Haiku: the Beauty of the storm

Storms

Skies light up, I see

A weird time of the day,

Nature at its best.

Suzanne Bowditch, 2018

I had to share this picture, taken this afternoon down by the beachfront.

The news predicted stormy weather and for once they were right. This is the lull before the storm; within a few moments the thunder started and we were rushing for cover!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone. 😊🙏👌

#storm #stormyweather #lifestyle 💙

The International Rubery Book Award 2019

More writing chances…get your pens out! 🙂

Creative Writing Contests

Welcome to the home of the Rubery Book Prizes.

​The Rubery Prize is a prestigious international book award seeking the best books by indie writers, self-published authors, and books published by independent presses, judged by reputable judges. Creative writing is such a key part of life for those who enjoy writing yet it is increasingly difficult to become traditionally published. Through our reputation of finding quality and outstanding books, we aim to bring recognition to the works that win and heighten an author’s profile. The Rubery Prize is now a well-established name in the publishing world. In 2017 the prize pot is approximately £2000. £1500 of which is allocated to our Book of the Year.

PRIZES
Book of the Year £1500 (approx 2000 US$; 1800€ )
The winning book will be read by a top London Literary Agent

Plus a minimum of the 3 category winners each winning £150 (approx 200$…

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WOW! Women On Writing Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest/Flash Fiction Contest 2018

Writing opportunity! 🙂

Creative Writing Contests

WOW! Women On Writing Q1 2018 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

 

Seeking creative nonfiction essays between 200 – 1000 words on any topic and in any style–from personal essay to lyric essay to hybrid and more! The mission of this contest is to reward bravery in real-life storytelling and create an understanding of our world through thoughtful, engaging narratives. Electronic submissions via e-mail only; reprints are okay; multiple submissions are okay as long as they are submitted in their own individual e-mail. Open internationally. Limit: 300 entries.

 

1st Place: $500, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow; 2nd Place: $300, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow; 3rd Place: $200, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow; 7 Runners-Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards, publication, interview, and gift card good for one item from CreateWriteNow; and 10…

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Call for Submissions: AHS Spring 2018 Haiga Kukai: Seasonal

Great opportunity 🙂

Australian Haiku Society

The  Australian Haiku Society Spring Haiga  Kukai 2018 is now open for entries.
We invite poets to send one haiku per image until 29th September. The winning haiku will be displayed on the AHS website.
Please note that if more than one haiku per image is submitted by any individual, only the first haiku sent will be considered.
Submissions will only be accepted if entered in the comments section.

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Borobi

We took a trip down to the beach this afternoon. It was so good to get out, take a ride, as its been all work lately. I’m just finishing three assignments for uni, plus writing my second Stella Windermere cozy mystery, so a chance to blow the cobwebs away was welcome!

We strolled along the beachfront then stopped for a coffee. The mascots of Borobi the koala bear are a throwback to the Commonwealth Games back in April and are dotted up and down the coastline. All that preparation and the Games were gone in a couple of weeks…

Hope your weekend is creative but take time to relax as well !

#creativity #writer #lifestyle #writerslife 📚

Haiku: Sunshine

Golden yellow bloom,

Sunshine, purple to delight,

Majestic and pure.

Suzanne Bowditch 2018

#haiku #poetry #blooms #sopretty #writerslife 🌸

Sunday is for study day

Sunday afternoon and I ‘m studying for a uni assignment for my masters degree. The unit, a research theory unit, has taken me out of my comfort zone…and it is meant to! My thesis, you see, is about the witchcraft craze that took over Europe in the 16th -17th centuries that involved thousands of women persecuted, tortured and killed for witchcraft, but I’m learning so much more….

Broadly speaking , I’m studying the effects of the witch phenomena on future generations that encompasses the perception of womens mental illness, sexuality and madness, in what was phrased as ‘hysteria.’

As you can tell by my brainstorming poster, I’m researching and reading esteemed writers like Focault, Freud, Marx, and feminist literary critics such as Julie Kristeva, Judith Butler and Elaine Showalter. My studies have taken me to understand the rise in mental asylums after the events of what feminists call ‘The Burning Times’ in women’s history.

Pivotal to this is a book I ‘ve yet to read but have it on my ever-growing list : The Witch in History by Diane Purkiss, which takes a polemic look into the phenomena of witchcraft and what it means for women today.

Heavy stuff you may say, but the topic of the witch continues to fascinate me, and I always have my loyal terrier Billy by my side!

How is your Sunday going?

#writerslife 📚 #writer #thesis #deakinuniversity #witchcraft #feminism

How to create credible female villains

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

There aren’t enough credible female villains. They are usually overshadowed by their male counterparts. Think: The White Witch (Narnia),  Veruca Salt (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Annie Wilkes (Misery), Abigail (The Crucible) then realise that there needs to be more!

So, here’s a quick guide to creating a bad-ass female character that your readers will not forget in a hurry:

1. Villains need POSITIVE traits too – make sure you include these (Think: Annie Wilks who loved collecting, or the White Witch who loved handing out Turkish Delight!)
2.  Remember that a Villain that has a positive trait makes the reader CONNECT with them, to EMPHASISE with their back story, making them fully formed as characters
3. Study other Villains, and that means read, read, and read! Try to turn a WELL-KNOWN male hero into a female villain – there are endless possibilities!
4. A psychopathic Villain is so cliched – make them have a PERSONALITY disorder instead
5. Give you Villain CORE VALUES, and stick to them! They need to have INTEGRITY in their beliefs that make them more believable (This is where a back story helps: why are they bad in the first place?)

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

To sum it up, they need to have:

Authenticity:

– Your villain needs to do exactly what they say they will! So, if your wicked fairy queen says she will turn your hero to stone – let her! It adds ACTION, allowing your hero to extract themselves out of it (or can even produce another hero!)

Believablity:

– Play on the real-life fears  readers have about females being meek, mild, sensitive and loving, and go the OPPOSITE to that. Make them devious and powerful, cunning but charming, intellectual but crazy!

Expertise:

– Villains need to challenge heroes. If they are experts at something, then play on it. Your heroes will have a hard time defeating them. This produces conflict between protagonist and antagonist thus driving the PLOT.

Have a great writing week!

#writing #creativity #femalecharacters #villainsandheroes #plot #writerslife