Good morning everyone and hope you’re having a wonderful summer!

It’s been a busy time over the past few weeks with family holidays, birthdays, events and trying to enjoy the sunshine – well, when it appears. This is Scotland, after all…

Anyway – I digress. As well as being busy with family commitments, I have been writing lots of query letters to literary agents and independent publishers in an effort to secure a publisher for my forthcoming novel, Ethersay. Hopefully more about this soon, but for now, watch this space…

Some writers are able to move from one novel and straight onto the next with little difficulty. Unfortunately, I have found that I am not one of those novelists. Whenever I reach this stage with a book, where it is finished, the manuscript is edited, honed and being touted around the publishing world, I find it difficult to start my next project – I suppose you could call it a book hangover, of sorts.

I used to find this frustrating but, thankfully I’ve learned now to put this lull to good use. Big projects might be off the table (for now), but a time like this is a good opportunity to reflect and to explore, and to create smaller pieces. So, over the last few weeks I have focused on pulling together ideas for future books (and there are plenty of them; indeed, where do I begin?!) as well as working on some short stories, many of which I have submitted for competitions and anthologies.

I have also been writing some poetry which was a surprise even to me! Since so much of my focus over recent years has been on prose, I thought I had forgotten how to write a poem. Today I thought I would share with you a piece I wrote this week. It was inspired by a prompt provided at my writers’ group, which was to write about the day of the week as though they are people. Originally I had intended to write a prose piece for this but a poem just seemed to fit better, somehow. I am pretty pleased with it, and it is this sort of pleasant surprise which is one of the many reasons why I love going to a writers’ group. If you’re a writer too, please, please look up your local group and consider joining – a good writers’ group can provide so much support and inspiration, as well as friendship and fun. I really cannot recommend them enough.

Anyway, here is my piece – I hope you enjoy it.

If the Days of the Week were People…

Monday – he’s the guy who likes to grumble,
The reluctant one, likely to stumble
Over his own two feet
Like the drunk who’s ready to greet
At his own misfortune.
Well, it is the start of the week.

Tuesday – she’s feeling a bit better,
She’s found her rhythm now, and if you met her
In the street, you’d see a smile
That’s been hidden for a while
(For twenty-four hours at least).
Well, there are only four days left in the week.

Wednesday – he’s all about feng shui,
Balance, equilibrium, he knows it’s better that way;
Like the Zen-master filled with peace
This guy will never cease
To relish his happy medium.
Well, it is the middle of the week.

Thursday – she’s the lady who likes to hope,
The optimistic one, never likely to mope,
To grumble or to complain.
She knows there’s so much to gain
Because she’s almost there:
It is almost the end of the week.

Friday – he’s the one who’s giving it laldy,
Well, what else should he and his pals dae?
Beers, parties, having fun –
He looks back on his week and knows he’s won!
He’s made it this far and he’s going to enjoy it:
After all, it is the end of the week.

Saturday – yawn, she wishes she was tougher,
Friday went on too long and now she’ll suffer.
Snuggled down in her blankets she tries to sleep
But all her efforts at counting sheep
Are thwarted – damn week-day body clock, go away!
After all, it is a weekend day.

Sunday – he’s as wholesome as a roast beef dinner,
Naps, television, gentle strolls – he’s onto a winner.
Refreshed and recovered from the week’s traumas,
He’s the guy who will never bore us.
Although when evening comes we begin to fear:
We know that the start of another week is here.