My 2011 Christmas Picks

Here's my picks for you and your creative peeps this Christmas:

• Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness & Open Your Heart by Patricia Donegan
• Stepping Stones: a way into haiku by Martin Lucas
• Memories of Our Lost Hands: Searching for Feminine Spirituality and Creaivity (Carolyn & Ernest Fay Series in Analytical Psychology) by Sonoko Toyoda
• And for the second year running, the Mslexia Writer's Diary

(Please note: some links direct you to the book on my favorite New Zealand on-line bookshop Fishpond, but these books can also be found on Amazon.) Additionally, you might find some Barnes & Noble savings here.

A Guest Blogger Spot at Mslexia

From the team at Mslexia:

We’re looking for guest bloggers for the Mslexia blog. Are you working on an interesting writing project or in a key role in publishing? Perhaps you’re researching your novel or finalising your first poetry collection; freelancing as a journalist or reading submissions at a literary agency?

We're opening out our blog to a limited number of women writers with something interesting to say about the writing process, the publishing industry, or their journey on the rocky road to publication.

If you'd like to apply for a three-month guest appearance on the Mslexia blog, send us a pitch of up to 100 words telling us what you'd write about, plus a link to your own blog (and/or a link to blogs you've appeared on) and your full contact details.

You’ll need a working knowledge of Wordpress and we’ll expect you to blog at least twice a month throughout your ‘residency’. It’s a great opportunity to raise your profile and have your say to an audience of likeminded writers. Email submissions@mslexia.co.uk with your pitch, putting 'Guest Blog' in the subject line. We look forward to hearing from you.

Read the Mslexia blog here.

There are lots of other opportunities to submit your writing to Mslexia, which include tweets, feature articles, and book reviews. Check out the full list and info here.

What is Mslexia? Read my earlier post on the magazine here.

January Round-Up - What a Month!

A warm welcome to my new readers and all those that have popped in over the course of January - international small stones writing month. I greatly appreciate your comments, and ticking of the 'like' and 'cool' boxes at the bottom of my posts :)

I've loved writing a small stone a day and adding it to the river, and have benefited greatly both mentally and spiritually from doing so. At the same time, I wrote up my small stones in my Mslexia Writer's Diary: a diary I bought for the first time this year and am so glad I did; highly recommend!

I've also enjoyed stopping into other stoners' blogs who I may not have found if it wasn't for this challenge, and I thank you all for sharing your stones. I look forward to submitting my ten best stones this month, and eventually reading many others' in the book to be put together by Fiona Robyn.

January saw me make a goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week for 2011. Here's how I'm doing:

• week one - submitted six tanka to Eucalpyt (first time submitting here) won't hear outcome until after March 31st submission deadline for Issue 10
• week two - submitted one senryu to Haiku News (second time submitting here) was accepted, you can read it here
• week three - submitted five haiku and three tanka to Kokako; had two haiku and one tanka accepted for Issue 14, April 2011
• week four - submitted to Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar Competition (first time submitting here) results will be announced March 31st

I also created a 'My Photography' page here at Swimming in Lines of Haiku, and submitted images to (all for the first time):

• Four and Twenty (online short form poetry journal) - my image was chosen as the cover art for the January issue
• The Bay News 'Weather Photo' Page
• The Bay News 'Holiday Photo Competition' - closes Feb 4th
• And I'm very excited to have been asked to provide cover art for the next issue of Kokako (Issue 15, September 2011) Many thanks, Pat :)

I've continued making collage-style haiga for my collection: four this month, to make a total of twenty-three. I have written two new tanka so far this year for the collection, and still have several haiku and tanka already written to turn into haiga.

I had the opportunity to show them to my local fellow haiku writers at a small gathering in Tauranga on the 29th, which resulted in some good feedback. I'll carry on with this project while it still has meaning for me and the creative process brings me great joy.

January is extra special too because I made it to my first 100 blog posts! Thanks again to all those who have come along for the ride :)

So as you can see, there has been lots of great things happening for me, alongside my continuing treatment for leukaemia. Roll on February!

Hello February and NaHaiWriMo!

February is National Haiku Writing Month or NaHaiWriMo and has been set up by acclaimed haiku poet Michael Dylan Welch.

I will be writing a haiku a day in February "...the shortest month- for the world's shortest form of poetry" in my Mslexia Writer's Diary. I hope to come up with some stellars now that I've re-honed my observation skills with a river of stones.

Here on Swimming in Lines of Haiku I will post one of my print published haiku each day for your reading pleasure. I hope you will stop by to enjoy the fun, and maybe share a haiku of your own.

I'll still be posting any good competitions, publications, books, etc., that I come across - so stay tunned. And a wrap-up of January is coming soon!

Giving Books for Christmas - my picks for your creative peeps

I love books, and can't help but dole them out at Christmas time. I buy most online at Fishpond so all my links point there. However you will also find same on Amazon, etc. Here are a few of my favourites for creative types...

• What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul by Oriah
• The Art of Dreaming: A Creativity Toolbox for Dreamwork by Jill Mellick
• Art is a Way of Knowing: A guide to self-knowledge and spiritual fulfillment through creativity by Pat B. Allen
• And for the female writer, you can't go wrong with the Mslexia Writer's Diary.



Mslexia magazine – for women who write

Mslexia means women's writing (ms = woman, lexia = words) and this UK magazine is packed full of articles about writing and writers, competitions and publication opportunities, news and reviews.

I first encountered Mslexia a few years ago when a woman in my local writers' group brought it along to share (her husband is a pilot and used to pick up copies for her whenever he was over that way). This year, I decided to treat myself to a subscription as I knew just how inspirational this magazine is.

My first issue (#44 Jan/Feb/March) arrived this week and I'm not disappointed! The articles and profiles are top quality.

“Mslexia is dedicated to encouraging, nurturing and empowering women writers to produce, publish and have their work read, with the parallel aim of improving the reach and quality of women's literature.”

For those of you that don't want to shell out in pounds sterling, they now offer digital subscriptions at a lower price and you get back issues from #35 onwards. A great deal!

Their website has heaps of valuable resources. One thing I recently had great fun doing was a poetry writing exercise, which you can find here (scroll down a bit to where it says February's Workshop: Poetry and I): http://www.mslexia.co.uk/magazine/workshops/workshops.php

Enjoy!