Dublin, project 2 and guilty pleasures.

Morning folks – as you know, last week I viewed my poem ‘Jutt’ on the Polesworth Poetry Trail and I can honestly say I was delighted by the reaction from my friends. So much so, I actually brought one dear friend up-to-date with what I’ve been doing for the last seventeen years. Shocked and surprised doesn’t equate – but honestly it felt good to include others in my writing journey. Though, I’ll delay my announcement to the masses.

Last Sunday was my birthday – which was a lovely day spent at home with hubby. I had some beautiful presents and many moments of indulgence throughout the day. The fun began on Monday when I set off for a three day to Dublin, Ireland. I’d booked the trip months ago as a reward for how hard I’ve worked at the day job recently. Anyway, I took full advantage of the three days by visiting the wealth of literary culture contained within one city. I visited the Writers’ Museum, which honours the work of Joyce, Shaw, Wilde and Beckett. The museum is tiny but I’m sure it is the beginning of something great. For a further insight take a look at www.writersmuseum.com.

I went on several tours of the city, where the details of James Joyce’s life were pointed out, from the house near Ha’Penny bridge, where his aunts lived, the hotel where he met chambermaid Nora Barnacle and his statue in

Earl Street

. The National Museum displayed many drawings and sketches of the surrounding area on which Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’ is based.

I sat in The Temple Bar, with a pint of Guinness, on two afternoons planning the plot line of my next novel. It felt so good to be writing from scratch, using the imagination to bring my chosen characters to life. I have arrived home with the first four chapters in note form ready and waiting for the magic to occur – fingers crossed, today.

Guilty pleasures come in many forms, and I have to say, whilst in Dublin I took full advantage to indulge in an Agatha Christie book. I do, I really love reading her crime novels, which takes me back to my teenage years - I’m sad to say it has been too long since I bought one.

I left Dublin batteries recharged and inspiration tanks fully topped up promising that I shall return soon, hopefully next April.

Since being home, I have typed up five poems that I’d drafted on my Ipad, written two poems dedicated to memories and have begun drafting a short story for a competition in Writing Magazine. The plan for today, apart from a long trek with the dog, is to begin drafting chapter one from my notes made in Dublin – yay, a new project gets underway.  

Regards ‘typing up’ my work I always number each piece depending upon the genre; novel, short story or poetry. I don’t use a complicated system but a simple spread sheet giving the title, the date created, submission details and outcome. It is a simple way of keeping track of where my work has been sent and the results. It also provides plenty of surprise, one being that I have written 86 poems – when I keep saying ‘I ‘m not a poet’, hummmm, I think I may have to drop that line from my repertoire.

I haven’t heard from agents in relation to ‘Her’ or the ‘Shoe’ poems – so, no news is good news. So, I’ll sit patiently in the waiting room of the publishing houses.

Before I go, I need to do a huge shout out to the visitors from around the world – so many of you return each week for my up-dates. I am quite humbled each time I view the stats.

O.K. enough from me, remember you can also follow me on Twitter by searching odwyer_author for regular or rather erratic updates on my work. Enjoy!