Poetry and Prose Round-up: Winter Warmers

Good news! It’s nearly spring!

Oh OK, I might be getting ahead of myself, but Vai Chin at Rambling Through Parenthood thought she spotted the first signs and I’m clinging to the hope that she’s right. I either want winter to cough up some decent, exciting snow or just bid a graceful retreat sharpish.

Bearing in mind that this is a traditional time for the winter blues, I’ve decided to harness positivity for this month’s round up. Luckily, inspiration was easy to find with Victoria’s poem ‘Simplicity‘ about feeling the fear and ‘going for it’, a sentiment that was also echoed by Catching The Magic’s ‘Pep Talk‘. I also loved Aimee’s post entitled ‘Just Do It‘, which encourages us to seize the day and pursue our literary dreams!

Positivity was also apparent in some great creative pieces such as Morgan’s poem ‘Finding Me‘ and Collecting Moments’ poem about the possibilities a new day brings. My Words On A Page shared a piece of flash fiction about new beginnings and Antonia at 38to39 wrote an utterly gripping story on the theme of hopes (and fears) – I can’t wait to read the next instalment!

There was plenty of work that simply made me smile as I read it, such as Bottle For Two‘s poem about her adorable, much-longed-for baby, and Lisa’s Life‘s short piece about some very good news. Sara’s lovely poem about family also reminded me of what I have to be thankful for. Pieces like this are perfect for this time of year – kind of like wrapping yourself up in a cuddly blanket, I think.

And once you’re wrapped in that blanket, what could be better good laugh? So I was pleased to discover Tea Cup Toria‘s hilarious poem on explaining twerking to her nine year old son (the image her words painted has stayed with me – tee hee!). Carol’s poem about that mum on the school run – you know the one – also made me laugh, as did Natalie’s story about a familiar situation in an alternative universe – I wish I had the skill her protagonist does! Uncheshire Wife also wrote a fab poem – There Goes The Bride – with a laugh-out-loud ending.

In case you need a further positivity-boost, I also want to mention Rachael at Honest Speaks’ I Dream of Tangerines (see if you can guess why it makes me chuckle… although you might have to read my post about getting over rejection to understand!) and Sarah Miles’ When Nobody’s Looking – a love poem. Thoroughly recommended.

I’m hoping this positivity and creativity inspires you too – and if it does, remember to check out Prose for Thought over at Verily Victoria Vocalises, which is the perfect place to link up poetry, short stories and flash fiction. Friday Fiction at Nikki Young Writes is is also great for sharing stories or extracts of longer work and getting feedback. And whatever you’re writing about, I’d love to hear how it’s going over at What I’m Writing – a linky I co-host on Tuesdays with Chrissie from Muddled Manuscript. We’re thrilled to have developed a supportive group of linkers who chat about the ups and downs of writing, editing, blogging… and biscuits. It’s like having a coffee with friends; what better way to chase away winter blues?!

If you’re thinking about submitting your creative pieces for publication (go on, what have you got to lose?) you might like to visit Paper Swans, who are currently looking for poetry and flash fiction for an up-coming anthology on School Days, 1000 Words which publishes flash fiction based on images, and Mother’s Milk Books who have more submission opportunities in the pipeline for this year.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this round up – as usual there was far too much fab stuff out there for me to even to begin to mention it all! I leave you in Victoria’s capable hands for next month’s round up and I’ll be back in April – which is definitely spring!

About Maddy Bennett

Maddy lives on a windy hillside in beautiful Northumberland with her husband and three young children. Between school runs (and when the toddler can be distracted with a biscuit) she writes flash fiction, short stories and poetry, much of which you can find on her blog Writing Bubble. From there, she also hosts 'What I'm Writing', a supportive linky for writers, poets and bloggers. She has a particular fondness for limericks – the sillier the better – and has been published by Iron Press. She is currently writing picture books and (very slowly) working on her first novel.

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