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Showing posts from March, 2018

The Hunt Begins! #Easter #Giveaway #Books

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Join in the Sparkly Badgers Easter Egg Hunt! Find the eggs, solve the puzzle, win books! Find/follow the Sparkly Badgers on Twitter Angelique Anderson C M Clepitt J Crawford Steel Nicole DragonBeck Chloe Hammond Joyce Hertzoff Margena Holmes AM Leibowitz Leo McBride Debbie McGowan Terry Poole Maria Riegger Lyra Shanti Joanne Van Leerdam

#WorldPoetryDay - Battle Fatigue (or why I no longer teach in a high school)

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BATTLE FATIGUE ©2005 Debbie McGowan God loves a trier, But I tire of healing cerebral hamstrings Torn by leaping without training over hurdles That simply were not there yesterday. Of backs chewed through to fronts, Remains spat in the sawdust with disgust And downtrodden through the years Into a pithy pile of organisational waste. Of promises that never saw the light of day… Of honoured guests who outstayed their welcome upon their invited arrival… Of great oak trees that were grafted on the graft of Another lowly acorn’s shoot… Of spine-blunted daggers drooling with the blood of comrades While they feast on the sinewy shavings Of lost ambitions, Spanish moss draped in avenues leading to nowhere… Of paper and pens and boxes to fill, Of statistical accusations, Of schemes. Of pretty girls, words, rooms, hours to kill, Of breeding germs feeding on failing thoughts, Of careers perused on the crest of a doubt, Of axes unground and festering dreams, Of wishi

#WIPpet Wednesday - No Filter: What if? - #lgbtqia

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It’s been a funny old week so far. I have so much uni work to do, and I’m…not doing any of it. But I now have four stories on the go, including this one, which I haven’t written any more of since this time last week. :/ It’ll come to me, I’m sure. On the plus side, I’ve done quite a bit of work on Tabula Rasa , which is currently 78k, but it wasn’t quite going where I hoped. I think I’ve pulled it back on track. I also ‘accidentally’ made a start on the story after Goth of Christmas Past , all because of a comment about ‘mansplaining’.  Lastly (but not leastly), I’ve written the first few pages of a story for an anthology call , although whether I can write to the remit is another matter, as I’m not good at shorties (as in, I can’t keep to the word limit). I’m giving it my best shot, though—I’ve been mulling the idea for quite some time! That story is tentatively titled Oh No She Didn’t! So, on to the WIPpet… Brief story info: No Filter  is a crossover novella of the Hiding Be

#WIPpet Wednesday - No Filter: Who's Libby? - #lgbtqia

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Quickly flying in to post this (a day late). I’m mid-assignment, mid-editing, mid-grading, mid-everything except writing  No Filter , but I’m still snipping from it today. Brief story info: No Filter is a crossover novella of the Hiding Behind The Couch and Checking Him Out series(es), featuring Libby (and others) from HBTC, and Matty (and others) from CHO. This week’s snippet comes a few paragraphs after last week’s, where Matty had typed an email to Libby (whom he met in Hiding Out ) and is waiting for Noah (his other half) to proofread it before he sends it. WIPpet maths for 8th March: 8 question marks. I know, it’s pants, but my brain refuses to cooperate further. And the WIPpet Snippet: “Yeah, it’s [Matty’s email] OK,” Noah said, nodding and still looking at the screen. “Who’s Libby?” Matty stopped mid-stretch, with his left foot behind his head. “You’re kidding me.” Noah peered up through his eyebrows. “Nope. Oh, wait, is she the girl who…came to…that show ba

#WIPpet Wednesday - No Filter: Second Thoughts - #lgbtqia

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It’s so cold here!  Well, for England, at least. It’s been snowing and everything! Brrr. Anyway, there’s my very British opening. :D I haven’t had much time for anything beyond editing for the past couple of weeks, but I did get a bit more writing done on No Filter , which is what I’m snipping from today. Brief story info: No Filter is a crossover novella of the Hiding Behind The Couch and Checking Him Out series(es), featuring Libby (and others) from HBTC, and Matty (and others) from CHO. This week’s snippet continues from last week’s, where Matty had typed an email to Libby (whom he met in Hiding Out ) and is waiting for Noah (his other half) to proofread it before he sends it. WIPpet maths for 28th February: 2 paragraphs for this last day of the second month (not very complex, I know). And the WIPpet Snippet: They’d done the whole ‘don’t be a stranger’ thing and made promises to write or call, and Matty had thought about doing it lots of times, but between thinkin