What I'm Reading
Since last week I've read The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman, The Ice Dragon by George R. R. Martin, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll and The Great God Pan, The Shining Pyramid and The White People by Arthur Machen.
I'm still reading Relic by Renee Collins, Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland - not because any of them are boring, but just because I've found myself with barely any time to read, still not entirely sure why, so I've been reading shorter reads in between. I also started Kindred by Octavia E. Butler which I'm reading for Week 2 of my Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge.
What I'm Writing
I'm still working on my short story 'Piranha' for the Mslexia Short Story Competition, and I've also started writing another short story, 'Stars Over Talsarn', which is set in 16th century Wales. I've been really into short story writing the past few months, I think mainly because I want to get more of my work out there, and also because reading My True Love Gave to Me over Christmas has awakened my love for anthologies and the more short stories I read the more I want to write.
What Works For Me
Reading. I feel like I'm cheating because I've said this plenty of times, but reading other people's work really inspires and motivates me.
What Else Is New
The weather was gorgeous at the weekend, like spring is finally on its way, and on Saturday I went shopping. I bought some new shoes for the warmer weather - they're really cool - and I picked up a few paint samples. I want to redecorate my room, but I can't decide what colour I want my feature wall to be. It's very frustrating.
On Sunday I found out that one of my flash fiction stories, 'Coffee Break', will be up on Flash Fiction Magazine on the 25th March, so that's exciting! And tomorrow I'm off to a new writing and reading group. A friend of mine introduced me to this fantastic site called MeetUp where people can find groups and activities in their local area and meet new people. There don't seem to be that many groups down where I am - I keep getting recommendations for groups in Bristol. I live in South Wales, why the hell would I travel all the way to Bristol?! - but this group is fairly new, the meeting I'm going to is only their second one. I'm hoping to meet some new people. I miss my friends from uni a lot and it gets pretty lonely down here.
At the start of the week I was very sad to hear that IdeasTap will be closing. For those of you outside the UK, IdeasTap is a charity which focuses entirely on helping people in the arts. Every year they collaborate with Sky and offer £30,000 to three artists (that's each, not between them) so that for an entire year they can work on a project they're passionate about and not have to worry about how they're going to pay their rent or where their next meal is coming from. Many people also use the money to travel; if a writer decides to write a novel set in Africa, they can afford to go and do their research in Africa.
It's also fantastic for its articles on creativity and inspiration, as well as for the events and scholarships it promotes and the jobs it advertises. For people looking to get a job in the arts in the UK, it has a brilliant job search that allows you to look for arts jobs by area or salary or arts sector.
Basically it's an amazing charity and I'm gutted it's closing. I'm hoping someone will give it the funding it needs before June. #SaveIdeasTap
What's new with you?
