The poet speaks

February 17, 201519 Comments

callum With me today is Callum McLaughlin, author of The Vessel, False Awakening, and Seeking Solace. He’s graciously agreed to talk poetry with me, and I hope you’ll have as much fun reading about his work as I did. 🙂

KK: So, how long have you been writing poetry?

CM: I’ve been writing in virtually every capacity since childhood. My earliest memory specifically associated with poetry is when I won a school competition aged 10 and I’ve been interested in the art form ever since. The poems included in Seeking Solace were written throughout the last couple of years, which is when I’d say I started really taking it seriously and falling more and more in love with it.

KK: We have something in common there – I wrote my first poem at age ten for a summer homework assignment. 🙂 What got you interested in poetry?

Seeking Solace

February 15, 2015February 13, 20158 Comments

Seeking Solace Last October, I was fortunate to host Callum McLaughlin, a wonderful writer who was publishing a new novel. Well, today he’s back, this time with a poetry book called Seeking Solace:

Seeking Solace is a collection of sixty poems that span a variety of topics and touch on universal aspects of modern life, from nature and war to friendship, love and grief, with many others in between.

From the very air we breathe to the wholly make-believe, regardless of whether inspiration has come from the world around us or the most whimsical of dreams, the one common thread that unites them all is a desire to create poetry that is both approachable and relatable.

Seeking Solace released earlier this week, and it looks fantastic. I love reading poetry as much as I love writing it, and this book makes me want to hold on and not let go. And I haven’t even read it yet! But how could you not love a book with such a beautiful cover?

Besides, I’ve got an amazing excerpt:

Making memories picture quote

I could stare at this image all day (and indeed, I just might). But where can you get your copy? So glad you asked! Seeking Solace is available from Amazon and Amazon UK, and you can also find it on Goodreads. And stay tuned, because I’ll be interviewing the author himself in a future post!

Have a great weekend, and enjoy Seeking Solace! 🙂

Photo 365 #191

February 14, 2015February 12, 20154 Comments

Revisions continue, and I’m happy to report that I think I’ve crossed that hump I was stuck on.

2015-02-12 12.13.52

I scan my handwritten pages so that I can type them up later, and as I was trying to open the scanner app on my phone, I accidentally activated my camera instead. When it opened, it showed the image above. For whatever reason, it spoke to me, and I wanted to share. I really hope the rest of this revision goes as swimmingly as today’s writing session; I’d love to be done with this revision so that I can polish it up and send it out!

Sun vs. Snow Critique Workshop

February 13, 201528 Comments

The Sun vs. Snow Contest just ended, and now the ever-lovely Michelle Hauck is running a Sun vs. Snow critique workshop ahead of upcoming contests! Isn’t she just the best?

Since I’m still revising, I didn’t enter Sun vs. Snow, or any of the other contests that have come and gone over the last few months, even though I reeeally wanted to enter a couple. But I’m two-thirds of the way through the revision (I think), so I thought, why not? It’ll soon be time to start polishing, so why not get a little feedback on the beginning?

You can find Michelle’s post and all the details on the workshop here. It’s open till the 21st, so there’s still time to enter if you’ve got something you’d like feedback on. In the meantime, here’s my entry:

Photo 365 #189

February 12, 20156 Comments

I arrived home last night to find two packages sitting by my garage. We occasionally get packages, and occasionally our letter carrier actually leaves them by our garage as we’ve requested a whole bunch of times. But last night, I was surprised to find that one of them was addressed to me.

I hadn’t ordered anything recently, so what in the world could it be? The return address indicated that it had come from California, but I couldn’t remember if the ZIP code listed was the same as my bestie’s or not, and if it was, I couldn’t figure out what she would be mailing me.

coffee

But then I opened the box, and remembered that I’d joined Blurb’s Coffee & Quill Society back in November, and here they were sending me a free coffee mug! I do love freebies, especially the useful sort. Now I have something with which to imbibe my writerly go-juice at home, and I can’t wait to try it out tonight. 🙂

Photo 365 #188

February 11, 20154 Comments

TLC Revision Notes 4_2 So, how’s the writing been going?

Well, uh…

You see that picture to the right? It’s taken me all week to write that much (plus two lines on the preceding page). You might say it’s been slow going. Lord knows I would.

In fact, I might even go so far as to say that writing this particular section of The Price of Mercy has been akin to pulling teeth, to pounding my head against the table until words bleed out, to prying the sweet story meat from my brain with a crowbar. In short, it’s been a brutal, bloody mess, and I hope that when I finish this revision and get the think edited, it reads well because writing it has been a complete and total #*!@$.

What have you all been up to lately?

Photo 365 #182

February 5, 20154 Comments

prayerandcoffee

This pretty much sums up how I’m feeling right now. This cold is still kicking my butt, but in the last twenty-four hours, I’ve managed to finish that story for Miss Tadpole (and she liked it so much, she took it to school to show off), fix a bunch of track changes issues in stories I’d submitted for an anthology (and learned how to use track changes correctly in the process), start reviewing a short story for someone (Oh, hello, track changes, how are you today?), and process two tax returns at work.

*scarfs chocolate miraculously left over from yesterday*

Of course, these are quite fitting for today’s mental state as well:

Our local coffee shop has the best décor. Of course, I probably only think that because it happens to be true.

On second thought, no I don’t. It’s awesome regardless of its truth.

*passes out*

Photo 365 #181

February 4, 20156 Comments

truffle I bought myself a treat last night in anticipation of reaching my short story goal for the week. I’m proud to announce that I met said goal this noon and have now done the requisite polishing. Woo!

Needless to say, I’ve been enjoying my treat. Because after all, what writer doesn’t love chocolate? Especially when it’s as good as this!

How do you treat yourself when you reach a goal?

Photo 365 #180

February 3, 20158 Comments

Some of my new pencils and my current WIP, an experiment in narrative poetry commissioned by Miss Tadpole:

writing

I’m having a lot of fun with this project, though I suspect I’d be having more fun if I didn’t feel like my head was stuffed with cotton balls. Go away, cold! No one wants you!

Now, where did I put that VapoRub?

Authors to Watch

January 30, 2015April 17, 20154 Comments

If you haven’t heard of it already, Authors to Watch is a fantastic blog run by the lovely and talented Tricia Drammeh. She features author interviews, book recommendations, and all sorts of other writerly awesomeness. And today she’s featuring me!

We talk about poetry, writing, and inspirations, and I’d love it if you’d head on over and check it out. But don’t just read my interview – check out the others as well! Tricia’s interviewed loads of brilliant authors, and I’m sure she – and they – would love it if you stopped by. Who knows? You might find a new favorite book or a new favorite author! 🙂