tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85925917893856021912024-03-13T13:19:25.094+00:00Broken Birowriting about writing, ideas about ideas
and a liberal dash of librariansbroken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.comBlogger236125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-81692118123407390882020-08-19T08:55:00.010+01:002020-08-19T09:11:05.031+01:00Coming to a full stop?<p>To full stop or not to full stop?<span style="font-size: xx-large;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJJfGrL7YRCxDteDHLBzq8-JdDwT8TdvZ7Nms94HkmYPUcxJ6_sM9oFjGRv9dySu2m9W5Fi48WxwFv0VlTRLaPw1fzVv5ZaTuLUrj7MLByshv3QgnxuAsrFU7xFpWuHS2LBZnJQyEmFNE/s1498/69D3CEAA-EA2B-4F0C-8826-4740ADB32A1D.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1498" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJJfGrL7YRCxDteDHLBzq8-JdDwT8TdvZ7Nms94HkmYPUcxJ6_sM9oFjGRv9dySu2m9W5Fi48WxwFv0VlTRLaPw1fzVv5ZaTuLUrj7MLByshv3QgnxuAsrFU7xFpWuHS2LBZnJQyEmFNE/w262-h206/69D3CEAA-EA2B-4F0C-8826-4740ADB32A1D.jpeg" width="262" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">I'm riffing off one of Cultural Snow's (always excellent) blog posts here. In </span><a href="http://culturalsnow.blogspot.com/2020/08/about-punctuation-and-masks.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">About punctuation marks and masks</a><span style="text-align: left;"> I learned that younger people consider a full stop at the end of a text message to be 'aggressive'. I just checked </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_stop#In_text_messages" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Wikipedia's entry on it </a>a<span style="text-align: left;">nd it's definitely 'a thing'. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>I am of a generation (and inclination) that still texts in full sentences with mostly correct spelling and appropriate punctuation. Admittedly I overuse the exclamation mark to the point where the full stop doesn't get much of a look in, and emojis feature heavily... which are safe enough, surely? đđ<p></p><p>But if, as you can see in my beautifully hand-crafted visualisation above, when you zoom in on a full stop it has a tiny little angry face, Iâd better desist. Not that I text many young people. </p><p>But what if there are other things I don't know? What if two question marks is a sexual invitation? What if brackets imply homophobia or an ellipses makes me a stalker... </p><p>Help! I need to know these things.. please advise</p>broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-22559350324764055762020-08-15T19:58:00.001+01:002020-08-15T19:58:24.153+01:00Crossing paths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7m3-2QmjtYO5RDnBcvfDY5WjKuIQIpCjKL2XKZrTbDuy3qiOAeYGnbjrMuiiUbLPmneJWg1kWkaclhmq8SmbvzaNS2onZghyW9WtjyHvEbSZQQJi80IYi8Kp_i2D47sHLtr6Qlk_V62_c/s1798/img060.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1798" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7m3-2QmjtYO5RDnBcvfDY5WjKuIQIpCjKL2XKZrTbDuy3qiOAeYGnbjrMuiiUbLPmneJWg1kWkaclhmq8SmbvzaNS2onZghyW9WtjyHvEbSZQQJi80IYi8Kp_i2D47sHLtr6Qlk_V62_c/w400-h265/img060.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Did you ever wonder whether you had crossed paths with someone years ago without knowing? </p><p>This picture just re-surfaced from a bunch of slides my dad gave me about 20 years ago. It's just a snap he took of me (light blue anorak, looking at camera, aged 13) doing a sponsored walk in Birkenhead Park in 1977.</p><p>I remembered, when I saw it, chatting to the three bigger boys in the far left of the picture. They had tied their legs together to make it a four-legged walk and they were very jolly and witty. I remember deliberately keeping near them for the banter although I didn't know them.</p><p>Skipping ahead to 1998... when I got the slides off my dad and showed them to my new boyfriend it turned out the guy with the headband and Doctor Who scarf was him! </p><p>I imagine it's quite rare to have documentary evidence that you have met significant others earlier in your life but wouldn't it be great to know about other occasions you have crossed paths with someone you didn't know at the time but later became a part of your life? My husband and I have both lived in this town for forty years and once worked in the same building at the same time, but we don't think we ever met. </p><p>Does anyone else have examples of this? I'd love to hear them!</p><p></p>broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-45581883827153296842020-08-05T17:36:00.008+01:002020-08-05T17:42:06.424+01:00What on earth is the 'Sunk Costs Fallacy'?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLlNr3SkB06jJkpeAVkyTdhXC1_TnafxmomKGYyu4Hv0Dj4X5qRz5-uUnXNHZgB_F-Uy15TPHgFiSdnvs9wWD4M0YXlID0QCDZQIOJtBL2qOmwz0GpmBvA2OYS69DhjB5-q7Kv3qqwe90/s293/Think+Like+a+Freak.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLlNr3SkB06jJkpeAVkyTdhXC1_TnafxmomKGYyu4Hv0Dj4X5qRz5-uUnXNHZgB_F-Uy15TPHgFiSdnvs9wWD4M0YXlID0QCDZQIOJtBL2qOmwz0GpmBvA2OYS69DhjB5-q7Kv3qqwe90/s0/Think+Like+a+Freak.jpg" /></a></div>Don't you just love it when something you didn't know had a name... has a name?<div><br /></div><div>I've been reading an intriguing book called <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0141980117/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0141980117&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21&linkId=401a789f817b6f77defd5f8139fb382d" target="_blank">Think Like a Freak: Secrets of the Rogue Economist</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=am2&o=2&a=0141980117" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /> from those <a href="https://freakonomics.com/book/superfreakonomics/">Superfreakonomics</a> chaps and of the many interesting points I picked up, the one that pleased me most was finding out about the 'sunk cost fallacy'. Sunk costs are the amount of time, energy and resources you have invested in an enterprise. The danger, or the fallacy, is that because you have spent these costs you must continue even if you are flogging a dead horse* by doing so. You don't want to end up losing all that money and effort over nothing, do you? </div><div><br /></div><div>Good examples of this are ordering too much food and feeling you have to eat it to 'get your money's worth' or keeping things you don't want or need because they were expensive.</div><div><br /></div><div>I, and a small circle of friends, have been referring to this as 'the queue at the Blue John Mines' after a 1990's bank holiday trip spent in a long line whilst disputing whether to stay because we'd already invested hours in the trip or abandon the whole idea and recoup what was left of the day. The trouble with 'the queue at the Blue John Mines' is that it means nothing to everyone else in the world. (They weren't even mines, it turns out, but a cavern, but we didn't wait to find out as it happens.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The other things in the book that really struck me include: the importance of admitting you don't know, defining the problem properly before trying to solve it, and the importance of <i>pre</i>mortems - imagining your plans going wrong and asking what would have been most likely to cause it. Also - and this is where the sunk costs fallacy comes in - the importance of quitting before you waste more time and energy going down a wrong path. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's a much longer piece about the sunk cost fallacy on <a href="https://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/03/25/the-sunk-cost-fallacy/" target="_blank">You're Not so Smart</a>... we all do it all the time!</div><div><br /></div><div>* No dead horses were hurt in the making of this blog</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-30046970975055696892020-07-31T08:00:00.000+01:002020-07-31T08:59:22.982+01:00A Library Wedding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxqFH2E_QkXw5vHaeSsbc9zK1WSVoC05kes1c81X9IwKqvo2WdesKJYAF7BJm2bk0tb8NtkU3oEtqHkNYS2sHyXK664krjOZPkNLRmQUPMAzu5O9ywpDBLGh1PHWMe1FZsikkbNo_3_KP/s1600/IMG_3033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxqFH2E_QkXw5vHaeSsbc9zK1WSVoC05kes1c81X9IwKqvo2WdesKJYAF7BJm2bk0tb8NtkU3oEtqHkNYS2sHyXK664krjOZPkNLRmQUPMAzu5O9ywpDBLGh1PHWMe1FZsikkbNo_3_KP/s320/IMG_3033.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_T33PZehrVXbwTHQDUgFBcWV4CWbfZC_SHo2fUv1MA5BlxKAmJHguKhjNAsqFWVQWyE2dH7NLsEXvh9ruzKYAd-5dn606tvdNUmE3Pt_DROyezrvXUmkQoOaU8GwITAkYQw1Mo1dzjr4/s1600/IMG_1633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1296" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_T33PZehrVXbwTHQDUgFBcWV4CWbfZC_SHo2fUv1MA5BlxKAmJHguKhjNAsqFWVQWyE2dH7NLsEXvh9ruzKYAd-5dn606tvdNUmE3Pt_DROyezrvXUmkQoOaU8GwITAkYQw1Mo1dzjr4/s200/IMG_1633.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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April 2017</h3>
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Ok, so we didn't <i>actually </i>get married in the library itself (my bosses wouldn't let us) but we themed the whole thing around the fact that we had met in the library - and we photo-bombed it on the day!<br />
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I designed the invitations to look like Penguin book covers. Inside were Penguin cover postcards with menu choices on, so people responded by returning them and we used them as place markers.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI-YCqV2QK4za4ju3WsmV8raDpR_8ziYJHRkQ1iRmSkg2ntck1WrpeUbtf3y9Ibuqzu8JXoIGB5XnnFOjPs1u5mwCRiFV8rcIm4xqX-iLCR2xmJDYXblk_yXfnIeTKwizf4FlAdrj9gnDq/s1600/2017-05-24+14.50.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI-YCqV2QK4za4ju3WsmV8raDpR_8ziYJHRkQ1iRmSkg2ntck1WrpeUbtf3y9Ibuqzu8JXoIGB5XnnFOjPs1u5mwCRiFV8rcIm4xqX-iLCR2xmJDYXblk_yXfnIeTKwizf4FlAdrj9gnDq/s200/2017-05-24+14.50.51.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
We got married at <a href="https://briansimpsons.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/wallasey-town-hall/">Wallasey Town Hall</a>, which has some resonance for us as we've both worked there at some point. In fact I think his team were kicked out of one office so my team could move in, although we never actually met.<br />
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We only have seven relatives between us, so our wedding party was mostly friends, who are our own hand-picked family.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJc9BhA37_uADLBc2o1d8KoRLaLM3bSCgHZbIxAg318sjGiaNV6qz4b9yBjMtBC6Gu3MW1G9v7MOcWshDspIJGVHBDBbe_hWwm4PYgElE7qjZe2CZ70lQgUJ6x2z-xa9VnI8QAed5kstt/s1600/IMG_1225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJc9BhA37_uADLBc2o1d8KoRLaLM3bSCgHZbIxAg318sjGiaNV6qz4b9yBjMtBC6Gu3MW1G9v7MOcWshDspIJGVHBDBbe_hWwm4PYgElE7qjZe2CZ70lQgUJ6x2z-xa9VnI8QAed5kstt/s320/IMG_1225.JPG" title="A library wedding" width="240" /></a><br />
The cake was a big pile of books (made by an ex-library assistant) and the tables centres were 'altered books' (made by another). The spines of the cake books spell out our story.<br />
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After the wedding breakfast, we had hired a mini bus to take most of the guests (sadly mum was too tired by then) to Wallasey Central Library - where I worked and where we'd met. See <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-mysterious-package.html">A Mysterious Package</a> and <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-plot-thickens.html">The Plot Thickens</a> for that story.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vw8fzdm9RWiJNNgcC9l2DVPB6Tj90jURUd-E6MXv8TKnBK24k8BXTpiCfhJxSJsyt2mSxblYfiBaeE0m5KBC7HoslJn5W0eLT3RnCVN4X5Toxtm-DtICyRaIjqfP4LckVYdvoe5PgDDi/s1600/IMG_2934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vw8fzdm9RWiJNNgcC9l2DVPB6Tj90jURUd-E6MXv8TKnBK24k8BXTpiCfhJxSJsyt2mSxblYfiBaeE0m5KBC7HoslJn5W0eLT3RnCVN4X5Toxtm-DtICyRaIjqfP4LckVYdvoe5PgDDi/s320/IMG_2934.JPG" width="320" /></a>My colleagues had been primed to expect us - we had been decorating the library accordingly under the pretence of a 'spring romance' display!<br />
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The library was still open, but most borrowers were happy to join us for a glass of fizz and I had a competition going for people to get photographed with appropriate books... which probably deserves another post in itself. Other borrowers (like the chap at the end of the aisle on the right) seemed unaware of the whole thing.<br />
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I did get the photographer to make everyone say 'Shhhh...'<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXTWnlAn01wdvdi7E3_0y7463_cxq5w7uOdrmgkj9C-DoIHqJFTIP790jKAuNUhMqM3fdb1nhPy0zDb91DIP9EotAZYXgPs1ApHNAUrQLHYLX5tTTBWQsaBJGZ8l2v9MiITeihs0yA0Up/s1600/2017-05-23+17.17.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1079" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXTWnlAn01wdvdi7E3_0y7463_cxq5w7uOdrmgkj9C-DoIHqJFTIP790jKAuNUhMqM3fdb1nhPy0zDb91DIP9EotAZYXgPs1ApHNAUrQLHYLX5tTTBWQsaBJGZ8l2v9MiITeihs0yA0Up/s640/2017-05-23+17.17.21.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com217 Earlston Rd, New Brighton, Wallasey CH45 5DX, UK53.4289759 -3.045306327.906941399999997 -44.3539003 78.9510104 38.2632877tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-71185312578809143592020-07-29T20:17:00.000+01:002020-07-29T20:17:11.520+01:00Boo!<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
<span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I'm afraid I have been very </span><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">neglectful</span><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> of the the poor old blog for the last few⊠erm⊠eek⊠years! But I have reasons, both bad and good. (No dogs, no homework.)</span></h3>
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I stopped blogging regularly in 2014 - a real annus horribilis for me. Against a background of personal changes in my own life, my father became very ill, then passed away. I had a change of home, trauma at work, a bit of a meltdown and was suddenly my elderly mumâs âgo-toâ person as she also changed home and came to terms with a new life. All pretty high-scoring stuff on the stress register!</div>
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But through all this was the loving and steadfast support of my erstwhile Secret Admirer. He made my life bearable, and ultimately delightful. Long story short... we committed, bought a house together and became Mr & Mrs. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Iâll put some pictures up in my next blog... the wedding had a literary theme, as you may expect. Watch this space!<o:p></o:p><br /><br />Things were mostly lovely, although there were still stresses... staffing was reduced 75% at work and we were required to work at 20 different branches at the drop of a hat. My hubby lost his mum just before our wedding and my mum now needed help (including moving again!). Then last year she passed away too, very suddenly</div>
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Anyway. The anxiety all came back and I wasn't coping well at work so I decided to leave it. I'm feeling much better now. More my old self... I've even started writing again.<br /><br />So here I am... did I miss anything?</div>
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broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-29155270940894688312014-02-08T07:59:00.000+00:002014-02-08T08:01:10.043+00:00Batgirl, Borrowers and 'Sticky Books': it's National Libraries Day<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL6zgNLNLHGjzPdIUWhGCXkJf6HUCt0Z80ZrLfuz6dPhChYyTItvwWTfY-I6QtJgacBfvIEQ-d0g06VzeH-bPEj4c7sVgwjXAuRkp9RN_EE8KO-x0iY9D1gSPZXsccFy4C1NuWBakmZMk/s1600/Ref+loud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL6zgNLNLHGjzPdIUWhGCXkJf6HUCt0Z80ZrLfuz6dPhChYyTItvwWTfY-I6QtJgacBfvIEQ-d0g06VzeH-bPEj4c7sVgwjXAuRkp9RN_EE8KO-x0iY9D1gSPZXsccFy4C1NuWBakmZMk/s1600/Ref+loud.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is my jumper too loud for the Reference Library?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've been absent from here for a bit but I <b>must</b> blog today as it's National Libraries Day!<br />
<br />
Since starting as a library assistant, I've found libraries a great source of ideas: I've written poems and short stories on everything from Batgirl's day job to the time the man who hangs around in History came in without his hat! Libraries (and there are some fab ones <a href="http://shortlist.com/entertainment/books/the-most-beautiful-libraries-in-the-world">HERE</a>) lend themselves to the imagination: they contain so much information, invention and passion - the sum of human experience. Their users, too - the 'Borrowers' - have their own passions and predilections. Then there's the library staff: the cliche of the skittish, be-cardiganned librarian, disappointed in love, too tempting to ignore, too tempting not to subvert...<br />
<br />
Today I'll be performing some of my library poems along with some by the likes of Emily Dickinson and Charles Simic. My favourite is <a href="http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poem/item/17538">For St Jerome</a> by Paul Farley. This will all be in Wallasey Central Library at 2.30pm and include two new pieces including this one:<br />
<br />
<b>Sticky Books</b><br />
<br />
Here come the sticky books:<br />
puppy books, freshly chewed, gluey <br />
âHow to...âs and kiddies pop-ups, aromatic <br />
from the nappy bag, slim volumes of bitter<br />
poetry smeared with conciliatory chocolate,<br />
novels fluffed from under settees, used, coasterwise <br />
for beer cans, cat books itching with fleas. <br />
<br />
Here come the sticky books: fumbled <br />
from crumb-filled carrier bags after nights <br />
at pensionersâ bedsides next to teeth and tinctures. <br />
Gummy on the counter top, a reptile book<br />
reluctantly returned by a man with filthy talons, <br />
along with soiled allotment manuals, and well-thumbed<br />
sex encyclopaedia, tacky to the touch, <br />
<br />
Here come the sticky books: fished from <br />
the flotsam of handbags, powdered and perfumed, <br />
travel guides sandblasted, bleached and smelling <br />
suspiciously of coconut, cookery books <br />
dusted with flour, butterfingered, garnished, <br />
eggs on their faces, pages with glazed crusts.<br />
<br />
Here come the sticky books:<br />
the coffee-cupped, hair-sprayed, bubble-bathed <br />
and baked beaned books. The snotted on, <br />
sneezed at hard backs, the wept over romances <br />
with their rim of salt. The nautical adventures <br />
and Haynes manuals, all well oiled <br />
with perfect fingerprints for forensics later. <br />
<br />
Here come the sticky books: <br />
wanting a buffing with dusters and spirit.<br />
Never lick your fingers in a library. I wouldnât <br />
like to test for substances between these sheets <br />
â shit and semen, coffee, stamens, condiments<br />
ash and ear wax, cat hair, gum, and dough<br />
blood, sweat and tears - or is that just Bordeaux?<br />
<br />
© Clare Kirwan<br />
<br />
Don't worry - we do clean them up or chuck em if they come back nasty. And we get fresh new books every week - why not pop into your 'local' today and get the latest titles... but look after them nicely, won't you?broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com16Wallasey Central Library, Earlston Road, Wallasey, Merseyside CH45 5DX, UK53.4289987 -3.045282700000029853.4266332 -3.05032520000003 53.431364200000004 -3.0402402000000297tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-51489148239246639892013-12-31T23:37:00.001+00:002013-12-31T23:40:49.994+00:00Happy New YearI haven't got around to doing a review of 2013 yet, and neither have I applied myself to quiet reflection on the year to come. But meanwhile...<br />
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broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-3887729555159883872013-12-10T08:00:00.000+00:002013-12-10T08:00:07.663+00:00Librarian Action Figure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigir2Cgwm9EBVfR7bgofln9U3htOVxmv2b3PDk09wGbL7-bioKfvc93Gjh1U6UKlLc3Dmp_x2nTvp3_qBKMfpLt-W4aYagwCny9hvp9H3dlSVe8KOE8BfcNYaAwQuICzaiijD75nKiyjFV/s1600/Librarian+Action+Figure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigir2Cgwm9EBVfR7bgofln9U3htOVxmv2b3PDk09wGbL7-bioKfvc93Gjh1U6UKlLc3Dmp_x2nTvp3_qBKMfpLt-W4aYagwCny9hvp9H3dlSVe8KOE8BfcNYaAwQuICzaiijD75nKiyjFV/s320/Librarian+Action+Figure.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We all know that Batgirl was a Librarian, right? But even I was surprised to see this: Librarian Action Figure.<br />
<br />
In tracking down one of these 'must have' be-cardiganned figurines 'with amazing push-button shushing action' I discovered the librarian it is modelled on: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pearl" target="_blank">Nancy Pearl</a> was an inspiring Seattle librarian whose projects included 'If all Seattle read the same book'... (...what? it would end up in tatters... that's what), radio broadcasts and a highly successful series of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Pearl/e/B001JRWYE8/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&linkCode=ur2&qid=1378485019&sr=8-1&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21" target="_blank">'<i>Book Lust</i>' reading guides</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />
<br />
Nancy Pearl says the largest problem facing libraries now is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"We have yet to balance the three important functions a library has in a
community: information access, providing people with books... and offering quality
programs for our patrons. The pendulum swung way over on the information
access side and has yet to right itself. We graduate people from
library schools... knowing how to build a website,
but not knowing how to recommend a book..."</i></blockquote>
Wirral Libraries have merged, not entirely seamlessly, with the Council's One Stop Shops. It's not hard to see the logic - I come across a far greater number, and wider range of local residents since working in the library than I ever did in 'Public Relations'. I just hope, as librarians are whittled down, book ordering is farmed out to external agencies and we un-qualified minions are retro-fitted as 'customer service assistants' that we don't turn over too many pages at once and lose our place.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU79QenU9y8xYGVNS91MdleiktEH6ub2hkZOIq7kzS2bZj7c5NXT62N9HTkVgnzMQdduypm_U2m_x9t5EBZxFIXCL1sK_ksvHE0MM1CXZS-6tRcQUZB0Vf_LlZ5jnTHgeJBkdpn2-ZXEMl/s1600/librariandressupk.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU79QenU9y8xYGVNS91MdleiktEH6ub2hkZOIq7kzS2bZj7c5NXT62N9HTkVgnzMQdduypm_U2m_x9t5EBZxFIXCL1sK_ksvHE0MM1CXZS-6tRcQUZB0Vf_LlZ5jnTHgeJBkdpn2-ZXEMl/s320/librariandressupk.png" width="320" /></a></div>
So maybe we need to unleash our special powers - not just the shushing action, but a but more stamping and putting things back into order.<br />
<br />
And, of course, we're going to need special outfits...broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-69437992260721800942013-11-04T08:00:00.000+00:002013-11-04T08:00:07.721+00:00Movies about Libraries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOBoA8WRvend0zzU8gqk1udHk3YNs8RyR_bBAOS6bGySqf81AjKVasgE0RatpMqUKFDcpWN9I36bRpqYuLlen9Ex4slAfoF4Hl50S4Nis5YnUI4h0zDXcnZGVuS0EAwc6UWQKFvY-JwJX/s1600/librarian+robot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOBoA8WRvend0zzU8gqk1udHk3YNs8RyR_bBAOS6bGySqf81AjKVasgE0RatpMqUKFDcpWN9I36bRpqYuLlen9Ex4slAfoF4Hl50S4Nis5YnUI4h0zDXcnZGVuS0EAwc6UWQKFvY-JwJX/s320/librarian+robot.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
When I asked why there were no songs about librarians, I was immediately and roundly rebuffed <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/why-there-are-so-many-songs-about.html">HERE</a>. Prompted by a friend, who came up with a few of their own, I couldn't resist asking on Twitter what movies there were about libraries, and was met with similar silliness from various tweeps <br />
<br />
Lady And The Stamp @Gamiliell <br />
<br />
âSilence please of the lambs @Gadgerpvfc67 <br />
<br />
âRumble Fiche @carrhill <br />
<br />
âOne Fine A Day @CarolDrummond4 <br />
<br />
âDas Book @kilt_monster <br />
<br />
âThe Truth about Catalogued & Dog-Eared @Martinquinn66 <br />
<br />
ââTome Raider and Dude, Where's My Card? @Trudski2012<br />
<br />
Lost in Circulation @lumdog2012 <br />
<br />
âMe, My Shelf, and Irene @larrymeath<br />
<br />
â50 First Due Dates @WiselinePRT <br />
<br />
âDewey The Right Thing @dkobert <br />
<br />
The Da Vinci Barcode @mitdasein <br />
<br />
Hello Trolley! @larrymeath <br />
<br />
Rushhhhh @JPKillham<br />
<br />
Mississippi Browsing @DanCarpenter85<br />
<br />
<br />
Anyone care to add any more?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-8680170091400602132013-09-08T08:00:00.000+01:002013-09-08T08:00:01.128+01:00Sunday Gallery - I may be only an artist's model, but I'm still life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKBujWceH62QA2SKSR_UzLa6kyAERJZ527t-cV5STbi9XicpcX5MaEd3fnNs00nE9cxXTeotm7KuUX5XGXmWGo86L56J6rpYiVlBED4ZB6YdhqrdK6mJKOWN5uZzl_Yaa6Ida-gSmKvOW/s1600/IMG00573-20130403-1349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKBujWceH62QA2SKSR_UzLa6kyAERJZ527t-cV5STbi9XicpcX5MaEd3fnNs00nE9cxXTeotm7KuUX5XGXmWGo86L56J6rpYiVlBED4ZB6YdhqrdK6mJKOWN5uZzl_Yaa6Ida-gSmKvOW/s320/IMG00573-20130403-1349.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I forgot to mention that I 'sat' for the local art group in the summer... don't panic, it was the portrait class, not the life drawing... ie I kept my kit on!<br />
<br />
It's a curious feeling to sit and be perused by more than a dozen strangers, being measured up, sketched around, filled in, fleshed out, greened and purpled.<br />
<br />
I was commended on my stillness. It's not a talent much sought after in this world. I'm only wanted in bird hides, the bedrooms of light sleepers... and the library of course.<br />
<br />
I had the artists' permission to snap pics of works in progress but have not named the individual artists. Would you like to see what I turned out like? <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5Ziqcuk2BbaZB0PNgpbHmxHwxSPFiNjoT20gI9e3qYMbNxLPkfZ80UNWb245VJsduKaefc-_LVbj9D06NsD-AYaNDRnApvM4anHejc527zzBd8Dj1WcgyvBqUd_uOSjiPpOGIjbIKeS6/s1600/IMG00574-20130403-1504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5Ziqcuk2BbaZB0PNgpbHmxHwxSPFiNjoT20gI9e3qYMbNxLPkfZ80UNWb245VJsduKaefc-_LVbj9D06NsD-AYaNDRnApvM4anHejc527zzBd8Dj1WcgyvBqUd_uOSjiPpOGIjbIKeS6/s320/IMG00574-20130403-1504.jpg" width="240" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEeIzCAFk5-q9QU4hwnTz78ffb8hgspv6Bc3eiGhsF1KxtsU5vSqmYNVc0HuWPs95K_jWxJTLkCSZ5TQJ43WumNXYJKasmf4usdtzjlIUdpmR5zEKJBcKY9QwI7Bc6dLK2-V7N0XHFKJTN/s1600/IMG00575-20130403-1505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEeIzCAFk5-q9QU4hwnTz78ffb8hgspv6Bc3eiGhsF1KxtsU5vSqmYNVc0HuWPs95K_jWxJTLkCSZ5TQJ43WumNXYJKasmf4usdtzjlIUdpmR5zEKJBcKY9QwI7Bc6dLK2-V7N0XHFKJTN/s320/IMG00575-20130403-1505.jpg" width="240" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQfws-dqOqRoq2cwZa1ILLFUbeGGafhG1NLcPGlmnsxgk5Bgh0C7hRFIqpCWfBG3gOYey9SrwVVcNSVlP5zZ8CPxbdFz_vSPrculJbRlEuev-vS-YURXvF_a6xhmHjhpbV933Vcm-gMaS/s1600/IMG00576-20130403-1505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQfws-dqOqRoq2cwZa1ILLFUbeGGafhG1NLcPGlmnsxgk5Bgh0C7hRFIqpCWfBG3gOYey9SrwVVcNSVlP5zZ8CPxbdFz_vSPrculJbRlEuev-vS-YURXvF_a6xhmHjhpbV933Vcm-gMaS/s320/IMG00576-20130403-1505.jpg" width="240" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmPxD1YS26JprmddLhbaeyOOT9682sQ_Bv1IuxV-KYwWEXI_d2wyHlez6hY5HLTdY-2EnT0NjQ0EVQF4KDvTYcIhi2McidWyPaevo2KBu9KuoA12u_wObTZl4nwK4-bwa1iU-GvSaEWsGn/s1600/IMG00577-20130403-1506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmPxD1YS26JprmddLhbaeyOOT9682sQ_Bv1IuxV-KYwWEXI_d2wyHlez6hY5HLTdY-2EnT0NjQ0EVQF4KDvTYcIhi2McidWyPaevo2KBu9KuoA12u_wObTZl4nwK4-bwa1iU-GvSaEWsGn/s320/IMG00577-20130403-1506.jpg" width="240" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9xHlD0gFLvYqZzSX1otrza-943Q2191lDPnYnSH-YDeMFOUbnb5MCQmnFPit70PiiP3p1aHtQ79HDMWARXJEriei7BqvoNnSkl9AAqFmGaeAKksXgYwlBJ_0qUD-XjdB7bMDm_p3MOeA/s1600/IMG00578-20130403-1508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9xHlD0gFLvYqZzSX1otrza-943Q2191lDPnYnSH-YDeMFOUbnb5MCQmnFPit70PiiP3p1aHtQ79HDMWARXJEriei7BqvoNnSkl9AAqFmGaeAKksXgYwlBJ_0qUD-XjdB7bMDm_p3MOeA/s320/IMG00578-20130403-1508.jpg" width="240" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjElYCeeCM6q2GgdxL7qqmQmGgUdl_8fKiA2zCDAHclz8Dkl0enQkZ9QE5V5OCZdhewQaFIdk7_MIxdSNZWoVc4kYPHTetCjJygNoTh1h5cExL-GyFI8CWJORZXFhot7VF5ZjDK9T1gBEZA/s1600/IMG00594-20130410-1503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjElYCeeCM6q2GgdxL7qqmQmGgUdl_8fKiA2zCDAHclz8Dkl0enQkZ9QE5V5OCZdhewQaFIdk7_MIxdSNZWoVc4kYPHTetCjJygNoTh1h5cExL-GyFI8CWJORZXFhot7VF5ZjDK9T1gBEZA/s320/IMG00594-20130410-1503.jpg" width="240" /></a>
broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-15931355967568901042013-09-03T08:00:00.001+01:002013-09-03T08:00:02.009+01:00Lost Property<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GEzGFCWR6YyjAXCVw2F7otgfh91Egkyhd-WqLiuIAEr4pouU3ITEcEzEWQxPij5h68y_5hXP5fBEXSaef9mmZaSfc40kBSSsv-YRVsd4c2TAjVSM9G892XrfZM_PQ8PETUWKjg7cb56_/s1600/bookmarks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GEzGFCWR6YyjAXCVw2F7otgfh91Egkyhd-WqLiuIAEr4pouU3ITEcEzEWQxPij5h68y_5hXP5fBEXSaef9mmZaSfc40kBSSsv-YRVsd4c2TAjVSM9G892XrfZM_PQ8PETUWKjg7cb56_/s400/bookmarks.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
I was on relief at another branch this weekend and had occasion to hoik out their lost property box in search of a small boy's lost 'thing.'<br />
<br />
I came across this rather lovely collection of lost book marks - kiddies ones with clowns on, little old ladies' flowers and prayers, joyless corporate giveaways and Celtic metal ones that'd rip your page out soon as look at it. There were punishment bookmarks of stiff leather, flimsy hand-crafted affairs, notes from lovers and postcards from the past.<br />
<br />
A colleague of mine once found a twenty pound note marking someone's place between the covers. Another swears she found a rasher of bacon.<br />
<br />
<b>What's the strangest thing YOU ever used as a book mark? And can you guess what the other most common item is left in a library (apart from books, obviously?)</b>broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-53963194071464511892013-08-26T09:00:00.000+01:002013-08-26T09:00:00.737+01:00Proof, if proof be needed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEyMcV5wRfu7_Y8QA2iUat4Oq-WL2VxmCe05J-1CR3SBKUDVH9FHEHFVjpDub70iy5pT0kqMF9yAtq-dW51YTQ0TDExXfS7ckfDSTvxVcrZsLiEUsxcbuTSB-Dzo2Gf6rCj5ZHrUYKjU6/s1600/proof+read.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEyMcV5wRfu7_Y8QA2iUat4Oq-WL2VxmCe05J-1CR3SBKUDVH9FHEHFVjpDub70iy5pT0kqMF9yAtq-dW51YTQ0TDExXfS7ckfDSTvxVcrZsLiEUsxcbuTSB-Dzo2Gf6rCj5ZHrUYKjU6/s200/proof+read.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
So one of the important things to do when putting a collection together, or presumably any publication, is to proof it carefully.<br />
<br />
If you're anything like me (prone to a lack of attention to detail, and very easily distra.... oh look, a sparrow!) you might want this to be somebody other than you. If you're lucky you could send your work to someone like David Bateman* for a quick comment on the generality of it and get back 3 pages of typos, spellos, syntactical errors and punctuational faux pas.<br />
<br />
I just thought I'd share a couple of the things he picked up on in the first version of <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/clare-kirwan/the-silence-museum/paperback/product-21149013.html;jsessionid=FEB7426A2429A7B234733F6E0F270572" target="_blank">The Silence Museum</a>:<br />
<br />
untidy bottom of âpreviously publishedâ paragraph<br />
<br />
two different styles of ellipsis on same line<br />
<br />
inconsistent capitalization of line-starts <br />
<br />
'a lone parenthetic comma' and 'rogue hyphens'<br />
<br />
"For âFlambeâ the âĂ©â you need is in the Insert menu.(âMenuâ! I made a funny! Ha ha ha ha etc.)"<br />
<br />
"Almost unbelievably, this line definitely needs another comma. Insert it bravely!"<br />
<br />
I thought it would be nice to thank him in the front of the book. 'Thanks to David Bateman, who taught me everything I know about ellipses'** Then I decided to include an additional short poem about him in the collection, but I didn't send it for re-checking because it really was very short, and mentions how he taught me everything I know about ellipses. You know what's coming here, don't you? I spelled ellipses with just one 'l'.<br />
<br />
Dho!... I mean Doh!<br />
<br />
<b>What's the worst typo or similar you've missed until it was too late? </b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*<a href="http://www.writeoutloud.net/profiles/davidbateman" target="_blank"> David Bateman</a> is an excellent 'silly and serious at the same time' poet, by the way. There's not much of his stuff on the web, but check out the link for his classic 'World's Greatest Impressionist' poem </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">** There's only ever three dots in an ellipsis</span><br />
<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-23181796474779066832013-08-15T08:00:00.000+01:002013-08-15T08:32:50.253+01:00Book Launched! Woo hoo!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7SYRmUCuw5g4OI2ILuBHNj6zBmdcOMjVuUsqkNuIg9M9j0j6HY7zytjIEfYZSPp8MKGINVgbowU8VNBdvukyW7nnApeB0qj3fBxbhKVaNWnuSDcqTkncmuBqjZ-WAHrEPtBCZPs69CcN/s1600/Silence+Museum+padded+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7SYRmUCuw5g4OI2ILuBHNj6zBmdcOMjVuUsqkNuIg9M9j0j6HY7zytjIEfYZSPp8MKGINVgbowU8VNBdvukyW7nnApeB0qj3fBxbhKVaNWnuSDcqTkncmuBqjZ-WAHrEPtBCZPs69CcN/s320/Silence+Museum+padded+3.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My 'pin drop' cover wasn't high res</i><br />
<i>enough so I had to change it. </i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Such fun! I had my first proper book launch in the library on Tuesday night and it was <i>such </i>a nice event (if I say so myself!).<br />
<br />
I hadn't expected big numbers, but it sort of grew so I ended up in the exhibition room upstairs with a lovely audience of 50 people!! <br />
<br />
I was really nervous because of the people I knew were coming - old school friends, ex colleagues, poets, the parents, library folk, friends and acquaintances, many of whom hadn't seen me perform before. There was a decent number of borrowers too, who'll look at me in a different light now!... and the Boss of All Libraries (not her real title) who was hugely supportive.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNOH6JFQpR-INZiF9hYs-k2w8Ubwg35xR9tGei3uru9o6DNn7T2iqTCYmOcDSOQCFjEfyqaXethP18dTQm3hyphenhyphen0d6UTFy1AfqyQ4TwHIyiwFTkTNt_akHS5q2uC4WtQFg0UrL7HuPKwASf/s1600/biro+hand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkNOH6JFQpR-INZiF9hYs-k2w8Ubwg35xR9tGei3uru9o6DNn7T2iqTCYmOcDSOQCFjEfyqaXethP18dTQm3hyphenhyphen0d6UTFy1AfqyQ4TwHIyiwFTkTNt_akHS5q2uC4WtQFg0UrL7HuPKwASf/s200/biro+hand.jpg" width="200" /></a> I'm often asked if I have a book and, with 99 poems published and 24 placed in competitions, it was time bring some of these together as a collection. I <i>know</i> I should have touted it around 'proper' poetry publishers but I grew impatient to get something out, so published it myself. The themes emerged as 'silences' - our unspoken feelings, yearnings and secrets... with some humorous pieces for light relief. <br />
<br />
The 75-page collection is available <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/clare-kirwan/the-silence-museum/paperback/product-21149013.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> for ÂŁ7.99 + post and will eventually be on Amazon (but if you email me at clare [at] clarekirwan [dot] co [dot] uk I'll send you one for ÂŁ6 + post).<br />
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<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-11157008103758329482013-08-09T08:00:00.000+01:002013-08-09T14:25:31.465+01:00Funny Submission Guidleines #2My first post of <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/entertaining-submission-guidelines-1.html" target="_blank">Funny Submissions Guidelines</a> went down well, so here are a few more entertaining ones. These are all markets for short fiction, by the way.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thecanarypress.com/submissions/" target="_blank">The Canary Press:</a><br />
<i>Payment: We strongly believe that writers should be paid for their work, especially considering what the Kardashians are paid and the price of alcohol these days.</i><br />
<br />
Not really a submission guideline, but I love this on the same site:<br />
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<br />
<i>"...join our email list we will never give away your email address or send you spam,
except at Christmas time when, if things are going well, we may send you
some actual spam...which will last for years in your kitchen cupboard."</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://thepennydreadful.org/index.php/submit" target="_blank">Penny Dreadful (Haunted Press)</a> Yes, even you, as wretched and forlorn as you may well be. We want you to submit to us... (their acceptances are on the snidey side, too!... See my post <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/finding-acceptances.html" target="_blank">Finding Acceptances</a>.)<br />
<br />
Some zines offer services above and beyond to their authors: <a href="http://www.spacesquid.com/scifi-fantasy-mag/contributorguidelines/" target="_blank">Space Squid</a> promises: <i>"...not to give your name to the FBI after we find out what goes on in that freakish head of yours."</i><br />
<br />
Flash Fiction zine, <a href="http://whiskeypaper.com/submit/" target="_blank">Whiskeypaper</a> is much more charming: <i>"We cannot pay you for your story but we love you the same. And we will
respond to your submission as soon as possible. We know how it feels to
wait and wait and wait. We will do the best we can. We appreciate your
patience and sweetness." </i>and: <i>"We dig kindness and light."</i> <br />
<br />
But sometimes the years of trauma just leach out into the guidelines of more seasoned publications. You can sense the frustration in this from<a href="http://dailysciencefiction.com/submit/story/guidelines" target="_blank">Daily Science Fiction</a><i>: "We do not accept reprints. We do not accept reprints. Also, if you were wondering about reprints--nope, we don't take 'em"</i><br />
<br />
and...<br />
<br />
<i>"Don't send us another until we send you a response. You can send us
another as soon as we send you a response (either "Yea" or "Nay). </i><i><u>After</u>, not </i><i><u>before</u>. (If that's confusing, ask Grover at Sesame Street. He's really good at prepositions." </i><br />
<br />
And finally...<a href="http://www.apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines/" target="_blank">Apex Magazine</a> throws down this gauntlet: <i>"If you are rejected, donât get angryâinstead, become more awesome. Write
something better, and better, until we have to accept you."</i><br />
broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-10987463069600285022013-08-02T08:00:00.000+01:002013-08-15T08:24:04.959+01:00Brought down to sizeI was brought back to earth this week after I've been insufferably full of myself lately. I'm interested in other people's views...<br />
<br />
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<br />
I had <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Broken-Biro-There-ebook/dp/B00DHL43IO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" target="_blank">my first '1 star' review</a> on Amazon. A Mrs E Carlill from Stroud thought I was '<i>A bit odd</i>'. No shit, Sherlock. The words 'unsettling', 'dark underbelly' and 'shaky ground' appear in my own description of it. Previous reviews use 'quirky' and 'twisted. But Mrs Carlill went for it anyway.<br />
<br />
Now, am I alone in thinking that if something is adequately described, well written and <i> <b>absolutely free</b> </i>it is entirely unreasonable to just give it one star? What score would she give something that mis-represents itself, is full of typos and causes serious offense? I'm not losing sleep over it: it still averages 4.5 stars and her review is more about her own choices and tastes than my work, but is it fair to be <i>quite </i>so damning? <br />
<br />
If something isn't to your taste, do YOU put the boot in or just walk away?<br />
<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-23288004635144908932013-07-29T08:00:00.000+01:002013-07-31T08:24:37.492+01:00Brother â Killed by Radiator<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So this is the story I <i>nearly</i> named my collection after, but didn't - mum wasn't keen.<br />
<br />
It's in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DHL43IO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00DHL43IO&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21">Tales from a Broken Biro: There Will Be Ink</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00DHL43IO" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, and is a true story - as true as I remember it all happening when I was 8.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Brother â Killed by Radiator</span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
News traveled on short white socks as fleet as angels: my brother was dead.<br />
<br />
It was a rainy playtime â heâd been playing off-ground-tick between the desks in a downstairs classroom. I didnât see it but always imagine his thin, pale limbs crushed beneath the monstrous weight of that ancient radiator.<br />
<br />
It was a fine old school. The desks were autographed by generations of previous occupants: surfaces scarred, and undersides tattooed. In the big class downstairs, would one desk have my brotherâs name carved into it? It didnât seem the sort of thing heâd do.<br />
<br />
Not like me â Iâd chalked pictures of made-up gods in the playground and invented a new religion (which was frowned upon). <br />
<br />
No-one in her class ever read as well as him, Mrs Fransom had told my mother. âA lovely, quiet boy.â People always said that sort of thing about him.<br />
<br />
I, on the other hand, was troublesome. We were new to the area, and Iâd blotted my copy book early on by wetting myself halfway through âTwinkle, Twinkleâ because Iâd been too scared to put my hand up. Itâs funny what you remember and what you donât.<br />
<br />
My brother lay beneath monstrous plumbing as rain threw itself at the windows. He probably didnât even cry. He just lay there, splayed out on the block flooring, gazing towards heaven like a martyred saint in a library book.<br />
<br />
And it turned out quite quickly he wasnât dead after all, but, just for a minute, I was <i>giddy </i>with the possibility.<br />
<br />
(c) Clare Kirwan<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">N.B. No brothers were harmed in the writing of this story</span></i><br />
<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-76783674722314822812013-07-18T08:00:00.002+01:002020-08-05T18:02:25.723+01:00How to win Poetry Competitions - top 10 tips<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As a regular entrant to (and occasional winner of) writing competitions it was eye-opening to be administrator of a poetry competition recently and see the process from 'the other side' with 356 entries, both online and by post.<br />
<br />
First, what doesn't work: an A4 'do not bend' envelope, first class post, two months prior to deadline and posh paper make <i>no difference at all</i> if the poem's poor. A better poem triple folded, second class, last minute is still far more likely to win. (Someone even attached a full CV - entirely superfluous as decent competitions are judged anonymously based solely on the poem.)<br />
<br />
Taking entry fees off <i>some </i>poets felt like taking sweets from babies and I worry about unscrupulous competitions whose aim is solely to make money - especially beware of ones where the entry fee is big and the prizes small. (Winning Writers lists <a href="http://winningwriters.com/contests/avoid/av_avoid.php#.UeaE6jd264o" target="_blank">contests to avoid)</a>.<br />
<br />
I was only the admin, but I looked at the entries with interest and, as I've been placed a few times in competitions myself, began to get an idea of what judges are looking for. So here are my top ten tips on getting placed in competitions:<br />
<br />
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1. Read the instructions! I received entries with no cheque, no contact
details, in file formats I couldn't open etc. Many poets put their names on the poem itself
- despite instructions not to! - or double spaced their poems so they
spread onto two sheets when the rules clearly said one sheet only!<br />
<br />
2. Don't write everything in capital letters. The rules may not state this, but just don't. See <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/capital-idea.html" target="_blank">Capital Idea</a><br />
<br />
3. Check for mistakes in spelling and puncutation <br />
<br />
4. Pay attention to detail - edit carefully, make sure every word is the right word and has earned its place in the poem. Get someone to look it over for you if you can.<br />
<br />
5. A strong opening grabs the attention - pay special attention to the first few lines... and the last few.<br />
<br />
6. A strong voice or character engages the reader more than abstract content<br />
<br />
7. It has to stand out from the competition - so send poems with surprising and interesting subject matter<br />
<br />
8. The same is true of titles. Spend time thinking of a title that adds to the poem<br />
<br />
9. Read it aloud - judges will often do this and there may be the odd awkward rhythm, or phrase that jars<br />
<br />
10. I'm a chronic deadline-hugger. I've still been placed in competitions despite only entering a day or two before the deadline. However half the entries I received were in the last week, and I couldn't help thinking it might be better to arrive before the rush - if only to ensure the postal service and computer systems don't thwart you at the last minute! Just a thought.<br />
<br />
Ready to win? these are my favourite sites with up to date details of poetry competitions in the UK and beyond:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions/" target="_blank">The Poetry Library</a> - lists reputable competitions</li>
<li><a href="http://www.prizemagic.co.uk/html/poetry_competitions.htm" target="_blank">Prize Magic</a> - the name sounds dodgy but the guy who runs it is keen and thorough</li>
<li><a href="http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/competitions-calendar/" target="_blank">Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog</a> very detailed competitions calendar... and there's so much more on the site, it's well worth a visit</li></ul></blockquote><div><br /></div>Good luck! And remember - it's all subjective. What one judge puts aside another may love.<br /><br /><div>p.s. If you're new to the blog and wondering what my credentials are, check out this list on <a href="http://www.clarekirwan.co.uk" target="_blank">my (rather out of date) website.</a> </div>
broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-77456163144371384992013-07-13T09:00:00.000+01:002013-07-13T09:00:00.331+01:00Free Flash!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzly5mrwrSEe-aPZq9DlFih3Oe896QmmygWDTEn9RQ6I9PHcBteH37OUBrpCYG4JHfrAf-uzLfPu7nGWC_25XyTf-_l9GiYsxnX9dJn9Q6Y10RVwn1CsAHg4qIWk5WHUggbthlW_DWvAi/s1600/Final+there+will+be+ink+(small).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzly5mrwrSEe-aPZq9DlFih3Oe896QmmygWDTEn9RQ6I9PHcBteH37OUBrpCYG4JHfrAf-uzLfPu7nGWC_25XyTf-_l9GiYsxnX9dJn9Q6Y10RVwn1CsAHg4qIWk5WHUggbthlW_DWvAi/s320/Final+there+will+be+ink+(small).jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
To celebrate this weekend's <a href="http://www.festivaloffirsts.com/" target="_blank">Wirral Festival of Firsts</a>, my flash collection will be available FREE from around 9am today for 24 hours!<br />
<br />
<span class="userContent">On Saturday 13th July there are
more than 70 music acts - acoustic, rock, unplugged, rap, gospel, folk, jazz playing for FREE in the bars of Hoylake from 1pm until late... and did I
mentioned the Jazz Parade through town at 1pm? </span><span class="userContent"> I'm running a Flash workshop as part of <a href="http://www.festivaloffirsts.com/first-write" target="_blank">First Write</a> at Hoylake Library from 11.30am and then I'll be having some festival time!</span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent">On Sunday 14th July we have a 2 mile exhibition of </span><span class="userContent"><span class="userContent">'Art on the Prom' with </span>displays and workshops at Hoylake Community Centre, and </span><span class="userContent"><span class="userContent">entertainment </span>in and around the Parade Gardens </span><span class="userContent"><span class="userContent"><span class="userContent"></span>(including me around 4pm!) </span>. Such fun! </span><br />
<span class="userContent"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent">To pick up your FREE copy of my collection of 24 flash fiction stories, click here: <b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DHL43IO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00DHL43IO&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21%22%3ETales%20from%20a%20Broken%20Biro:%20There%20Will%20Be%20Ink%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00DHL43IO%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">Tales from a Broken Biro - There Will Be Ink.</a></b> And don't worry if you don't own a Kindle - it's easy to download their <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html/ref=dig_arl_box?ie=UTF8&docId=1000425503" target="_blank">free reading apps</a> and then you can read it on your PC, laptop, tablet or electric toothbrush (just kidding about that last one!). </span><br />
<span class="userContent"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent">And if you read this too late, it's less than ÂŁ2 when it isn't free, so click on the link anyway.</span>broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-14495590887758378562013-07-11T16:20:00.001+01:002013-07-31T08:21:37.688+01:00An interview with National Flash Fiction Day's Calum Kerr<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXNeOWS7kSNwwTESkzmJ7qk6vezoPmwQ474ji5SXoYqT2qAAe5u0pejBwThscmXplyuE4OSFJXkhyHgMdxS4WDFw0k8H-3wPAwF6GzQNib5KfTrkEn568TQvb4HNxxDUh22amTJtutYI15/s1600/kerr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXNeOWS7kSNwwTESkzmJ7qk6vezoPmwQ474ji5SXoYqT2qAAe5u0pejBwThscmXplyuE4OSFJXkhyHgMdxS4WDFw0k8H-3wPAwF6GzQNib5KfTrkEn568TQvb4HNxxDUh22amTJtutYI15/s320/kerr.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>
My guest today is Calum Kerr is a writer, editor, lecturer and director of <a href="http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/" target="_blank">National Flash-Fiction Day</a> in the UK. He lives in Southampton with his wife - the writer, Kath
Kerr - their son and a menagerie of animals. His new collection of
flash-fictions, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Property-Calum-Kerr/dp/095769850X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372940684&sr=1-4" target="_blank">Lost Property</a>, is available from Amazon or from the publisher, <a href="http://cinderhouse.com/product/lost-property-by-calum-kerr/" target="_blank">Cinder House</a>.<br />
<br />
So I tidied up Broken Biro Towers - sweeping puns under the settee and tittivating the double entendres - and settled down to ask Callum a few questions about flash (or 'micro', or short short) fiction:<br />
<br />
<b>Why flash? What's so good about short short stories?</b><br />
<br />
Because a novel tries to give you all the answers but a short story, especially flash, does little more than pose questions. Given nothing more than the outline, the reader then has to paint it in for themselves. Itâs more satisfying, I think, and stays with you longer.<br />
<br />
Also, from a writerâs point of view, you can experiment, try things, play around, without the long term commitment of a novel.<br />
<br />
<b>Flash in a pan or here to stay?</b><br />
<br />
Well, itâs only had the name âflash-fictionâ for twenty years, but itâs been around a lot longer than that. People are already challenging that name, so I imagine it will fade out, but the short short story will always be with us, I think.<br />
<br />
<b>Where does your inspiration come from?</b><br />
<br />
Can I quote Douglas Adams and say âa mail order company in Clevelandâ? Seriously, though, it comes from everyehere, things I see, things I hear and overhear, things I read, things I watch on TV and in the cinema, and more than anything from my experience of being alive, interacting with friends (and enemies) and family, and from experiencing emotion.<br />
<br />
<b>Slice of life or twist in the tail?</b><br />
<br />
Both. Neither. Iâve written both, but I donât privilege one over the other. Twisty ones can be all about the punchline, which weakens them as stories. Slicey ones can be all setting and no plot. I think I try and find a middle ground. The ending might be a surprise, but it is truly formed from the content that comes before it. Slice of life, with a twist, then.<br />
<br />
<b>What's your No.1 tip for someone just experimenting with the form?</b><br />
<br />
Just go for it. Write whatever you want, as often as you can, and donât worry about the quality. Itâs about feeling your way and thatâs something you only get with practice.<br />
<b><br />And No.2?</b><br />
<br />
Edit like crazy. Any piece of writing needs editing, but flash even more so. Did the first draft come out at 400 words? I bet you could make it 200 without missing the point and, in fact, while making the whole thing stronger.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiun9WTnaSe6XXajdlp8-yeT8mc9s6CMw3MfeAU-wYuZEfF_0wpL7Qbvrx3cDjx0xfJKtg7aQP3UtAaUqQU3V6xODsPcD-F_nmE32M29Xfn9dW4q7-6b6rW0cyBfSCpXAVLbyjYR7kWWv3o/s1600/gaffney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiun9WTnaSe6XXajdlp8-yeT8mc9s6CMw3MfeAU-wYuZEfF_0wpL7Qbvrx3cDjx0xfJKtg7aQP3UtAaUqQU3V6xODsPcD-F_nmE32M29Xfn9dW4q7-6b6rW0cyBfSCpXAVLbyjYR7kWWv3o/s320/gaffney.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>
<b>Who are your favourite flash fictioneers / recommended reading as examples of the form?</b><br />
<br />
David Gaffney was the first flash-fictioneer that I read. He has such a wonderful ability with the tiny tale. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1844712826/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1844712826&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21%22%3ESawn-Off%20Tales%20(Salt%20Modern%20Fiction)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=as2&o=2&a=1844712826%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">Sawn-Off Tales</a> was where I started, and as soon as I get paid Iâm going to buy his new one, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1907773436/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1907773436&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21%22%3EMore%20Sawn-Off%20Tales%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=as2&o=2&a=1907773436%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E" target="_blank">More Sawn-Off Tales</a>. I also enjoy Tania Hershman and Vanessa Gebbie. Kevlin Henney writes amazing things, as does Valerie OâRiordan. Oh, and Jenny Adamthwaite has my eternal jealousy for what she achieves.<br />
<b><br />Anything else you'd like to say about flash fiction?</b><br />
<br />
Yes. I think whatâs interesting about it is that itâs new. The form has been around for ages, as I said, but itâs only in recent years that it has been classified and arguments still rage over what exactly it is. This means we get to make our own definitions, to help mould this form into a shape, or, more likely, explore how the ways in which itâs impossible to mould, to categorise, or confine. Itâs a very exciting time to be writing a very exciting form of story.broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-58755038845700047182013-07-09T08:00:00.000+01:002013-07-09T08:00:11.838+01:00Me and The Scaffold<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2ipNPsNAthCtvNEHRBInaiBeXJ7PashHSIYClrnEaljquF6dc7TexFqm6jW-9Hxj9WKDctXoH4uk5RsucGJolZJwRtD3PKtj4jYfY4VhA_8u1DFYcVNT1XZZg1ZMPpE-nssK5Lfx1OCt/s1600/scaffold+bbc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2ipNPsNAthCtvNEHRBInaiBeXJ7PashHSIYClrnEaljquF6dc7TexFqm6jW-9Hxj9WKDctXoH4uk5RsucGJolZJwRtD3PKtj4jYfY4VhA_8u1DFYcVNT1XZZg1ZMPpE-nssK5Lfx1OCt/s320/scaffold+bbc.jpg" width="320" /></a>
Claim to fame: I've now been kissed by every member of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scaffold">The Scaffold</a>.<br />
<br />
Born in the 60's, I missed the band's heyday though I inherited a load of vinyl singles from the daughter of a neighbouring magician (don't ask) so I sort of grew up with <i>Lily the Pink</i> and <i>Thank U Very Much</i> and their lesser known b-sides like <i>I'd be the First</i>.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLxFrF6JkrTQC7rHGlHEJRXFDrnNztNwb2MzJWmBKznYgaCyh6NsAagcs6tLNbySTcHtKrsnR8-nEgVPQKlh18OMb04eJRRHKVmhVVSWGs8bnSO2bnpsj6ZXwz6UNEUrfLOCUkBcpHS-z/s1600/Me+&+Mike+McCartney.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLxFrF6JkrTQC7rHGlHEJRXFDrnNztNwb2MzJWmBKznYgaCyh6NsAagcs6tLNbySTcHtKrsnR8-nEgVPQKlh18OMb04eJRRHKVmhVVSWGs8bnSO2bnpsj6ZXwz6UNEUrfLOCUkBcpHS-z/s1600/Me+&+Mike+McCartney.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLxFrF6JkrTQC7rHGlHEJRXFDrnNztNwb2MzJWmBKznYgaCyh6NsAagcs6tLNbySTcHtKrsnR8-nEgVPQKlh18OMb04eJRRHKVmhVVSWGs8bnSO2bnpsj6ZXwz6UNEUrfLOCUkBcpHS-z/s320/Me+&+Mike+McCartney.JPG" width="244" /></a><br />
But when I listened to them as a kid little did I know my path would cross and recross theirs:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mikemccartney.co.uk/html/news.htm" target="_blank">Mike McCartney</a>
(Paul's big brother) lives in Wirral and in 2008 was declared the
borough's Cultural Champion. I was working in the Council's press
office and was at several events where he was the guest. I even had to
pop round to his house once for a DVD of pictures he'd taken for some
launch. I wasn't invited in. On meeting him a couple of times since, I
didn't think he'd registered me. But on Saturday, at the launch of the
Festival of Firsts, he greeted me with a big smacker... although I'm
fairly sure he has no idea who I am!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOj96tuqdvoojP6FHo1YO7r7ob3Zx9oPTtX2wORovEuH5JlnpmPTAj_hr1bKWOWqHdIY8jMVsUwa1yvAA1RIx2RXxm-K736FzJLEL6q5cKMhYSDwnJKrWGPmzMQVt7ikj2Rkqynmbc3xs/s1600/Clare+Kirwan+with+Roger+McGough.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOj96tuqdvoojP6FHo1YO7r7ob3Zx9oPTtX2wORovEuH5JlnpmPTAj_hr1bKWOWqHdIY8jMVsUwa1yvAA1RIx2RXxm-K736FzJLEL6q5cKMhYSDwnJKrWGPmzMQVt7ikj2Rkqynmbc3xs/s320/Clare+Kirwan+with+Roger+McGough.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.uktouring.org.uk/rogermcgough/" target="_blank">Roger McGough</a> is, of course, now an elder statesman of British poetry. He's vaguely linked (not sure exactly how) to Liverpool's Dead Good Poets Society, of which I am a member, but lives down south and rarely shows his face unless it is to paying audiences. I did spend one rainy morning on a bus with him when local poets were drafted in as extras for a Channel Five shoot of his bus/ apocalypse poem. But last week he chose me as winner of the Alsager Poetry Competition, and... well, <a href="http://brokenbiro.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/mcgough-and-cough.html" target="_blank">you can read it here if you missed it!</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLKKZ91RYVjXg4No_O0BUAhaQLhINzfpqJtTF5NpDABXi0-jAJW8eXyHEow-FYyGiw8INbuB4V9o0-PUw-lQ5hb3coSO5AJ9NotT4h18k9APcOpyrsoGYHa_lmPqAInz0zu_YTSIXDPE30/s1600/Me+&+John+judging+AATR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLKKZ91RYVjXg4No_O0BUAhaQLhINzfpqJtTF5NpDABXi0-jAJW8eXyHEow-FYyGiw8INbuB4V9o0-PUw-lQ5hb3coSO5AJ9NotT4h18k9APcOpyrsoGYHa_lmPqAInz0zu_YTSIXDPE30/s320/Me+&+John+judging+AATR.jpg" width="244" /></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gorman_%28entertainer%29" target="_blank">John Gorman</a> was the one I knew the least but now know best. I never saw TISWAS - we were a BBC family - but since he moved back to Wirral a few years ago he's been actively inciting poets, artists and other 'creatives' to bring a new artistic fervour to the borough. He created the Wirral Young Poet Laureates (a platform to <i>frighteningly </i>good young poets) and brought warring tribes of bards and odesters out onto the streets in poetry flash-mobs. He is also founding father of <a href="http://www.festivaloffirsts.co.uk/" target="_blank">Wirral's Festival of Firsts</a>, during which, last year, he invited me to write my first play: Enola Gay - and made sure I did! <br />
<br />
I've seen John and Roger do a double act and I've seen John and Mike bring a packed Echo Arena to their feet with their classic songs...But I've <i>still </i>never seen them all in the same room! What do you think... shall I start a campaign for the re-invention of Lily the Pink?broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-58957665294763605392013-07-07T09:41:00.001+01:002013-07-08T22:10:09.786+01:00Balls in the air<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cqQ36D1LNhif8ujV2Al8YlSKMiCHxQKKILOWFepMPB4ZYn9PwHt72eDtuCd7gjzuC61VbbkGyJLxpACQButZIn67_0BkuTvRUYELIfwCHPQw5467sWMEeBCF9du2kHBquU99V6Qw-1AN/s1600/proof+read.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cqQ36D1LNhif8ujV2Al8YlSKMiCHxQKKILOWFepMPB4ZYn9PwHt72eDtuCd7gjzuC61VbbkGyJLxpACQButZIn67_0BkuTvRUYELIfwCHPQw5467sWMEeBCF9du2kHBquU99V6Qw-1AN/s320/proof+read.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
Like a new pet or a small child, you know that when I'm quiet I'm 'up to something'.<br />
<br />
Fear not! I haven't been chewing your slippers or peeing on the kitchen floor, No, I yearn for slippers, dream of peeing on... ahem. It's just that I've been busy with many things. I've had, like Wimbledon, many balls in the air.<br />
<br />
In the last week I wrapped up the <a href="http://www.festivaloffirsts.com/poetry-competition" target="_blank">poetry competition</a> I've been administrator of, celebrated various birthdays with meals out - including a full-day mystery tour for mum (I didn't know where I was going either!), entertained my Missionary Uncle, did loads of promotional stuff including a <a href="http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=fe9bde4a1cc2798f88915621b&id=ed78a795dc" target="_blank">festival newsletter</a>, got my first poetry collection* out in the nick of time, had a Big Scary gig, took part in the local Poetry Proms and was media liaison person at the Festival launch. Also the usual 20 hours work in the library.<br />
<br />
The Big Scary thing was a paid guest poet gig at a leading literacy organisation's annual conference. I was already nervous before discovering the delegates had been invited to bring and read out their favourite poets: Neruda, Keats, Henri etc... . Also it coincided with the Andy Murray semi-final and there was a very large screen at the venue - which they did turn off - and a smaller one at the side - which they didn't! At key moments all eyes were on the match, even as I spouted - which was ever so slightly off-putting!<br />
<br />
I could try to compete with Keats, but not the Tennis On.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* more to come about this... only had 30 copies printed and it needs some tweeking</span>broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-31827294372680935272013-06-30T10:01:00.000+01:002013-06-30T10:14:37.533+01:00McGough... and a cough<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWtdoMINDGSqcEop6lUYP9ney296HIXcdsexNauK_O0ObsGi6voT99oSq5UalexxEXo2qtADHnZCAcxzJRN58ZhfzmgL_DsGmrjkQjpR-tU10V4laLabr6sSUHMTsNnOUfJQEPHlv60aLX/s1600/Clare+Kirwan+with+Roger+McGough.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWtdoMINDGSqcEop6lUYP9ney296HIXcdsexNauK_O0ObsGi6voT99oSq5UalexxEXo2qtADHnZCAcxzJRN58ZhfzmgL_DsGmrjkQjpR-tU10V4laLabr6sSUHMTsNnOUfJQEPHlv60aLX/s320/Clare+Kirwan+with+Roger+McGough.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me & McGough with matching poetry pants</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You know that scene in '<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114069/" target="_blank">Outbreak</a>' when the carrier sneezes in the cinema? There was a moment on the stage on Friday night when I could have brought down the Great and the Good of Alsager with one unguarded 'Atchoo'.<br />
<br />
Starting with the Mayor, the vicar and the manager of the Co-op, I could have spread contamination out across the poetry cartels of South Cheshire, the art-loving innocent of North Staffordshire and elderly fans of sixties bands just days before The Rolling Stones rolled on the Ralgex one more time.<br />
<br />
Let me explain: I have a streaming cold at the moment. But that wasn't going to stop me meeting one of my poetry heroes: Roger McGough. I'd been invited as 'one of the top three prizewinners' to read my poem at his gig for the Alsager Summer Festival, and I'm delighted to report that I won! Hurrah! Huzzah! And I read my poem (in what I like to think of as a sexy, husky voice - dues to nasal congestion and a raw throat), and I managed not to have a coughing fit during any of the more poignant moments of Roger's performance - although it was touch and go with the boy and the red ball on the beach.<br />
<br />
But despite my mentioning I was full of cold, Roger, amused by my mentioning someone had once described me, rather disturbingly, as 'Roger McGough in a bra' had gone in for kissing in the French style... erm... I mean both cheeks, not <i>tongues</i>. I live in fear I may have done for him. The same thing probably happened to Nelson Mandela. Well, not <i>exactly </i>the same.<br />
<br />
Who killed Roger McGough?<br />
I said the poet, with my hacking cough.<br />
I killed McGough<br />
<br />
I could launch an attack on the poets of England this way:<br />
<br />
Who killed Carol Anne Duffy?<br />
I said the poet, with my nose so stuffy<br />
I snuffed out Duffy<br />
<br />
Who killed Ian Macmillan?<br />
I said the poet, with a lack of penicillin<br />
I killed Macmillan...<br />
<br />
etc<br />
<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-7417522502724287872013-06-23T15:00:00.001+01:002013-06-23T15:00:47.782+01:00Is any of this real?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJjrL5461VaxAXK07h3FtFnV3MLNNkN7DwFi7xgkraduIvwpAxK2SXIhicBgGlNauoSoK3-oS5aek5rZgg_MRz_enAt6tmos4POJCMx_Dackq2NJHqtdKEb61Rc641CNJA4RG-hf5uPEOR/s1600/computer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJjrL5461VaxAXK07h3FtFnV3MLNNkN7DwFi7xgkraduIvwpAxK2SXIhicBgGlNauoSoK3-oS5aek5rZgg_MRz_enAt6tmos4POJCMx_Dackq2NJHqtdKEb61Rc641CNJA4RG-hf5uPEOR/s320/computer.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sadly there's no date on this picture - any clues?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWFhJ8ZuJYg336wvJbKcY8JTm1Gayb9gx9XOstMUqn_I_iVTiNU9dnqBhg57h58rS11Jn3drtHzxyNPqjcumssS0xrp8uRWJzqfYxdAeSygBb-HVl6J5YmSdzehRu9dX0WJYUXy5120M9/s1600/top+ten.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWFhJ8ZuJYg336wvJbKcY8JTm1Gayb9gx9XOstMUqn_I_iVTiNU9dnqBhg57h58rS11Jn3drtHzxyNPqjcumssS0xrp8uRWJzqfYxdAeSygBb-HVl6J5YmSdzehRu9dX0WJYUXy5120M9/s320/top+ten.PNG" width="240" /></a>For all my talk of notebooks the other day, we are firmly en-meshed in the digital world, are we not?<br />
<br />
What a strange world it is:<br />
<ul>
<li>I have written a 'virtual' book (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DHL43IO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00DHL43IO&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21">Tales from a Broken Biro: There Will Be Ink)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00DHL43IO" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> on my computer and published it online.</li>
<li>People can buy it on (and read off) a screen.</li>
<li>I am promoting it using Twitter to friends I've only met in the ether, and they to their wider networks</li>
<li>I have already sold (and given away in yesterday's promotion) a total of 100 copies, including more than 20 in America</li>
</ul>
<br />
In the first 48 hours it even reached the top ten Amazon Kindle
Bestsellers in the free short story category, alongside (okay, a bit
under) names I see every day at work - Carole Matthews and Stephen
Leather.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Is any of this real? (Answers on a virtual postcard)</b></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinDHY48c2XyfYFIAdbbAV_UsxP6yxYczz3hAYid5lUfw8agUBG2LjO-uenNAebh2OUuWuBYKGedcBd40Iy836iAzlXtwMxV_ase2vXjyY3xxvuJ96XIgrsbb1PEnwlyOcrlu9dBM6HZrMA/s1600/top+ten.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-66851693588890408022013-06-20T00:15:00.003+01:002013-06-22T20:07:03.539+01:00There Will Be Ink<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3SB2QHqDb0AZWQU1fNJTLD64lBzNjPMOynKkUcCCI4OQL8nCvpicDMTdT0JYOVNrSP0pW1a2H6ssxqIObwZ6N13jKlhqH2-CGU0MaNejvwSy_yOgjEsR1CpRuRG-8da_IIlVv__3JnZy/s320/Final+there+will+be+ink.jpg" width="226" /></div>
I've only gone and done it!<br />
<br />
My first collection of short fiction is now available on Kindle! It's called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DHL43IO/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00DHL43IO&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwclarekirwa-21">Tales from a Broken Biro: There Will Be Ink</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=wwwclarekirwa-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00DHL43IO" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and contains 24 short stories, most have which have been published at some point in journals and zines but are <s>thrown</s> <s>gathered</s> <s>herded</s> collected<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> to</span>gether now like a bunch of awkward people at a party.<br />
<br />
It's a snip at ÂŁ1.98, and hence cheaper than buying me a congratulatory glass of wine, but I'm offering it for FREE on Saturday 22nd, which is <a href="http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.html" target="_blank">National Flash Fiction Day</a>.<br />
<br />
Whether you buy it or download it free, I'd be delighted if anyone wished to write a short review on Amazon and give it a rating. <br />
<br />
Two of my stories are also in this year's NFFD Anthology: <a href="http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/anthology.html" target="_blank">Scraps</a> and another in Lost and Found, the University of Chester's High Sheriffâs Cheshire Prize for Literature collection to be launched next week.<br />
<br />
I am one excited bunny.<br />
<br />
<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8592591789385602191.post-64411338649349119132013-06-15T10:00:00.000+01:002013-06-19T19:09:13.350+01:00Take notes!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQgJ6XMkz7mpXhGlHQ8NG3VTHnmCC7JKNCcWBMbJaXO2E4t7RkcASyEBRlahc44we-RRo5JeAVfahIWhzw4KTSjW-G5aNZP9WszVTGZB-CpODTC25et7vPj9gCV76cKkN2zC7GGL70R_-/s1600/notebook.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQgJ6XMkz7mpXhGlHQ8NG3VTHnmCC7JKNCcWBMbJaXO2E4t7RkcASyEBRlahc44we-RRo5JeAVfahIWhzw4KTSjW-G5aNZP9WszVTGZB-CpODTC25et7vPj9gCV76cKkN2zC7GGL70R_-/s320/notebook.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a> Note to self: always write down the interesting things as
soon as you hear or think them.<br />
<br />
History drawls a veil over exactly
when I started to do this: I should have wrote it down, that moment I
first put pen to paper knowing I would otherwise forget that
witticism, perfect line, cunning plot, great title, cracking dialogue.<br />
<br />
So I never go anywhere without a notebook, and if you want to be a writer, neither should you. My most recent acquisition is this fab personalised one from <a href="http://www.thedogsdoodahs.com/notebooks/all-occasions/all-persons/all-styles/personalised-cards.aspx" target="_blank">The Dog's Doodahs</a>. <br />
<br />
Some people complain I am 'stealing their ideas'. These are usually
people who will never do anything useful with the ideas they have, and
ideas that are doomed to die young and unfulfilled. Plagiarism? No? It's
a Public Service!<br />
<br />
You have to be careful, occasionally I don't write enough and just find random words staring back at me that mean nothing: <br />
<br />
the Darth Vader of fairies<br />
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<br />
synchronise your mothers<br />
<br />
regurgitated garnishes from previous incumbents<br />
<br />
Apostrophe wife
<br />
<br />
fake town?<br />
<br />
I still keep notebooks, especially for journeys, but some are too lovely to use. And now I jot ideas on my phone or iPad, too, ready to transpose into a Word document... which now runs to over 70 pages. You
do the math.<br />
<br />
Then be afraid.<br />
<br />
<b>Do <u>you</u> make notes? </b><br />
<br />broken birohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06233920262119205474noreply@blogger.com12