Leaping into 2012 Haiku

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

It's going to be a leap year.

I'm facinated by those born on 29th February and what it must be like.
I'd like to thank my lovely husband for all his invaluable support over the past year.

To round off 2011, I had 2 pieces of wonderful news.

First, Scifihaiku have accepted 4 of my haiku for their 2013 publication/ website. Yes they are searching that far in advance!

I'm delighted, though having to wait that long will be a challenge.

It's an illustrated quarterly magazine that publishes scifaiku, haibun, senryu and tanka plus articles about these and other poetic art forms.
Do check it out.

These ones didn't make the grade, so I can share them with you:

When dogged by Pluto All the planets join forces Celestial Clique Madeleine Maddocks

They live among us The stereotypes abound Alien Features? Madeleine Maddocks

Second, I won an unexpected blog prize at Maria Zannini's DIY Christmas blog with Carina Press: Rulebreaker, plus some smoked salmon!

Meanwhile poor hubster (mentioned above) has a bad cold and throat. It makes me ill just thinking about it!

I hope your New Year starts off with a happy buzz too.

Will you be celebrating or treating it like any other day?

Merry Christmas 2011

Thank you

to all my fabulous 500 + subscribers

Thanks for all the lovely comments

and all those who have taken part in my blogfests


and all those who have hosted great Blogfests for me to add my voice in.

and all the lovely blog awards

To Cherie Reich; Kate Walker,  Maria Zannini for my lovely blog prizes.

To Denise and Francine at RFW for all my winning challenge badges

and Madeleine Kane for all those honorary Limerick mentions.

To Ellie Garrett and Tony & Margo Benson for some wonderful chats
about books and blogging over lunch and coffee.

If I haven't mentioned you specifically due to brain fog, rest assured, you are also very much appreciated.

 

I wish you all a marvellous, happy and loving Christmas

and a New Year full of wonderful prospects.

Haiku Challenge #2 Cold

Write your own Haiku

in the comments below.
There's no limit on how many haiku you can write for this challenge, so what are you waiting for...?

What does Cold conjure for you?

Last week's winner was so hard to choose between those excellent entries: 

Goes to Misha Gericke Well Done!

Honorary mentions: Sara and Trisha

If you're not sure of the rules for writing Haiku,
check out the link

Maybe haiku turn you cold?

Winter Haiku Challenge

Write your own Winter Haiku

in the comments below.

What does Winter conjure for you?

Olive Tree has taken part here


Next week's theme: Cold

Snatching Moments & Limericks

Hi all, It's been crazy busy here at Maddocks Mansions, but  I promise to get round to answering those of you who have commented on my most recent posts and reading your posts soon.

In the meantime, here's some more Limericks.

Ms. Kane sets the first line of the limerick each week and the rest is up to you:

A gal who was frequently prone To chatting for hours on the phone Heard her hubby complain (Though his words were in vain) That she’d likely end up all alone.	A guy who was frequently prone Lay face down in the mud all alone He’d gone clubbing that night Now he looked quite a sight And the smell clearly wasn’t cologne
A guy who was frequently prone To pronounce "You shall reap what I've sown" Married several times over Though naught were in clover Has got plenty of time to bemoan.	A gal who was frequently prone To fondle her husband’s trombone, Gave the slide a quick lick, Then, as a deft little trick, Played the mouthpiece to make hubby groan. Sorry slightly risque one
A man was attempting to eat As he tried to get up from his seat His plate contents fell And he shouted ‘Oh hell!’ As he stood with his food on his feet.	A gal was attempting to eat An entire menu complete. She progressed from the fish To the main menu dish With her eye on the most tempting treat.

This week's prompt: A man/gal who was terribly high 

Can you add the rest? Hop over to Mad Kane's Blog and have a go. (Link above)

A gal who was terribly high

Gazed blearily out through one eye.

She blinked once or twice

And then in a trice

Injected more coke in her thigh

Insecure Writer's December and Malice Haiku #3

My thanks to Alex J Cavanaugh for hosting this monthly blog hop. I often lose my writing mojo and feel utterly defeated, especially when I get rejections, but I realise that if I give myself some quality time that inspires my creativity, relaxation and contentment it will return.
Of course positive feedback also helps salve my writing soul. 
The most important advice I've heard from successful authors is to believe in yourself; believe in your writing; stay determined; read widely, read and read some more.

 

How do you keep up your writing confidence?

My Blogfest Entry

So did you guess my Absence / Absinthe cliché pun punchline and its relation to the title?

Liberally sprinkle your entries with well placed clichés
Or make it the twist on the punch line to your story.

Don't forget to check out the other entries
AND VOTE IN THE SIDEBAR POLL.

1.	Donna Hole	5.	Elaine AM Smith	9.	The Golden Eagle
2.	Old Kitty	6.	Patsy
3.	L' Aussie	7.	Madeleine Begun Kane
4.	Karla	8.	Madeleine

What's a cliche? BLOGFEST

Should we eliminate clichés from our writing, because they are
                   Tired?

          Hackneyed?

                     Stale?

Here's your chance to use a cliché or set of clichés in a humourous or witty way. Make it the punchline of your piece or liberally sprinkle the piece with them.

They say there's no such thing as an original idea. In other words it's been thought of before, but you can put an original spin on a tired, hackneyed or stale idiom and make it your own.
Liberally sprinkle your entries with well placed clichés or make them the twist to your tale.

Make it the twist on the punch line to your story. Or make it a witty observation: e.g. Rachel's Holiday by Marion Keyes (1997) He kept touching his hair, which, as well as being dyed to within an inch of its life, was blow dried flicked and rigid with spray.

You may choose whichever idiom you like, such as 'The cat that got the cream'; 'As cool as a cucumber'; 'As good as gold', 'Kick the bucket'. Max 400 words for Flash Fiction.

WHO WILL BE VOTED THE BEST?

SIGN UP TO THE LINKY BELOW AND POST TODAY 5th decemeber, which is also Karla's Birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Karla

1.	Donna Hole	5.	Elaine AM Smith	9.	The Golden Eagle
2.	Old Kitty	6.	Patsy
3.	L' Aussie	7.	Madeleine Begun Kane
4.	Karla	8.	Madeleine

A Positive Rejection

I scheduled this post for this morning only to find when i checked that it was empty, so I'm trying again!

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Positive Rejection by Madeleine Maddocks

Sent to a magazine
By way of competition.
My short story, a piece of fiction.

My fingers crossed, as my toes were too,
And my breath was bated
As I waited and waited.

When the email arrived
It made quite clear
They liked my story, which was fantastic to hear

Though it failed to fit their particular theme,
They seemed keen to see
more of my prose, to them from me.

Have you had positive rejections?