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Daily Archives: January 14, 2013

Post-weekend Poetry 056: Cats passing on the trail by Louis J Casson

14 Jan

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the fifty-sixth poem in this series. This week’s piece is by Louis J Casson.

Cats passing on the trail

I found today
where the Cat’s trail lies.

Down between the garage’s walls
cross the shingle yard.
And through the forsythia tree
at the garden’s end.

To where?

Only the smaller can take the route,
or know precisely
where it starts, it ends.

I own my garden shingled yard,
but the Cat owns all yards and none
passing through along its trail.

The sound of one cat passing lies within
soft paws flexing
legs and bones.

No traces left,
among the shingled yard stones.

I asked Louis what prompted this piece and he said…

This poem came about when my friend Bob Hudson, working recently in Japan, had ago at writing Haiku poetry. Therefore I wanted to write a poem with a Haiku feel, but of course the poem does not follow the Haiku form rules in terms of lines and syllables.

Other aspects that came in consciously or unconsciously while writing the poem:-

Zen and the Zen Koan (or riddle). The “sound of one hand clapping”. Here “the sound of one Cat passing” is essentially internal, being too soft to hear above the usual background noises. Actually if you place your wrist against your ear and tap/click your fingers of that (one) hand together, you’ll hear the internal noises caused by the clicking, tapping. Zen gardens consist of raked areas of shingle with larger stones among this.
Scale as an advantage, smallness enabling the Cat to go where I cannot. To where? (a mystery, one of the qualities of being /essentials of “catness”).
Observation and reflection on what you see. I saw a Cat, where had it come from, going to? Any deeper meaning or significance in this?
Where to cut the lines? I did my best as I thought fit – since there are no fixed “rules” here. The line “To where?” stands on its own, but made sense to me; as this is a sort of mid-point, the first stanzas leading up to this gap, then the concluding ones flowing on to the poem’s conclusion.
”Bones” and “stones”. The last two groups/stanzas of lines have an end rhyme. Completes the poem in a tidy way. NB: an aside – in some Irish songs, the ending is indicted by the last two lines being repeated.

I hope you enjoyed the poem, and remember… the meaning and images you get from this may not be as I intended when I wrote it but that’s poetry for you, folks.

Thank you, Louis.

Currently living in Northamptonshire, England, Louis visits the Lake District frequently where he was born. His arts activities include writing; publishing poetry and lyrics. Also music: main instruments, bass guitar and guitar.

Honorable mention in the 17th Billboard World Song Contest (2009). Category: Blues and R & B. Lyrics writer for Blues, Country, Jazz and other musical styles. Album “Love and Blues” by Casson / Sheinman on iTunes. Poetry and lyrics collections published on Amazon Kindle; “See You in the Big Time” being his latest book (2011). You can find out more about Louis from his blog http://louisjcasson.blogspot.com

Behance portfolio site (book extracts and MP3Audio files) http://www.behance.net/LJCasson

Louis J. Casson on Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=louis+j+casson&x=18&y=16.

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If you’d like to submit your poem (40 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here.

The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with non-fiction author and poet Dorothy K Fletcher – the six hundred and thirteenth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, biographers, agents, publishers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do, and a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words (and post stories of up to 3,000 words), or posted for others to critique (up to 5,000 words) on the new Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me posting it online in my new Red Pen Critique Sunday night posts, then do email me. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry and Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group.

Four new online writing groups:

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to hearing your comments.

Guest post: Secrets to Writing Good Sex Scenes by Sarah Clare

14 Jan

Tonight’s guest blog post is brought to you by Sarah Clare.

Secrets to Writing Good Sex Scenes

A well-written sex scene can make your story sizzle. Several steamy sex scenes can make your novel an international bestseller (ahem, 50 Shades of Grey). Depending on how they’re written, sex scenes can either be the downfall of your novel, relegating it to the dime-novel romance bin, or they can help to propel your story forward, keep your reader engaged, or even tell something about your character. In some cases, sex scenes can be pivotal to the plot and theme of the story, like in the short story (and movie adapted from it) Brokeback Mountain.

Sex doesn’t have to be smut. Learning how to write good sex scenes can help you use them to your advantage without risking them weakening your story. Here are a few tips for you can write better sex scenes:

Avoid Cliché

How many times have you read about a character’s “throbbing member” or “heaving breasts?” And how many times have one of those characters been “hot with desire” or “raging with passion?” Clichés like these can weaken a sex scene and make it seem silly and tawdry. Avoid clichés when writing about sex and you will instantly improve the quality of the writing in the scene. (A good rule of thumb for any writing.)

Less is More

What we don’t say can tell us so much more than what we do. Focus on the power of suggestion rather than overt descriptions of what is happening. You can do this by describing the senses, such as the scent of the nape of a neck, or the sight of a bare thigh, or feel of the small of the back. Avoid direct descriptions of genitalia, as these can sounds too pornographic or too gynecological.

Use Metaphor

When you can’t say what you want to say directly without sounding clumsy, use metaphor. By using metaphor, you can create a much more powerful image through imagery and suggestion. You can also add more depth to the scene by creating emotional weight and greater meaning.

Focus on Emotion

Sex is about much more than the physical act. Make your sex scenes more meaningful by focusing on the emotion behind them. Obviously, there is lust, but this is so basic as to be almost not worth mentioning. What is more interesting is if there is anger, or fear, or trepidation, or manipulation. What is it that your characters are thinking and feeling as they move through the act? This is what will bring your scene to life.

Make the Scene Do Double Duty

Everything in your story should happen for a reason — even when your characters are having sex. What does the scene do for the story? Does it reveal something about your character? Does it move the plot forward? Always make sure that your sex scenes are doing more than just showing your characters having sex. Maybe the scene triggers a flashback about a pivotal event. Or maybe it provides the impetus for your character to do something bold and unexpected. Explore how the scene can help you to do more for your story.

Sex scenes can be the spice your story needs, or they can be the clunky weight that brings it down. Follow these tips and you can write better sex scenes that work for your story and help to engage readers.

What are your tips for writing better sex scenes? Share them in the comments!

Morgen: Less is more – absolutely. I’ve just started reading ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ out of curiosity (and because the British Red Cross shop had a buy one get one free sale and I needed a second book!) and I’ve got to page 80-something (nothing happens until page 66) and if I read ‘my inner goddess’ once more it’ll fly across the room. Thank you, Sarah!

Sarah Clare is a writer and oversees the site http://projectmanagementsoftware.com, where she has recently been researching online project management. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys cooking and scrapbooking.

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If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. If it’s writing-related then it’s highly likely I’d email back and say “yes please”.

The blog interviews return as normal tomorrow morning with non-fiction author and poet Dorothy K Fletcher – the six hundred and thirteenth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

Four new online writing groups:

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to hearing your comments.

3 Comments

Posted by morgenbailey on January 14, 2013 in ebooks, tips, writing

Tags: agent, Amazon, author, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, biographers, biography, books, characters, children’s, creative writing, crime, critique, erotica, Facebook, fantasy, feedback, fiction, Goodreads, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, historical, interview, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mystery, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novels, paranormal, pinterest, poetry, publisher, rejection letters, rejections, romance, Sarah Clare, science fiction, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short story group, Smashwords, story author, story authors, submissions, Twitter, vampire, western, writer, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing magazines, writing sex scenes, YA, youtube

Author interview no.612 with multi-genre writer Anne Hosansky

14 Jan

Welcome to the six hundred and twelfth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre author Anne Hosansky. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Anne. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Anne: I live in New York City and work at home, which means I can get to my “office” in one minute.

I didn’t as much “come” to writing, as circle back to it. As a child I was always writing, mainly poems. My grandfather was the first (and only) person to believe I’d grow up to be a writer. You’ll be interested in knowing, Morgen, that he was British, a sports writer for The London Times. When I was a rebellious teenager I told him I was going to be an actress. “You’ll outgrow it,” he predicted. It took several decades, while I did act with various theatre companies. When I gave birth to my second child, I decided it was too difficult to juggle theatre and motherhood, so I stayed home and gained an extra 50 pounds out of boredom. I joined Weight Watchers to lose the pounds and heard that the company was looking for an editor. I applied, was hired, and began writing articles about weight loss. That was the beginning of getting back to my first love: writing. I left the organization after some 18 years, and began writing freelance articles and short stories.

What triggered my first book was my husband’s terminal illness and death in 1990. I wanted to write about our bizarre experiences in dealing with doctors. After my husband died, I continued writing about trying to make a new life for myself, writing it as I lived it. The result was my memoir Widow’s Walk.

Morgen: Sorry to hear about your husband. They say “write what you know”, and it is easier. Healthy eating has always been a popular subject – Jane Wenham-Jones blogged on my site only this week about her writer’s bottom. I’m also based at home and would sit in my pyjamas all day if I didn’t have to walk my dog. You write non-fiction, what else do you decide to write about?

Anne: Actually I write both fiction and non-fiction. With articles the idea comes from something I want to say or that seems relevant to the issues of the day. For instance, I’ve written many articles about being a caregiver for a loved one. After Widow’s Walk was published I decided to write about other people’s experiences on coping with loss. I interviewed dozens of inspiring people who also made new lives for themselves. This became my second book, Turning Toward Tomorrow.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Anne: In addition to the two books I mentioned, I have a new one – Ten Women of Valor. It’s a totally different topic, our first Biblical heroines from a feminist viewpoint. I’ve also had numerous articles and short stories about a variety of topics published in magazines.

I don’t use a pseudonym. However, while working for Weight Watchers I wrote the advice column in the magazine under the name of Jean Nidetch (the founder). My therapist asked whether it bothered me to have my writing under someone else’s name. I thought about that, and haven’t done it since.

Morgen: I’d feel the same, unless I was being paid to ghost-write. You’ve self-published, what lead to you going your own way?

Read the rest of this entry »

5a.m. Flash 140113 – Two free eBooks by Jim Cliff: 14-15 & 17-18 January

14 Jan

The Ultimate US TV Quiz Book: The ’80s is free on Kindle today / tomorrow, 14-15 January.

Whose best friend was Mr Snuffalupagous? What was the name of Jessica Fletcher’s rather dangerous hometown? Who sang the ‘Family Ties’ theme tune?  The answers to these and 347 other questions on over 160 shows can be found in The Ultimate US TV Quiz Book: The ’80s.   What’s more, UK readers have just as much chance of answering the questions, as all the TV shows featured in the book have also been shown in the UK. Available from http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AU0YU92 and http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AU0YU92.

Then…

The Shoulders of Giants (A Jake Abraham Mystery) will be free on Kindle from 17-18 January.

A missing girl. A ruthless killer. A rookie P.I.   Jake Abraham is a child of the 80s, brought up by Jim Rockford, Thomas Magnum and three beautiful girls who worked for a man named Charlie. He’s loving his new job as a Private Investigator and already has his first client – a disgraced former police captain whose daughter has disappeared.  When the girl shows up dead, Jake is drawn into a dangerous world of organised crime, police corruption, infidelity and serial murder.  With a terrified city in the grip of a killer who’s always one step ahead of the police, how can a raw young P.I. hope to make a difference?  The Shoulders of Giants is a fun, fast paced thriller in the mold of Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker.  Available from http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007RZBN3E and http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007RZBN3E.

Jim Cliff lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his beautiful wife, two brilliant children and an aardvark. Ok, so there isn’t actually an aardvark.

Thank you, Jim!

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** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

Four new online writing groups: