Two poems accepted

Hi,

Just a quick update to say that I have two poems that will be published in online literary zines during February. I'll link to them when they're up.

Many literary publications have moved away from print. This makes sense as it's cheaper for them to produce and readers don't have to pay. This makes the writer's work more accessible. Some of the older zines are still doing both print and e-versions and let's face it, writers like to see their work in print, but there are quite a few new sites that are flourishing because the work is so accessible. It also means people are submitting like never before so it's quite competitive. 

I've been busy with submissions of late, so hopefully 2012 will see a few stories and poems getting out there. That's where they belong.

My video poem This Internal Life up very soon.

Cheers.

Poem - A Life as a wish

A life as a wish

I’m tired of my dreams

Both real and imagined

One permeates my day

Propelling

Compelling

Ceaseless voice.

The other

Eating away at my nights

The disappointments

And woes

Of my subconscious

Dissolving me up

From the inside

Out.

Maybe they can come true

So I hear

From those few who’ve made it

But the truth comes at a cost

And the toll is already high.

It is more than tiring

It is a whittling away of the senses

Blazing

Charring

Never satisfied.

I’m exhausted

And realise I’m running out of energy

And patience

And only wish

To be left alone

From these dreams

The internal

Eternal

Curse of the Dreamer.

Next post,

The first video poem of 2012, The Internal Life.

Keep smiling,
Until then
=]

Mini Fiction - A gentle book in a man store.

A Gentle Book in a Man Store.

A gentleman in a bookstore approached me, while I was in the tropics on holiday, when he observed the book I was browsing. Apparently a good read. The title, irrelevant now, revealed later...

A conversation ensued, followed by a stroll in a mutual direction and a decision for coffee. He told me he had worked in Music Management and had signed some of the biggest acts of the eighties.

He told he had retired at fifty two, had been married five times but that he was not a father. He owned a big property. And a small publishing press. For the love of it. Drove a Mercedes. Had a beautiful exotic garden. And a Golden Retriever. Dressed well. Had a nice watch. And had been with his current partner for twenty years.

I admired his journey, but soon realized that he had asked me very little about myself.

I mentioned an eighties band I liked who had not been a huge success but earned longevity, the desire of many an artist. Yet he did not know them.

When I quizzed him on local property prices, he floundered. Yet spoke confidently on rentals.

He spoke bravely of his decision to quit his old job in his late fifties. Did not wear a wedding ring. Had no clue on pet food prices (as I have a dog), yet admitted to relating to cats since a child. When I confessed to being a writer he skirted around the topic of his ‘hobby press’ though let slip that he did not know a reputable Publishing house.

Surreptitiously re-examining his watch, I considered it a fake.

He hated gardening and when pressed, body corporates. He also said he detested women who demanded child support in a post-sexist world.

I was suddenly in a hurry. As I was leaving, I half-heartedly asked him if he wanted a lift. He said it was not necessary as his BMW was close by.

I don’t need to tell you that the moral is, if there must be one, don’t take everyone on face value and I often find that those who only talk about themselves, are too self-enamoured to be trusted.

Oh, and the book? Catch Me If You Can: The true story of a real fake. 

If you liked the story, please help me out by sharing. The more people who follow, the better chance of a publisher being interested in my novels.
Thank you!

=]

A beginning beckons

Tunnel of Love - Ukraine. Photo by Oleg Gordienko http://500px.com/olgertas

Hi and Happy New Year.

I just wanted to begin the year by saying thank you to those who drop regularly, and to those who don't, well I hope you drop by more often. I try to post once a week. Family, work and my own creative writing and video projects prevent me from committing to more than that, especially as I try to post original content, such as poetry, short stories, film reviews etc, though I know many people put in a lot of work to traditional blogging, whatever that is.

So what I want to ask is this; what would you like to see here more or less of this year?  I like posting poetry as it's short, doesn't demand a lot from the reader and expresses my creativity. Yet, I'm open to ideas.

As it happens, I just received proofs of my novella, BOTTOMLESS RIVER, which is very exciting. Apart from a few poems and stories, this will be my first official publication. Let's hope this is the beginning of a career of sorts, though the industry is in a spin right now, so it's tough out there. I hope you'll follow me on my journey, (hence the top photograph).

I also hope you're doing well, in your projects, hobbies, relationships and that life is treating you good as it can be the opposite and if so, that this is a year of change, and excitement and love and happiness for us all.

IRONS - a short film - convict drama

A story of brothers divided by circumstance, yet united by blood in colonial Australia.

Irons the Film - Official Site.

Poem - A Little Big Destiny

 A Little Big Destiny

Something big is going to happen

Can you sense it?

It’s not like the approach of a storm

As the common metaphor describes

As it is not determined

Whether it is a negative

Or indeed a positive

It is merely a shape in the shadows

Yet to reveal its form.

But when that feeling arrives

It overcomes you

But you know it is always right.

That time is Now.

Some may call it intuition.

Others a power

Or whispers from beyond

…

But why call it anything

when its identity is unknown?

Only that it’s coming

And nothing will ever be

Quite the same again.

It’s in the stream

Where memory drifts

Like a song from the past.

It’s in the future

Like the whisper of a promise

A forlorn kind of bliss

An expectant tense charge

From the illumination of change.

Whose life it will affect

Is too early to decipher.

Only that it cannot be prevented.

Or ever undone.

Next Post,

My convict drama short film, Irons,

which will be my last post for 2011 as I take a break.

Thank you for all your support this year. I appreciate all your comments and feedback.

Have a Great Christmas, and may you and your family's be happy and healthy.

Merry Christmas

=]

Greatest Written Films - Children of Men

Children of Men

         (2006)

It’s 2027. It’s been eighteen years since the last human birth, and the youngest person alive is a celebrity. However the world has fallen into decline with England barely above the heap, or as Jarvis Cocker points out in his closing credits song Running The World, shit floats. It’s a police state with a strict policy of no immigrants. Terrorism is rife but for Theo (Clive Owen), he has left his idealist days far behind. He simply wants to get on with living, but his past isn’t through with him just yet. The underground movement has a task for him, which has ramifications for the entire world.

Alfonso Cuarón, (Y tu mamá también and Harry Potter 3 which in my view was a standout amongst the series) paints a very bleak view. It’s always overcast and wet, but that’s part of the canvas he’s working with. In Children of Men, the world is polluted world. Train stations are guarded by soldiers and suspected immigrants herded off into camps, (not far removed from actuality). The film has much to say about government policy, overpopulation, immigration, ambition and the chasm between the classes. Yet as all good films should, Children of Men avoids the conspicuous, showing us rather than telling us.

Cuarón uses his hand-held cameras to set us alongside Theo; we don’t see anything unless he does, as he caught up in a situation where he has no control. He’s merely trying to survive from one moment to the next.

There were times when I was reminded of Act II from Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and the comparison is not without justification. Cuarón uses extended takes to place us within the scenes themselves, particularly in two remarkable set pieces, one of which is inside a car. Excuse the analogy, but this is a director dominant behind the wheel.

There is also a lot to admire in Timothy Sexton’s screenplay, which was based on P.D. James’ novel. Sexton understands the film language that less is more.

The cast is superb, with Julianne Moore and Michael Caine getting all the best lines. However it’s the supporting cast that really shines, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris and Peter Mullan as Syd who almost steals the show.

This is a future easily imagined, a post terrorist world where the small percentage of the population with wealth cling to it with disregard to those with nothing. This film works as a taut thriller, but also acts as a warning. For too long we have sat idly by enjoying the fruits of our development without thought to where we are going. Children of Men was released in 2006 and was a literal stop sign, with a glimpse to this possible future without action; global warming, overpopulation, dying resources, the majority who have nothing and the threat of a pandemic. Many of these issues have been strongly debated ever since, and seem a long way from being resolved. Given that it takes up to two years to make a film, Children of Men was pre-emptive and hugely pertinent.

It is an important film, yet even as a piece of entertainment, it still ranks of one of the best.





Coming soon,
My 2004 convict drama short film, Irons.

Next week,
the final Poem for 2011.

Until then,

=]

Video Poem - Deliberate Strangers

Deliberate Strangers

Is it hard to know someone?

Misunderstood

Alone but unique

This was the last video poem for 2011. I hope you got something out of this particular poem. If so, please let me know your thoughts.
I hope you've enjoyed what I've presented this year. I've tried to mix them up and I've enjoyed making them. They will return in January.


Next post,


the last in the series for 2011 of the Greatest Written Films.


Until then
take care

=]

Poem - A Missing Link

A Missing Link

Please help us with our enquiries

We are curious

We are fearful

We are keeping an open mind

Was never quite active enough

Yet still missing in action

And has been for some time

(elusive time)

Have you seen anything out of the ordinary?
In the vicinity?
Anything at all?

We are taking our mind for a fast walk

In order to jog our memory.

  

Yet the search goes on

We must continue to investigate

And we must always hope

God forbid

It is too horrible

To think the worst.

There is only us

There is only our voices

So we can never allow the trail

To turn cold

If you pray

Include us

Something like this

Should never happen again

Again.

Though we know it will.

What is the media campaign after all

But just another story.

The circumstances were terrible

Tsk tsk,

I know you’re glad it’s not you

All we are asking

Is to Never be forgotten

Now, where were we?

Next post,

The last video poem for 2011, Deliberate Strangers.

followed by

the last Greatest Written Film Review for 2011.

I hope to see you then.

=]

Post 100. The good, the bad, the disappointing and Beyond.

One road back. Many roads forward.

So, in almost two years, what is the Good?

I've met you! Yes, there are some fantastic people in the so-called blogosphere and in the net world in general. Some of my strongest support comes from people I've never met. I think this is wonderful. It demonstrates that there are some nice people in the world, and it really keeps me going.

The other good thing is that it keeps pressure on me to return each week, usually posting some original work such as a poem or video poem, the occasional story and my script related film reviews. Output can never be a bad thing.

It also keeps up an online presence in the hope that one day, a publisher will take interest.

2011 saw the introduction of my video poems. They are something I enjoy making, though time consuming. I find them challenging and creatively rewarding. I hope to keep going with them in 2012. (See them all here. )

This was also the year that my novella Bottomless River was accepted for publication. (For more info see here.)

It will be getting a local release in 2012. I hope this kick-starts bigger things.

The Bad.

Blogging, even only once a week, takes away from my writing. My time is sparse these days.

My pregnant partner came off second best in a tête-à-tête with a car in June 2010 (read about it here ). Fortunately she recovered after six months and the baby was not harmed. It did impact heavily (excuse the pun) on my home workload however, which again reduced my writing time. I'm still yet to finish my seventh novel, which I was hoping to do so by the end of 2010. Considering how things could have turned out, believe me, I'm not complaining.

And so my beautiful baby girl Tilly came along in September 2010, (see TillyCams). I'm her primary carer so she keeps me very busy. I also work part-time in television (approx 25hrs a week). My writing has suffered as a result, having successfully completed six novels in six years. That's all come to a screaming halt. (It was easier when I was working full-time!)

I hope in a year or so when Tilly is older I'll be able to get back on track.

The Disappointing.

Despite keeping up with submissions, I am still yet to find a publisher (or agent) for my six novels. Rejections are par for the course, of course, but some days they do weigh upon you.

There are so many writers out there, and in a changing landscape, publishers are wary. We've seen some of the big players go under (Borders) and this has left a lot of people unwilling to take on new writers. It's an insecure period for the industry. Yet I'm persisting as I believe in what I do. I know that there are many writers better than I, but I also know that I have a lot to offer. There is definetly a place for me. I like to explore the emotional complexities of people, no matter what genre I write (and I've written in quite a few), so my characters are truthful, muti-layered and not always likable. As John Lennon sang, Gimme some Truth. This is a motto I strongly relate to.

It's frustrating when people request to read my work and I am unable to give it to them. Many have asked me over the years about self-publishing. Yet I'm not ready to go down that route. It works for some, but at this stage, for me, I would consider that a failure. Perhaps in another couple of years I will feel differently. But then again, I've waited my whole life, so what's another few years?

See what happens shall we? Hopefully during the course of the next 100 posts, something exciting will this way come.

So thank you to you, for your support (ongoing-hint hint).. and I'll endeavour to keep providing original creative works. While I like to explore the dark side of people, I also have a passion for life and try to keep it fun.

I'm looking forward, not back.

See you in post 101~!

Coming soon,

My last Video Poem for 2011, Deliberate Strangers.

and in December,

my 2004 convict drama film, Irons.

Until then,

=]