Linda Parkinson-Hardman's Blog, page 2
November 5, 2022
Chesil Bank Writing Shed
The Chesil Bank Writing Shed group starts on 12th January 2023 at 7pm. Established and new writers are welcome. If you’ve never written anything before but would like to start, this is the place to practice, learn and develop your own writing style and voice.
We meet at Portesham Village Hall on the second Thursday of each month for feedback on our writing, writing prompt challenges, and group competitions, and to learn more about how to get our writing into the hands of a bigger audience.
Each ...
October 31, 2022
Why authors shouldn’t hide behind their websites
I’ve lost count of the number of author and writer websites I visit that have no visible means of contacting the author. In some cases it’s almost as if the person, or persons, behind the site want to remain invisible and don’t want to court opportunity.
When I’ve come across people who admit to such a state of affairs my question is always ‘why?’ Why bother going to the trouble of creating a public body of work if you don’t want to be acknowledged for it?
After all, you never know when opportun...
September 28, 2022
How to be a rockstar blogger – part 6
Share Your Space & Build A Community
If I want to feel comfortable I tend to go where there are other people just like me. That way I won’t stand out so much or feel as if I am too obvious. The Rockstar Blogger understands this implicitly, they don’t need to have it explained to them and they respond to this intrinsic human need to connect with their tribe in a variety of ways.
Firstly, they will create content that is accessible to everyone and secondly they will invite other people, ‘just like...
September 15, 2022
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
John Keat’s poem To Autumn is one of the greatest ode’s for this season of harvest which also holds the promise of Spring even as it moves towards Winter.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kern...
September 14, 2022
The hero’s journey a metaphor for coaching?
In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces- originally called How to Read a Myth- is found a description of the hero’s journey (Campbell cites examples like Jason and Prometheus):
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” (1,p23)
Joseph Campbell’s seminal book...
September 8, 2022
Green Man reminding
The Green Man is a sacred symbol of death and rebirth often found in religious buildings on the pew ends or up in the stonework.
Although the name appears to be modern, the green man has been celebrated in festivals for hundreds of years at least in representations such as Jack in the Green and Green George first mentioned in the 18th Century. It’s worth remembering that although figures like this may have been relatively recently referred to in writings it’s not unreasonable to assume they have...
September 3, 2022
In conversation with Laura Besley
Laura Besley was a finalist in the short story category in Hysteria 2020, a reader for Hysteria 8 and a reader for Hysteria 9 as well. She is a full-time mum to two young boys and squeezes her writing time into the bookends of her day.
She has recently been listed by TSS Publishing as one of the top 50 British and Irish Flash Fiction writers with her story ‘On Repeat’ (Reflex Fiction). Having lived in Holland, Germany and Hong Kong, she now lives in land-locked central England and misses the se...
September 1, 2022
Autumnal pleasures
The seasons I love most are Spring and Autumn, the elbows of the year that mark the passage from Summer and Winter and which are usually the most benign and pleasant of months.
This month’s word has a selection of words which have a flavour of Autumn about them and which represent some of the activities and traditions associated with this time of year. As with all word squares, the aim is to choose one word from each column and weave them into a story, a piece of flash fiction, a poem or even a ...
August 31, 2022
Why personal thinking matters when it comes to changing behaviour
If you’re unsure what ‘personal thinking’ is just sit back for a moment and allow your mind to empty (as far as it’s able to), watch the thoughts flow in and out, spot the ones that settle and hang around for a while and then see what happens when something else catches your attention.
Personal thinking is something we humans are surrounded by every single minute of every single day; whether we are awake or asleep our world is full of the thoughts going through our heads in a constant stream of ...
August 25, 2022
Spooky action
Time, the greatest challenge of our lives and the greatest illusion. Why is it that time goes slowly when we don’t want to be where we are, and fast when joy and happiness are spread around us?
Each week in August I’ve been encouraging you to look to the greats for inspiration and today is no exception. And it’s also another first. This week I’ve chosen one of my favourite poems and invite you to consider what images, ideas and imaginings arise when you read it?
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cl...
