me.you.coffee

On the weekend our writers group held a live reading event at a local coffee shop in NSW, Australia. I was lucky enough to be the MC, and before introducing each of the readers I shared one of my Friday Fictioneers pieces. They went down a treat (Rochelle, you would be very proud)! To read about the event, follow this link.

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Image by Douglas M. MacIlroy at http://ironwoodwind.wordpress.com/

‘It’s our 10 year anniversary for God’s sake!’

He hadn’t listened. He’d insisted on wearing his slippers to the club.

Frayed at the edges, dripped-tea stained across the toes, one sole almost completely worn through.

‘They’re just so comfortable,’ he’d said.

We blog because we have something we want to express and we hope it will resonate with someone else. Blogging enables us to build powerful connections with people we might have never met otherwise.

There are lots of blogging communities and challenges aimed at fostering those relationships and inspiring more blogging. These three, all writing-focused, are building global networks of blogger-writers — maybe you’ll find a home in one!

Today’s Author

The mission of Today’s Author couldn’t be simpler, or more powerful: to foster a community of creative writers through a healthy and supportive environment.

Today’s Author is an open, flexible community of writers focused on helping each other kick-start their pens (or keyboards). Their prompts work for a variety of bloggers, while their “Writers’ Circle” posts explore everything from what to do when inspiration dries up to strategies for editing your own work to how we incorporate our traditions and…

Well, this has been an adventure and a half. When we started out on Monday evening, all we wanted to do was to make it possible for my father to see The Winter Soldier and maybe to get a few superhero selfies to make him chuckle. In under 48 hours our mission was accomplished, and then… we kind of went viral. I have to admit something right now: as a bit of perfectionist, it really bugs me that I can’t stay on Twitter all the time and thank each and every one of you who has tweeted the Marvel actors for us, sent messages of love and support, and sent us your sweet pictures for dad. But please know that our family are so very grateful, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, even if I haven’t said so directly.

You have certainly succeeded in cheering us all…

Mirrors
The Cover

The long awaited collection, Mirrors, will be published tomorrow night!

The authors have put up their feet now, and so can you while you enjoy the read. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find inside the cover.

Mirrors is an anthology of short stories, creative non-fiction and poetry from nine Australian writers. Set in cities, suburbia, and the Far North these authors explore the desires, the humours and the sorrows of life.

Each story is the shard of a mirror that reflects the lives of the ordinary people in extraordinary ways. A man exposes his desire for celebrity and greatness. A girl discovers a dragon in her backyard. A one-way mirror reveals a horror no mother should ever witness. Borrasca is an exotic and flamboyant woman but her true identity is shrouded in dark secrecy. The unlikely friendship between a Chinese gardener and a young girl…

Well, it’s Wednesday again, and that means it’s time for people to die. Er, what I mean to say is that it’s time for husbands to choke wives and wives to poison husbands, and…
Oops. What I really meant to say is that it’s time for Friday Fictioneers — an exercise moderated by the lovely and brilliant Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Each week, 100 or more writers take a look at a photo and write a story of about a 100 words inspired by the photo. It’s become kind of a joke that it’s not Friday Fictioneers until there’s a body count.

Can I challenge you this week to not kill anyone — or if you have to, at least do it creatively? I do try to read most if not all of the stories, and to be honest, I’m emotionally distressed and misanthropic enough as it is without having to…