Words with Jam Competition

This from the WWJ site:

"Words with JAM
First Page Competition 2013

Our popular first page competition is back. We're looking for the most captivating first page (up to 400 words) of a story. Entries can be from a novel previously unpublished, a part written novel, or simply a first page written purely for the competition. Entries will be judged anonymously.


Prizes
1st Prize - £500
2nd Prize - £100
3rd Prize - £50.........................."

For more click here

Good luck!
Posted by Rob Innis

My Homework  by  Gerry Carton

My books stacked high full of knowledge

Pen in hand, ink ready to flow.

This is my gate way to college

But first each answer blow by blow

The first hour passes I'm off and running

Two subjects down and four to go

Maths was a breeze but French is looming

What interest to me Monsieur Latour's beau

The weight of history makes me dour

The armada sinks without a trace

My favourite program starts in an hour

I want to see it now it's a race

Dickens poses questions deep and weighty

He's not the only one with Hard Times

For inspiration I look to The Almighty

Oh no! Is that the clock's chimes?

Finally I've reached the last, it's biology

Describe an operation and leave no doubt

A flash of inspiration, I have the technology

I grab a text book and rip it's appendix out.

My Demon  by  Gerry Carton

Dark corners where monsters hide,

Shadows playing tricks with my mind.

Alone here I must bide,

In this cage of fear I'm confined.

Longing for my dad's strong arms

Wrapped around me like a safety net.

Keeping me protected from all life's harms

Telling me I no longer need to fret

But my only company is the demon

Lurking behind every curtain.

Creeping into my peripheral vision

It's coming to get me of that I'm certain.

Too scared to give in to sleep

Gotta keep watch it might swoop

But tiredness begins to creep

Like a rope of darkness closing it's loop

Morning light opens my eyes

Last nights terrors have evaporated

My world's at peace under brand new skies

My demon has packed up and departed

Comments Please

Because the Poem I read this morning was a 'work in progress'  I thought I would put it on the Blog and ask for your comments.  I particularly don't like the pace of stanza six, the metre, it seems to me, is all wrong, so comments would be very welcome.  Please comment on the rhyme scheme, but I do like random rhyme, if it's off, I don't mind and if it's repeated I don't mind.  Sometimes it grates a bit, but with out loud reading (the sort of poetry I like)  It's fun.  Here it is!

Unlock Love

 

Love is out there I know

the scribbled Graffiti tells me so.

R writes, R hearts J, forever

R asks will we be parted?  J answers.  Never

 

Some are artists, neat and tidy,

some written on Monday are crossed out on Friday.

Some psychedelic in spiralled hues

have taken Eros as their muse.

 

Lovers would give a lock of hair, a token,

a remembrance of a moment stolen,

a promise never to be broken,

secreted pledges of devotion.

 

Love, shout out loud, a declaration

embrace freedom,  emancipation.

No ties to love, a spirit free

that allows you; me; and sometimes we.

 

Why lock love to bridge and rail

love for eternity cast in goal.

With etched dates, initials riveted verse,

what pledge could possibly be worse?

 

Keys to locks dumped at sea,

love barred, is that our destiny.

What if lovers are locked in misery

and that vital key, buried at sea?

 

Cold metal hanging from a rail

chained love is always doomed to fail.

Love’s not static, it has lows and highs.

In a moment, can catch you by surprise.

 

Chained love is not for me

love isn’t bondage. It’s free

to seize at every opportunity

unchain it now for posterity.

 

©Margaret  Rowland2013  rowlandchapman@hotmail.co.uk

BLOG ACCESS

Thanks to Maureen for blog suggestions for Torrevieja writers, whether in Spain now - or not. Some good ideas for posting and getting critiques long distance as well as poem postings etc.

The mechanics of the blog have been changing as Google upgrade - so if anyone is at a loss as to how to access the blog - specifically for posting and comments, send me, Lisa, an email and will send explanation by return.

Credit for cartoon - ://tentblogger.com/why-blog/ - Why You Should Blog- 20 reasons why you should including one headed You Want to Write A Book. 

Calling all 'absent' members! While you're away in the tropical paradise of the UK or elsewhere, why not submit your work to our blog for a free critique by your fellow writers/aspiring writers in the group? In exactly the same way we do it in person, i.e. positive comments only, plus any useful feedback or ideas for getting published. The same applies to articles which are too long to read aloud. 

Are you a poet? How about post your poem/s on the blog so we can spend more time thinking about our feedback?  As you know, poetry isn't just about sound, and many of us would appreciate the opportunity to read your work again before feeling able to comment.

The question of jeopardising future publication chances shouldn't apply if the work is only on our own blog (visible therefore to members only) and is only on it for a few days at a time, in which case it hasn't been 'published' as such, just sent to friends for feedback using email. Does anyone think this is considered 'publishing'?

You can take your work off the blog any time you want.

Your (polite) responses/ideas to our esteemed chairman Lisa, please.

GREAT READS

Thanks to everyone for the book recommendations at Wednesday’s meeting. It’s always good to be introduced to writers we haven’t met before – and exciting to meet new characters with whom to engage. 


Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, are a married couple of detective writers from Sweden. They conceived and wrote a series of novels about the exploits of detectives from the Swedish Police Homicide Squad in which the character of Martin Beck was the main protagonist, plotting and researching each book together, they then wrote alternate chapters. There are 10 books in the series – available in English – the first of which, ‘Roseanna’, came out in 1965. 
No doubt due to the huge international success of Scandinavian TV dramas, Martin Beck is being revisited in the 21st Century. Last year BBC Radio 4 ran a series of 5 of the Beck stories in the Saturday Drama strand and will complete the dramatization in the Spring of 2013. Books, hardback, paperback, kindle etc are available from Amazon – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roseanna-Martin-Beck-Maj-Sjowall/dp/0007439113


Next up is Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø  -  http://jonesbo.com/ - where 9 titles (to date) are listed, together with a history of his protagonist Harry Hole. As the Literary Supplement (UK) said; ‘“Hole is all a fictional detective should be”.  Jo Nesbø’s ‘Phantom’ is the UK’s best- selling paperback this week, fighting off stiff competition from the film tie-in editions of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Life of Pi’. The novel is also No. 1 on the official Swedish paperback list this month. Books available from Amazon here; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jo-Nesbo/e/B001JOJT6C


Kate Atkinson is another prolific writer who comes highly recommended. A good current read is ‘Human Croquet’ – described on Amazon - where it is available for download and other formats – as ‘Part fairy tale, part mystery, part coming-of-age novel’ the book is ‘A stunning feat of imagination and storytelling, Human Croquet is rich with the disappointments and possibilities every family shares’.  




Noah Gordon’s first book came out in 1976 and was on The New York Times bestseller list for 26 weeks. ‘The Rabbi’ is the story of Michael Kind, a young rabbi who falls in love with the daughter of a Protestant minister. Since that early success, Gordon has written eight best sellers, including the Cole Trilogy, the first book of which follows Robert Jeremy Cole from his 11th century boyhood in England, through Europe to an Arab medical school in Persia, where he studies under the immortal physician Avicenna.  In 1999, the Spanish booksellers who attended the Madrid Book Fair voted ‘The Physician’ one of the ten most beloved books of all time. ‘The Physician’ is now in development for a film. Gordon’s website http://www.noahgordonbooks.com/novels.ht is a mine of information about him and his novels, including the most recent, the Spanish-set ‘The Winemaker’ described by Gordon as his ‘love letter to Spain’. 



All great reads – and if anyone has a copy of any of the above that they would be happy to lend to the group – ‘twould be much appreciated I am sure. See you on Wednesday.  Lisa.