Mark Stratton's Blog: AGGASPLETCH, page 23

Guest Post – Gabriel Gadfly and His Writing Space

I'm a bit of a nomad poet, in that I don't really have a dedicated writing space. I tend to wander around to coffee shops and libraries, so my writing space is anywhere semi-quiet where I can use my laptop. I do find it easier to write on a computer — when I'm working on a poem, I'm constantly changing words or moving sentences or phrases or stanzas around, so it's simply more efficient (and cleaner) than scribbling it all out on a piece of paper.

That said, there's some manner of notebook in ...

Lipstick Where?

Ever mishear lyrics? Of course you have, and you usually feel pretty silly when you realize what you thought you heard wasn't what was being sung (or mumbled). Just this morning I had The Gigolo Aunts album playing on my iPod on the drive to work. The first song is titled 'Cope' and there's this refrain 'Lipstick on the glass' that gets repeated several times.

My mind wasn't focusing on the lyrics and I heard, "Lipstick Under Glass."

Sort of an unusual visual, don't you think? "Lipstick under g...

School Books

We are T-Minus two weeks and counting to the beginning of the semester. Which means I am scant days away from being eligible for student discounts again! And being a student in a class again.

Another marker passed today in that I received my books for my class. One of the major things that time has changed is the ability to scout around and find my school books cheaper than at the bookstore on campus. They sure don't have keeping books affordable for me as part of their operating plan, which i...

Guest Post – Fiona Robyn and Her Writing Space

Where do I write? The first question that comes to my mind is, "what I would classify as 'writing'?" I'm working on a fifth novel, but what with weddings (mine) and still-quite-new companies (Writing Our Way Home ) and moving to a new area of the country (the Malvern hills) and starting my therapy private practice from scratch again, I must confess that it's not getting regular attention.

I do all kinds of different writing during an average day. I notice something properly, write it down...

Guest Post – Joe Hesch and his Writing Space

I wish I wrote more than I do. One reason I probably don't is because I have no set place or time that I do it. Yes, I know, completely my fault. What writing I do I've accomplished in not one, but five separate spaces.

Space one is my bed. I keep a notebook and my iPad next to me at night, so if I get an idea for a poem before I fall asleep or as I'm waking up, I scratch them down right away. I've also written more than a few poems right here in bed. (I'm actually writing this essay there...

A New Adventure Awaits…Maybe

Before I got married, I used to have the most horrible thoughts leading up the a first date.  "What if the directions to her house were wrong?" or "Why would she want to go out with me?" or "What if she forgot about our date?" or…or…or…yeah, you're starting the get the idea.  Self-Doubt was a constant companion.  Fortunately, I found my wife (or she found me) and I don't worry about such things anymore.

No, these days I worry about other stuff.  In much the same fashion.  Take for example my n...

Guest Post – Kathy Nguyen and Her Writing Space

Space: it is something to fill or be filled. As a poet who can focus on one subject or object with intense fascination for long periods of time, I have a nomadic soul. I am a solitary wanderer who constantly asks the why and how and listens to nothing and everything at the same time. Perhaps I am on a journey to fill my every writing with truth and goodness. Perhaps writing is a way to create a tiny space for myself independently from this world, yet to make sense of this world and love it...

This 'n That…

Okay, so I just dropped the price of the Kindle version of my book ($1.99) and then sent it through my FB feed and whaddya know, a sale inside of 15 minutes. I hate the marketing aspect of this book, I really want to be more than a shill for my little book. Still, I have a couple of milestones I'd like to reach and without alerting people to the presence of my book, they can't or won't buy it. It's a conundrum, to be sure. Still, I need to do a bit more of this it would appear.  Mainly...

Guest Post – Angus Woodward and His Writing Space

Who are you?

I thought you knew who I was. I'm Angus Woodward. Medium height, medium build, medium hair, medium eyes.

Written anything?

Yes. I've written maybe seven books. One of them was a collection of short stories I wrote over a period of nineteen years, which Margaret Media published in 2008. It's called Down at the End of the River. The fourth novel I wrote is due out from Livingston Press in September. It's called Americanisation: Lessons in American Culture and Language. Most of the...

Guest Post – Heather Grace Stewart and her Writing Spaces

Under the cool shade of our gazebo, everything around me sparkles in the summer sun.

A pair of blue jays appear deep in conversation, at rest atop our backyard fence.  They're eyeing our fat orange tabby cat; perhaps discussing if he's any real threat (he's not). Their chatter, my cat's haughty meows back to them, a crow's call, the wind rustling through the leaves of these old oak trees —this is the white noise behind my poetry.

My favourite place to write,' writes Heather, 'and, when I look...