May

I'm a bit slow starting this month because my father-in-law died. I wrote a poem for the occasion.

His Voice

No star shone bright as his face when he sang
in the front row of Swansea’s Male voice Choir.
No voice was ever raised or ever rang
so true and honest, nor with such desire
always to speak the truth but speak it kind
for he never spoke ill of anyone.

His voice was reason and his counsel wise.
He lived his life with laughter in his eyes
no side, no hidden motives, no disguise
that was the true stature of the man
and why his voice will never lose its power
for those who gather now to say Nostar.

(Nostar is Welsh for goodnight.)

Short Story Library Anthology 2008

http://shortstory.us.com/2009/04/readme-publishingreleases-ssl-best-of-2008-anthology/

Please follow the link

Please buy the anthology

The collection was edited by Casey Quinn and written by:
Derek Eyring, Emily-Jo Hopson, Melonie Magruder, Jennifer Walmsley, Usiku, Michael Lee Johnson, Adam Jeffries Schwartz, The Faerie Kat, Roger Young, Daryl Baldwin, Paul Harris, John Yamrus, Oonah V Joslin, Jennifer Sturch, James Mulhern, Joshua Scribner, Nick Allen, Nathaniel Tower, Christopher S. Silva, Jo Orbell, A’keith Walters, Deidre Woollard

April Rations

The title says it all about this blog spot entry for EDF http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/sometimes-life-gives-you-a-kick-up-the-backside/#comments

Spring Uplift is at BwS this week and a response to the questions Don posed about Not His Last Duchess - just to show I occasionally think about what I write. ;)
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue331/springs_uplift.html
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue331/ch330resp_duchess.html

The Pygmy Giant has just published an etheree inspired by my niece, Seren. It's called
Hide 'n- http://thepygmygiant.wordpress.com/ The Wonderful World of Woolworth
will also be appearing there soon. Watch this space, as they say...
http://thepygmygiant.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/the-wonderful-world-of-woolworths/

I say rations because I have not been submitting much and so this month's offerings are small but we begin with Micro Horror and my flash Patterns for Life
http://www.microhorror.com/microhorror/author/oonah-v-joslin/patterns-for-life/
I hated that wallpaper with the roses on... I hate wallpaper in general. My walls are plain. In any pattern there are always faces...

And in Static Movement, Closet Key. Sometimes a single event sparks the crisis and there's no going back...
http://staticmovement.com/closetkey.htm
This was one I revised and revised!

In case you missed it, this came at the vwery end of March: Brand New is my first piece in Clockwise Cat http://clockwisecat.blogspot.com/2009/02/brand-new-by-oonah-v-joslin.html There will be another at a future date.

and Not His Last Duchesss made it into the BwS Quarterly Review - my 6th in a row! I assure you that is no mean feat. The editors there runa tight ship and I am so honoured to have been chosen so many times.
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue330/last_duchess.html

Micro Horror Delivers

You hear of sites that offer prizes, and sometimes the prize doesn't materialise. I have had two unique prizes from Micro Horror, each of which was accompanied by a hand written letter from Black Nate himself!

They are treasures beyond the dreams of avarice for me, who never thought to be published at all and never thought I'd write h o r r o r :)

March

Brand New is my first piece in Clockwise Cat
http://clockwisecat.blogspot.com/2009/02/brand-new-by-oonah-v-joslin.html

FOCUS at EDF http://www.everydayfiction.com/focus-by-oonah-v-joslin/ and I have to say, this is perhaps my favourite story of mine :) Go on - take a break ;)

Not His Last Duchess if you like people watching,and Robert Browning, you'll like this:
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue330/last_duchess.html

Full Flavour at Bewildering Stories, is not just a poem - it gives you a useful address to visit in Barcelona - believe me, you've never tasted chocolate :) http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue329/full_flavour.html

3 poems in The Ranfurly Review
http://www.ranfurly-review.co.uk/issues/The_Ranfurly_Review_Issue_6.pdf
Touching a Legend
Spring Chant
Exploring Parts of the Impossible

Two stories in Doorknobs&Bodypaint Issue 53
No Serenade
The Sweet Smell of
http://www.iceflow.com/doorknobs/DOORBODY2.html
my friend John Ritchie has two there as well this months :)

Post Post Mortem at Micro Horror this month reaches, I think, my upper limit on the gory story. But you never know ;) http://www.microhorror.com/microhorror/category/author/oonah-v-joslin/

Random Harvest? http://www.bostonliterarymagazine.com/fall08drabble.html#fall08universal.html

EDF will be publishing Focus later this month - I'll post the url when it's up, and there should be several others to come so keep coming back, please.

Also don't forget to check out Every Day Poets. We have some great poems over there this month - one a day - every day - a poetic tonic you can't afford to miss.

Leonard Cohen at MEN Arena

I was delighted to find I'd been quoted as a fan review on this site. My praise was barely enough but I am pleased it was communicated to a wider audience. Thank you.

http://www.webheights.net/speakingcohen/tourrevf12.html

Special Links

My Technopolymorph picture is done. This is the prize for 2008. I know this sounds crazy but it'll fit lovely in my living room. You can see it at http://www.microhorror.com/microhorror/microhorror/news-presenting-the-2008-contest-illustrations/#comment-5232

Also WriteWords pal NickAllen and I have a story each there just now. Mine is called A Whisper in the Dark his is Nightshift right beside one another. http://www.microhorror.com/microhorror/author/nick-allen/nightshift/

And maybe you'd like to pop over and read the first installment Nick Ozment's book at http://knighterrors.blogspot.com/ It's very entertaining :)

Also Nik Perring's story An Unhappy Man has been nominated for the month's best at Six Sentences. If you like it he'd really appreciate your votes. Obviously! Here's the link: http://sixofthemonthjan09.blogspot.com/

Are all my friends called Nick? Well, better the devil you know... ;)