Competition News

August 13, 2012
My fingers are still crossed for the competitions in which my work is shortlisted, but I've had news of another competition.
Earlier this year, one of my poems, 'Masters of the Air', came fifth in the Mary Charman-Smith competition, and another, 'DNA', was shortlisted.  The good news is that Mary Charman-Smith is holding another competition for unpublished poetry up to a maximum of 45 lines excluding the title.  The closing date is 15th November 2012, so there's plenty of time to send in your work.  With prizes of £100 for the winner and £25 for the runner-up, it's well worth entering.  All the details are available at www.marycharmansmith.co.uk/competition2.html.
Good luck!
 

Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions 

 

Poets Prepare!

August 6, 2012
If there are a few typos in this post, it's probably because I'm trying to write it with my fingers crossed.  I have three entries short-listed in separate competitions, and I'm on tenterhooks waiting for the results.  Of course, none of them might progress further, but if Andy Murray can win a gold medal, then anything's possible.  (Go Andy!)  If they don't, being short-listed is no dishonour, and at least I've taken part.
Last year, I entered the Salopian Poetry Society's annual open compet...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions 

 

Simply Relax

July 29, 2012
It worked! (sort of)  The dull tasks I tackled last week in hopes of gaining inspiration didn't produce any flashes of genius, but they were useful in themselves, and I felt virtuous enough afterwards to grant myself leave to sit in the garden a while and read.
The book I chose was one I first read many years ago, What Do I Really Want? by Lloyd Lalande (Harper Collins, 1995).  It was interesting to find out whether I felt the same way about the book after such a long period.  I have to say t...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

Umm...

July 22, 2012
Here I sit, fingers on keyboard wondering what to write about. The sad fact is that I can't think of anything, except what to do when you can't think of anything to write.  Some people hold that you should keep plugging away, writing anything that comes into your head even if it's rubbish, and eventually something usable will occur to you.  It can work, but today it hasn't, so I'm going to put the other theory to the test.  Instead of trying to force the words to come, I'm going to walk away ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

In the Picture

July 16, 2012
I've recently returned from Barcelona.  I had a great time doing touristy things–visiting the Sagrada Familia, going on the telerifico de Montjuic cable car, roaming around Parc Güell, strolling down La Ramblas etc.  There was one touristy thing, however, that I didn't do.  I didn't insist on someone taking a photo of me every time I set foot in a new place.
Some people not only have their picture taken, they preen and pose as if they're on a glamour shoot.  All they appear to be intereste...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Lightning Strikes Twice

July 1, 2012
I was thrilled this week to learn that my mini-story, 'Plucked from Obscurity', has been chosen for inclusion in the Best of The Binnacle's Ultra-Short Competition 2012 anthology. The annual competition calls for submissions of prose or poetry up to 150 words. There were around 825 entries this year, so I feel honoured to have made it to the anthology, especially as the form of the publication is so innovative.
One of my pieces, 'The Case of the Geometric Pattern', appeared in the seventh com...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions 

 

More Food for Thought

June 25, 2012
My trip to Royal & Derngate theatre last week was interesting, if not unalloyed joy.  I saw Federico García Lorca's Blood Wedding, which was the second production in the theatre's Festival of Chaos. The production used the same cast as The Bacchae and played up the drama's similarities to Greek tragedy with a chorus, violence in the wilderness, female control etc. 
I'm glad I went, but it was patchy–in the word's of the friend who went with me "over-produced".  The attempts to give the pla...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews 

 

Problems? Opportunities!

June 17, 2012
This week I went to see Royal & Derngate's production of Euripides' The Bacchae, which is part of the theatre's Festival of Chaos. It was an innovative production, not least because of the way it made use of the venue–the former print rooms of the Chronicle & Echo, by setting the play in an underground car park. I don't know whether the adaptation was written to suit the venue or whether the venue was chosen to suit the adaptation, but it proved that it's possible to perform drama anywhere....
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

The Fruits of Success

June 13, 2012
June has been encouraging so far. My story, 'The Adult Prodigy', has been accepted for Nameless magazine; I've had the proofs of 'Heavy Air' for the Bridge House anthology, so that should be out soon; one of my poems, 'Masters of the Air', came fifth in Mary Charman-Smith's competition and another, 'DNA', was shortlisted. I say all this not just to show off, but because it reminded me that sometimes competitions have prize-giving events, and while these are fun, they can also be nerve-wrackin...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions 

 

Puppy Diary

June 5, 2012
Yesterday was Harry and Sophie, our bichons', fifth birthday. They are such a huge part in my life, that now seems like the ideal time to look back at when they first came to live with my husband and me. (Before anyone coming to this blog looking for writing tips turns away in disgust, there is a writing angle to my reminiscences.)
From the first moment that we brought Harry and Sophie home, I decided to keep a puppy diary of all their funny ways, their personalities, the mischief they get up...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 
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About Me


My writing career began as a freelance feature writer for the local press, businesses and organisations. Now a prize-winning playwright and short story writer, my work has appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic. I write as K. S. Dearsley because it saves having to keep repeating my forename, and specialise in fantasy and other speculative genres.

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