The first draft of Changes took about 3 months. Black took more like 9 months. Most short stories I can do in a day or so.

Do you write linear, or jump back and forth? Do you plan or write by the seat of your pants?

Usually, I write the story in a linear fashion and with minimal planning. I'm toying with some different outlining strategies now, just for time's sake.

Why do you write?

I'm not very good at much else really.

How long have you been writing?

Since I was a kid. People have paid money for my stuff since 2004 though.

Where and when do you write? ­ Do you have set times?

Since my youngest daughter was born, I lost my office... and anything resembling spare time. So, I write whenever and wherever I can.

Which character from your books do you like most/are most like?

They're all me when you get right down to it.

What/who inspired you to write and still inspires you?

I met Neil Gaiman when I was about 17. I worshipped the Sandman series, and I was super nervous and probably made an ass out of myself... but, strangely, Mr Gaiman was nothing but encouraging and gracious, and completely awesome. I fell off the writing wagon for a while in my twenties, but I picked up a copy of Stephen King's On Writing and that really put me right back into it all.

Have you ever based a character on someone from real life? And did you tell them?

Not exactly. I have had people think that a character was based on them though, and that usually didn't end well.

Fave things: animal? food? drink? film? colour? band? song? place? item of clothing?

I have lots of favourite animals, but cats and alpacas top the list.
Food – Chinese.
Drink – I like Mojitos a lot.
Film – Big Trouble in Little China.
Colour - Does black count?
Band - Too tough to narrow down to only one... The Cure, The Smiths, Afghan Whigs, Failure, to name a few.
Song – Untitled by The Cure.
Place – Shanghai.
Item of clothing – I have an old flannel hoodie that's been with me for something like 20 years now.

When you were a kid, what did you want to do/who did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to make comic books. Or train Killer Whales.

Would you say that your dreams have come true or are you still working on them?

Still working at it, but I can't really complain.

You’re walking in the forest and you bump into an alien librarian from Mars. He wants five book recommendations from you…

Tao te Ching – Lao Tzu
Ukulele for Dummies – Alistair Wood
The Girl Next Door – Jack Ketchum
The Gentling Box – Lisa Mannetti
On Writing – Stephen King

Which book do you wish you had written?

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Are you published or self-published? What is your experience?

Both. It's nice being ‘traditionally’ published because there's that validation there, but I sometimes write some genre-bending things... and that’s when self-publishing can come in handy because there's not somebody out there worrying over how to properly ‘package’ my writing in order to present it to some imagined audience.  My readers, typically, aren’t as concerned with my ‘brand’. They just count on me to give them a good story.
 
What advice would you give other writers just starting out?

 Don't give up.

What other hobbies do you have?

Tai Chi Chuan, playing ukulele (badly) and spending time with my family.

What would you like to achieve in the next five years?

 I would love to be able to write full-time.

If you won the Lotto or a major publishing contract, what would you do with that dosh?

Secret, secret things.


Links:







  

Sunday 18 March 2012

Sample Sunday: poems from Kaleidoscope

Happy Sunday to you!
For Sample Sunday, here are two poems from my book, Kaleidoscope. Hope you enjoy reading.
Vickie


The sparkling sea


The sea came and sat with me
Laughs in sighing ripples cast away
Lies with me as I sink into its depths

Icy fingers caress my hair, softest flow
Down into the deep where darkness plays
And shadows dance in eerie cacophony
Where silent tears are as silent cries beneath

The loudest crack that rips the heart in two
Is but nothing, only dreamt awhile

My footsteps carry me in their deepest prints
Chasing me down the length of the beach
Softest wet sand tingling between my toes
Dancing momentarily beneath my feet

Never-ending waves stretch before me
Tearing their way into the darkest night
The moon echoes its solitary dance, hovering
As though about to plunge and scoop me up
But the beach lays bare, no shadows stray

No lines mark its purity but my own steps
Straying thoughtlessly away from me
Tracing their own path away into the night
Where the bats chase and dive and flutter free
Into the tops of trees so spectre thin and bare

I’m reminded of the shuddering chill of cold
That wraps me up in its lifeless limbs so old

And in the silence I can trace a solitary song
That passing faint and wild it cries and falls
Out towards the sea’s outstretched blue hands
And cuts down, slices through, down into the deep
Where silence lives and nothing stirs or creates flight

No echoes chide the place in time so bereft
Faint nothingness, its heart stripped cold of sound
Laid bleak and bare in the darkness lit by moonlight
So cursed, so bold, it carries me so far beyond
Everything that stands before me and the deepest sea

And so it comes to sit beside me ebbing forth
To carry me away into its darkest secretive heart


I don’t mind


I don’t mind
If you stare
Or paint the room in blue
While I sleep

I don’t mind
If you walk a while
Or smile in your style
And mimic your expression

I don’t mind
If the urge to be is too much
Or the strength to see is gone
While I dream


@ Vickie Johnstone