Dark Metre - Updates - Closed To Submissions

Thanks to all the writers for submitting their work to Dark Metre. I've filled the first 4 issues and am now closed to submissions.

I expect to reopen again in April 2011. Don't to forget to follow @darkmetre on twitter and be the first to know when I reopen and close to submissions.

The Friday 56 - Shredder by Garry Charles

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Getting to this earlier than usual as I'm off work. This ones on the waiting to read list along with most of my books it's Shredder by Garry Charles and is available as a free ebook over on smashwords and the teaser line is:

"Fuck me," Keene sees the display at the far end of the room and staggers back.

PAD - Day 25 - Turtle

Turtle

Turn in circles in your
Unconventional tank
Relive free days of swimming,
Transcending through deep blue
Languid waters listening to
Echoes of whale song.

Authors note: Took advantage of the animal theme to tie this in with my own writing prompt 9for November.

Dark Metre - Updates - Issue 1 filled

I have now filled issue 1 of Dark Metre. I'm still looking to fill issues 2-4 before closing to submissions. I will announce the contributors of issue 1 nearer the date of publication.

Don't forget that if you sign up to receive Dark Metre via email by 16th Jan 2011 you will be entered into the draw for your chance to win a copy of the Chimeraworld 2 anthology in paperback. sign up here. or go here to see the TOCs. Subscribers email addresses are used for no other reason then to email the newsletter.

PAD - End Of Week 3 Reflections

Ok despite all the odds I have completed week 3. Too tired after a week of nightmare commutes and a total lack of sleep to feel proud.

A lot of my first drafts work like a free write I don't know where I'm going until I get started. This weeks poems have lacked any feeling of inspiration and my memory has refused to be dug for morsels I can twist and shape into a poem. But at least I can write without those factors coming into play.

As for a theme for the chapbook I've been straddling a kind of love and sea theme which is representative of the direction my life's working towards. Mmm, maybe not the love bit so much.

It's onwards to week 4, and luckily I have 4 whole days off work in which to write.

The Friday 56 - Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Todays selection is going to be my next read. I'm holding off until next month when PAD will be finished but I'm itching to get going. I read the sample of this on iBooks and it's great to see a return to paranormal horror. It's Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill and the teaser line is:

"It's not often you see a woman wearing a hat these days. With a veil."

Dark Metre - Updates

Issue 1 of Dark Metre will be out on the 6th February 2011. The listing went up on Ralan.com yesterday and I would like to thank the writers who have already submitted their poems for doing so. I'm hoping to fill the first 4 issues before implementing a reading period. I'm looking for poetry reprints in the horror genre and I'm paying £2.50 on publication via paypal. My full guidelines can be read here.

I now have a twitter page, follow newsletter updates at @darkmetre

Please keep those submissions coming.

PAD - Week 2 Reflections

Today was the end of week two. Over the last week, each day I've been finding myself wondering if this will be the day that things grind to a halt. But with the exception of Day 12(no more than a fragment) I've completed each of the prompts. November is getting greyer and wetter, more things are clamouring for my attention and I'm tired.

I think part of the success comes down to Robert Lee Brewers prompts being so accessible. Some of the prompts could spawn whole chapbooks of their own.

I enter week 3 with some trepidation and determination not quite knowing what will be around the corner or what will rise out of my mind next.

Website Updates - Poets

Barry Napier has been added to the Poets page

Surf on over to Ghosts in (Parentheses) to find out about his WIPS and published work.

PAD - Day 11 - Nobody Wants To See

Nobody Wants To See

Nobody wants to see
The woman on the tube
Painfully thin in an over-sized
Sweater and short skirt
That shows off the black bruises
On her bare legs.

If only they saw that her pasty
White face reflected her inner
Anguish and the way she huddled
In her seat, eyes looking every where
But at the people around her.

Nobody wants to see
Beyond the rose tinted glasses
Perched at the end of their noses
The glasses that say every things ok
Life’s great. If only they would remove
Them for a second or two and chance
Making a difference.

PAD - Week 1 Reflections

It's a huge success for me that I'm still going at the end of week 1 and I have finished everything I've started albeit the poems are still in their newborn form. I'm hoping I can make it to the end of week two. I think I needed to be at this point in my life to really do something with my writing. My mind feels focused for the first time in a long, long time and I'm enjoying writing for the sake of writing.

Disconnect surprised me because I hadn't thought about him in years and I can look at the relationship now and not feel a thing, that chapter is finally closed. Some other pieces need rewriting and expanding, punctuation is missing, some titles also need tweaking but that's for next month and I'm going to regag the editor now.

My writing is no longer dominantly horror but I will still continue to promote the genre on my site and in my newsletter it's still my favourite genre to read. I will still be writing horror but I've freed myself from restrictions.

I'd like to thank the other guys and girls doing PAD for their comments and their community. But special thanks go to Robert Lee Brewer for putting this together.

Writing Prompt 9

The website has been updated with a new writing prompt. I got so caught up in the writers digest Poem A Day challenge that it went right out my head.

Instructions: Use this months photo to inspire a piece of writing such as a free write, a poem or story. A new writing prompt is added every month so come back often to try the new ones or revist old ones. Why not try writing a piece that incorporates more than one photo?

I have deliberately not supplied any information with the photographs. I want to see what your imagination can come up with on its own. If you sell a piece of writing that was based on one of these, please let me know so I can celebrate with you.

November writing

November is the month of mammoth writing challenges and this year I'm doing the writers digest poem a day challenge. I will be posting all poems on my blog, please feel free to comment on or critique my poems. I expect that they will be rough and underdeveloped to begin with.

On the 1st of December I'll pull them all down and begin rewriting.