I have no idea. I am terrible at waiting. I pace and clock watch, tap and huff. I loathe being at the mercy of someone else. I am very much in limbo at the moment. The shortlist for Primers has not emerged, I’m waiting for my first assignment from The Poetry School, and the flow of work from my favourite copy-writing agency has stemmed a little.
I’m terrible at waiting, but I can make decent Yorkshire Puddings.
The only one of these things I’ve been able to anything about is the paid work, and I’ve found a few straightforward online spots that post plenty of jobs to tide me over. It isn’t as satisfying as working on the more in-depth articles,but at least I get that feeling of value that “working” gives.
Regarding the creative side, well, I’ve just got to wait. I seem to have got my brain in to a loop, where it won’t start any new work until I know how I’ve done with my submission. I think I’m looking for either reassurance that I’m on the right track, or some indication that I need to do things differently. Of course, if I’m not selected, it doesn’t necessarily mean that, it just means my work isn’t quite right for this publisher. I’d still like to know though.
Health is creeping back up. It’s been hard getting over all the fun of August, and as ever I’ve made the mistake of pushing too hard. I’m not sure I’ll ever learn or allow myself not to. Winter gloom has threatened, but has been chased off by doing that age old thing of telling people who know and care. I have learnt that at least.
Not a great deal of news. I may go and make some soup to take my mind off all the pending possibilities.
Kathryn is a writer based in Shropshire. She writes short fiction, flash fiction and poetry. She has no formal education in creative writing but she reads every poetry book she can get her hands on, and enjoys various online writing groups and courses.
Kathryn has M.E., which brings its own challenges to her working practice, and means she has to monitor her activity with great care. Despite the frustration of these limitations she has reached her goal of having work published, thanks to support from Nine Arches Press Dynamo mentoring scheme.
Kathryn has work published or forthcoming in print magazines like Mslexia, Popshot Quarterly and The Dawntreader and online in places like Words for the Wild, Nine Muses Poetry, Sledgehammer and Riggwelter Press. She was longlisted for the 2019 Fish prize for short fiction, and Paper Swans Press single poem prize in 2020.
Kathryn is a columnist for Spelt Magazine, and has recently been awarded a micro bursary from Raven Studios in Shrewsbury to work on a new pamphlet. She also accepts private commissions under the moniker Poems from the Hare.
When her health allows, Kathryn works as a freelance copywriter and can write confidently across a range of subjects, including travel, food, literature, hospitality and customer service. In addition to these core topics, excellent research skills means she can tackle subjects as diverse as muscle cars and dog training. She takes on proofreading and editing work as requested. You can find out more at her business site
https://thewordemporium.wordpress.com/
Kathryn loves language and its persuasive power. Most of all she loves to write.
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Kathryn Anna Marshall 