Category: Uncategorized

When it’s time to go

~ JacciGoodingAuthor

Recently I had cause to visit that most wonderful of places, Dartmouth, Devon, although sadly not for a fun day out. That’s the trouble with funerals – they can be so…what’s the word?…ah, yes, Miserable. On this occasion though it was to say goodbye to a longtime friend and colleague from the theatre world (my other life) so as you can imagine there were many theatre-related ridiculous reminiscences and enough anecdotes to make your heart sing. As what the departed would most likely have wanted, conversation was exuberant and sunny, amusing and often hilarious. A dull, damp and somewhat sad day in the West Country was certainly made cheerier by all this talk, not least when some bright spark posed the question: so what rhymes with vicars?

Knickers, obviously. Stickers interjected someone else. Snickers? Did someone mention food? And so it went on. Later, someone pointed out that there was in fact only one vicar so therefore knickers wouldn’t rhyme so what were we going to do about that? Stick with sticker or bicker but you have to admit that those words aren’t half as funny as vicars and knickers when in the same sentence.

But be generous – indulge me the nonsense. When faced with our mortality conversation can run to the absurd and maybe that’s a good thing, channeling all that nervous energy into scintillating and sparkly thoughts and talk.

Later, when the few remaining sandwich quarters and veggie wraps were abandoned uneaten on their platters and the Prosecco bottles were piled high enough to climb over, as the light began fading and the misty sun dipped in the west, it was time to make our way home.

A meander through the narrow Dartmouth streets, a gaze at the little boats dotted along the river Dart and back to the hotel.

           Sometimes, the sun goes down just a little too quickly.

Writing Competition Time

Featured ~ JacciGoodingAuthor

Don’t you just love January? Oh c’mon, it’s a great month! So much to look forward to. Do you notice the days getting a teensy bit longer? So it may be cold/wet/snowy/bright/sunny/windy/all of the above but it means the earth is tilting toward the sun again, at least here in the northern hemisphere. Daylight will be returning and before you know it the crocus and daffs will be out, such horticultural joy sending us all a tiny bit doolallie for a while.

And what better news than knowing the South Warwickshire Lit Fest’s writing competition opens for submissions on January 15th.  That’s next week! The categories are the same as last year – Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Poetry and the entry fee is a paltry £3.80 (actually £3.50 but there is a 30p booking fee) with a £50 prize in each category. Closing date is March 29th so there is Per-Len-Tee of time to create your masterpiece whether some cracking poetry, stunning creative non-fiction or gasp-out-loud fiction. We’ll be shouting about it all over the socials, FB, X, I, BS – is that an anagram I wonder? – and we’re very much looking forward to your entries. All the details on how to enter are on our website – basically pay your entry fee then email us your work plus your Ticketsource reference number, here South Warwickshire Literary Festival.

When I created SWLF it was not in the mix to have writing competitions but since we introduced them they have been a marvellous insight in to what people are currently writing.  Supporting the Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate, who for 23/24 is May Vaughan, is always a delight, and interesting to see what younger people are writing about – so important that these voices get heard.

So here’s to your entries dear reader. I’m not a judge, just curator, so although I get to read all your lovely words my opinion counts for jack – we’re leaving the judging to the experts -all of whom will be revealed in the fullness of time..

So what are you waiting for ? Stop reading this and get writing!!

And if you know a young person in Warwickshire, aged 13-17 who could be the next YPL…

Entries for Warwickshire’s Young Poet Laureate 2024/25 will open in June 2024 at warwickshire.gov.uk/youngpoetlaureate. For more information about the Young Poet Laureate scheme please email libraryevents@warwickshire.gov.uk or your local library service if reading this in the UK.

Transformations by Beth Brooke

~ JacciGoodingAuthor

Taking inspiration from sculptor Elisabeth Frink’s work, which at the time of writing is on display at the Dorset Museum, Beth Brooke has crafted beautiful and in some cases brutal poetry. Thus this new collection of ekphrastic poetry entitled Transformations and published by Hedgehog Press overflows such vivid imagery that to the reader it really does feel the works of art that inspired her live and breathe. Her offering Gourmand (one who enjoys eating and often does it too much) is deliciously dark, after all, who could not feel a tremor pass through them when presented with lines like ‘maggoty, they melt upon the tongue’ referring to bits of decaying flesh. Don’t worry though, we’re not talking human. I don’t think..! It’s the last two lines however that will make your toes curl. Beth’s view of the natural world is spot-on especially her ornithological observations.
In the wonderful poem Internal Monologue of the Wild Boar, line structure and word spacing make us really feel we are there with the boar as he snuffles gently across the forest floor gathering all to him. Acorns and crab apples are gobbled up with a ‘garnish of beetle’ as we ponderously wander the woods, nose down as earthy scents fill our nostrils and it is delightful.
Changing the pace is the next poem simply entitled Dog. Nothing exemplifies the happiness in this short poem than the line ‘howls with joy’ and you can feel the excitement and energy rushing off the page. Wonderful to read.
This gorgeous collection of poetry creates searing imagery through the thoughtful choice of words and their placement on the page. Not familiar with Elisabeth Frink’s work I certainly get an idea of it via Beth’s poems. For example in Chinese Horse I (Rolling Horse) although I cannot see the bronze I can see the horse, feel it’s strength and hear it’s pounding hooves through lines such as ‘I am body machine heart engine blood’ as the magnificent beast bursts into life, charging across the page with such vitality it is impossible not to feel the wind as it races by.

If you like poetry inspired by art and nature I cannot recommend Transformations enough. The poems are short, touching, clear in their message and in all cases emotionally moving in some way. And the image on the front cover? A favourite of mythology and folklore, the Green Man. A really enjoyable read.

Want me to review your work? Just message me!

South Warwickshire Lit Fest 2023

~ JacciGoodingAuthor

Well what a giggle that was! Not that I was there in the end – face down on my pillow for 86 hours and a thick red ‘You’re Not Going Anywhere Sunshine’ line on my Covid test. Yep indeedy folks, a year of planning and writing stonkingly funny Tweets and I missed it! Thank the God of Writers (is there such a thing?) (I bet there is) friend and author Jenny Heap stepped in and did a marvellous job opening, compering and closing the day, whilst the other team members and friends Lynn Macwhinnie and Gwyneth Box held the rest of the day together, along with a lovely gathering of volunteers. But there’s a lesson in there chums – always have a plan B and C!

Great big thanks must absolutely go to all our authors, poets, and workshop leaders: Dr Claire Millington, Emily Hunt, Gabrielle Mullarkey, Celia Rees, Erin Green, Louise Boland (Fairlight Books), Fran Hill, Gwyneth Box, Melissa Addey, Creative Writing Events.

Here’s a quick snippet from our feedback forms and I have to say dear reader, all the feedback we were given was stupendous. Thank you everyone who came – we couldn’t do it without you.

I know; if I had one, I’d blow it.

So next year I hear you saying? Well, another writing competition is on the horizon for January, so keep tuned!

Six Tips For Scary Writing

~ JacciGoodingAuthor ~ 1 Comment

Take a look. What do you see? Nothing much? Or a giant googly-eyed monster looming out of the darkness over this fence?

Horror writing. The best is all in the detail. Or lack of it. Let the reader use their imagination, let them see things through your words. Sounds easy, right? Well we all know it’s not. How to create tension, how to get the reader hiding – metaphorically – under the bed. How how how. As a horror/ghost story lover since childhood I’ve tried so many times to write a really good ghost story. Wrote, edited, believed. Set it aside. Went back several months later and howled like the proverbial wolf man with laughter at just how awful it was. The trick, as I understand it, is to leave the reader with a feeling that either a thin trickle of cold water is dripping down their back or a merest touch from a ghostly hand has just brushed their neck. Right. I’ll get on it then. Sounds so eeeeeeasy.

What do we need?

  1. A creepy setting. Could be a grave yard but that is sooo yesterday. Unless it’s a modern grave yard. What is a modern grave yard? (cue internet search for 21st century funerals)
  2. Odd characters. The sort that appear unexpectedly and look just a bit…y’know… deranged in an unthreatening kind of way – until it’s too late
  3. A mystery. Take your pick. A mystery sound. A mystery sighting. A mystery smell. A mystery person. A mystery mystery…. you get the idea.
  4. An unexpected and clever twist. Unexpected and Clever? Jeez. Not making this easy.
  5. A monster. Or unexplained creature. Like a googly-eyed monster leering over a fence. Just sayin.
  6. And, I suppose, knowing what it is people are scared of these days. There’s enough ghost hunter footage out there that tells us we are still afraid of the paranormal, because now, we could say – and I’m just putting it out there – it could actually be real. Which is scarier: the ghost idea or the concept that it is real?