In memorium

Thoughts today for those who lived and suffered through 9/11. Hard to imagine it's the 11th anniversary of it. 

I was at home (London) with a cold and my friend texted me to turn on the TV. I guessed it was nothing serious. Then she rang and I switched on. And then I was glued to it all day and night. It was that shocking. 

Later, in London we had the Tube bombing on 7 July 2005, and it brought back the same feelings, although we were in the middle of it then, stuck on Tube trains in tunnels, not knowing what was happening. 

I'd love to live in a simpler world with no wars, bombings, evil, etc.

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

Words With... Brian Hayden

Thanks to Brian Hayden for this interview

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing for 12 years. I wrote a management book that was published in 1999, and wrote 5 scripts for educational videos.

Do you have a day job or do you write for a living?

I am retired. That is my day job.

What do you feel is the ideal recipe for a good novel/story/poem?

The ideal formula for writing may be different for everyone. For me, the formula is simply to write about things I know and are important to me.

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

My wife Denise inspired me to write and still inspires my writing.

What books have you written? Do you stick to one genre?

The first book I wrote is called 'Using Strategic and Tactical Plans for Veterinary Hospitals'. My new book,'Death:Living To Talk About It', is a memoir of living with heart disease. I share dynamic changes in family and self. The book is full of hope, inspiration and emotion.

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

The first book took me 4 or 5 months. This latest book took about a year.

Do you have any works in progress?

I have three books in the works right now. The first one, a sequel to 'Death: Living To Talk About It', follows my journey towards a heart transplant. Aptly named 'Road To Transplant'. The second book is a redo of the first book. I am adjusting it to accommodate most small businesses. The third will begin after my heart transplant. If I can't get one it will follow me until I die. Doctors don't think I will live more than a year or so without a new heart.

Where and when do you write ­ – do you have set times during which you write or is it just when the mood takes you?

I have an office at home. I write in the mornings. Sometimes the mood will strike at other times and I will sit down and write.

How do you find the marketing experience? Any advice for other writers? Do you use a blog or twitter, etc

Marketing is tough. I blog, get on TV when I can, join groups like Book Junkies, It is hard.

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

Five books I really enjoy are: Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, War and Peace, The Bible, When will Jesus bring the pork chops?

Which book do you wish you had written?

I wish I had written Moby Dick. It is so original, interesting and full of life.

Which three authors (living or not) would you like to take to the pub?

Three authors I admire are Ernest Hemingway, J D Salinger and Herman Melville.

What other hobbies/interests do you have or has writing taken over?

Writing has pretty much taken over, but I enjoy fishing and playing with my grandchildren.

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

I would like to be alive in five years so that I may experience the following five years.

The creative bit: please complete this story in 100 words or less…

  

There was a young frog called Kipper. He hopped from place to place without regard to where he was going. One day, as he was hopping he noticed a little pond, full of fresh flowers and bushes. For some reason, he had never passed that way before. He thought... the road not taken is the opportunity missed. He hopped to the pond, discovered a beautiful girl frog and they lived happily ever after. So, children, the moral of the story is: once a missed frog is always a missed frog, but a jumping one lasts forever.

Finally, what question do you wish I’d asked and, of course, what is the answer?  

I wish you would have asked what do you want people to take away from your book? There is always hope, despite the odds, never give up. There are no expiration dates tattooed to our asses. If I can live, after all I have been through, all I am going through, maybe you can too. 

Links:

http://www.brianhayden.com  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-M-Hayden-Fan-Page/195919590440171

I would like to wish Brian Hayden all the best in his journey towards a heart transplant