My Story

I am still writing van Havien's story, but it's hit a slight snag in that I've been procrastinating with practically everything physically possible at present. However, I've just posted the first part of "My Story" over on the Siege Works blog, if you wanted to read it.

It may be a story, or it may be true. You never really know.

Cloudy

This one's for Alice, who's been a bit under the weather lately:

Cloudy

Mets Kohas

Yes, for some reason I'm still taking Juhan Liiv's poems and re-writing them as English sonnets.

No, I don't think this is a good idea.

I'm enjoying myself, though.

This one is a Spencerian Sonnet. It's the first sonnet I've written in Spencerian rhyme structure, so that was fun:

Mets Kohas

Kaks Ilma

Whose stupid idea was it to re-write Juhan Liiv poems as sonnets, anyway?

Oh, wait...

Never mind.

Kaks Ilma

She Waits

Another sonnet from the dead of night.

I was up way past my bedtime and my mind was wandering all over the place. Eventually I got on to thinking about old maids, and ended up writing this thing.

I don't know why I start thinking in iambic pentameter when I'm overtired. I just do.

It's not quite a true sonnet, though, as there is no change in direction with the sextet.

Wonder Woman

This is sort of an amalgam of several women I know who fit the same description. If you think you're one of them and you want to claim it, you go right ahead.

Wonder Woman.

Then again, you may find it vaguely depressing, so perhaps you shouldn't read it.

Tallinn on my Mind

And, once again, I've got Tallinn on my mind.

Change My Mind

Helen asked me to write a song.

Sadly, I couldn't think of a new one, but an old one decided it was time to flutter into my head, so I pinned that one down instead.

Some months ago a country-bluesy kind of tune crept into my brain. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't think of any lyrics that belong with it, so I was happy to just hum along until I remembered where it belonged.

Unfortunately, my brain has a tendency to play with patterns, so before I could remember what the real lyrics were I started to fill up the tune with words that "flowed".

Then one thing lead to another and "Change My Mind" was the result.

The sad thing is, I'm still pretty sure that tune belongs to another song, so I don't think I can use it - but now I really can't remember what that other song is, because I keep thinking of these lyrics instead.

Whatever.

Sonnets

A couple of years back I had this scathingly brilliant idea.

I was going to write a love story about these two people who met, went their separate ways, bumped into each other a few times over the years and ended up together.

Yeah, I know, we've all seen When Harry Met Sally - but this was going to be different.

This was going to be about two people who were interested in each other from the start, but life got in the way and they followed their heads instead of their hearts.

Okay, we've probably seen a few films (not to mention read our fair share of books) with the exact same concept. But this was going to be different.

This was going to be in verse. Not only in verse, but in too-clever-by-half verse - the girl's side of the story was going to be told in sonnets, while the guy's side of the story was to be told in haikus.

Bet you haven't seen that one before, eh? Probably because it's daft.

Sonnets and haikus are lousy ways to tell stories. They are not designed for exposition. The few sonnets I wrote to actually convey the story line sucked. The haikus were slightly less terrible, but they also weren't really haikus. Oh, sure, they had the structure of a haiku, but not the soul of one.

I quickly abandoned the idea as being "stupid".

However, every now and then I suddenly feel the urge to write something that might fit. One day, some day, I just might find I've written the thing after all - one sonnet at a time.

Sonnets are one of those things that just draw me in. I just love the form. I'm particularly attached to the Shakespearean style, but I have been known to accidentally produce an Italian Sonnet (it's probably best if you don't ask how someone can accidentally write an Italian Sonnet). I haven't written a Spencerian Sonnet yet, but I'm sure it's bound to happen one day.

Anyway, the other day (yes, it was another one of those middle of the night things) I felt compelled to write a couple of sonnets. I had meant to write one Shakespearean Sonnet, but I accidentally wrote an Italian one instead, so I tried again. The second time I got the structure I was after, but the direction of the poem shifted from the original.

You can read them here if you want.

Oh, and I should probably take the opportunity to warn you: sonnets are one of those things about which you shouldn't let me start talking. They sit in the same category as Superman and the history of bicycles as "things Sharon knows too much about, and insists on sharing..."

The Caretaker

Well, I've finally gotten around to putting something new on my Siege Works blog. It's a short story I started writing ages ago, but was distracted before finishing the last few paragraphs.

It's now finished and up for all the world to see.

The Caretaker is a ghost story. It's not a particularly scary ghost story, but it's a story about ghosts, and that makes it a ghost story.

Well, technically, it's a story about people living with ghosts.

Ah, I can't be bothered trying to explain it, just go over to the blog and read the darn thing.

Eglantine's End

I finally got around to putting up the last "chapter" of Eglantine over on my Siege Works blog.

Does it end happily? Does Hal survive the monsters and dragons? Does Eglantine get to stay pretty? Does anyone truly care if she doesn't? And, if Eglantine comes back, what will happen to Ruby?

To find the answers to these questions (and more), check out Part 7 of Eglantine. It's shorter than some of the other chapters, but that just makes it quicker to read...