Tuesday 22 November 2011

I'm ba-ck.... Wow... what a whirlwind three weeks of writing...

Hello... long time no see.  I’ve been very, very busy though, on my new site, which I just love, its called Hubpages, a place where writers, artists and photographers share their work.  I’ve met some great people there, and in less than two weeks, amassed a following of 60.  I was fortunate enough to get noticed on the first day, a short comedic piece I wrote about the clocks going back, proving to be popular after a very kind person linked it to Facebook and suchlike that got the attention of published writers, who have left some really nice fan mail and comments. 

I joined this site near the very beginning of something called the ‘Patron of the Arts Contest’, the prize being published as an ebook and supported by Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Sony etc, as well as various cash prizes too.  It ran all month, until today the 22nd, and so I was busy not just with writing short stores and poetry, but digging into my photo collections, mostly around Italy, and shocked myself to death that I might actually be a really good photographer; seeing some of these images almost for the first time, but more, the comments of others about them.   It was also great to write little pieces about them and make sense of them, as well as sharing them, gives them more purpose somehow, and not to mention the memories they evoked.  I remember now, that I would’ve loved to be a photographer. 

But what a whirlwind it’s been, I’ve entered so many things, and now we wait until the 2nd December for the results.  I feel a bit lost though, the sense of urgency over now, but I can get back to my real life, back to making entries here too, back to remembering I have a dog that might need some attention, cooking real meals even, watch a movie or even the TV.  

Oh yes, I already won a cash prize for an entry that I named ‘Underage Spanish Dwarf’, a true story believe or not, but that was such a lovely surprise given that it was my first entry into the competition.   I’m not permitted to display any of my work anywhere else, but you can take a tour around by clicking on the link to the right: Hubs by Ercolano – that’s my name there, or just click the link here.

All in all, this competition really got my artistic sensibilities thrown into action like they haven’t for a while, and I think I’ve emerged, even after two weeks, rushing about as I needed to, a much better writer and with a realisation that it might not be too late to actually take photography seriously as well.

Finally, amidst all of this, I’ve been invited to write a piece for an airline magazine – depending on the concept and the quality of course.  Now that, for me, as an intrepid traveller my entire life, would be the frigging icing on the cake.  Can you imagine, a story of mine being read by thousands upon thousands of people flying all over the world?  The editor (my new best friend) said that she loves my creative writing style; I just have to come up with a great idea and a concept that would fit into their new rubric for out of the box short stories that each passenger can somehow translate into their own lives, that the airline now require.  I’ve already come up with one, tested it out on a few people even but I am going to take weeks to write the story itself, around 1750 words, rewrite it and rewrite it some more.  Hell, I’d even buy a ticket to be able to see something of mine in the pocket of the seat in front of me.  What a trip!

(Ps, check my medley, and I mean medley, serious, nonsensical and photographic) of work out on Hubpages, and you don't have to be a member to leave a comment either).