Haikus for Boris the Feral Cat – in honour of National Black Cat Day

Since it is National Black Cat Day, I thought that I would re-blog this post relating the story of a plucky feral cat we named Boris. He has overcome so much and is now a loving and talkative feline that loves to play and be cuddled.

About a year ago a black feral tomcat came into our garden and decided to stay. He would come and go and catch the rats that plagued us. So, to thank him we began to give him some food. Winter came along and he shivered in the cold. We built him a kennel and he kept as warm as he could. Gradually over the months he became quite friendly and allowed us to pet him. One day he didn’t turn up. Not that unusual, especially in the warmer months, he would go off for a few days at a time, return famished and sleep for a while before going away again. This time he was missing for a week. Then we saw him squatting by the place we fed him. He stood and limped over to us. He had been in a terrible accident. His back legs were badly injured, one was very swollen and his tail had been stripped of all its fur.

                    

He was thin and clearly in a lot of pain. We nursed him as best we could and gradually he recovered. During the course of his recovery, he became the most loving and affectionate cat I have ever known. Now, Boris, as we called him, is our shadow and follows us everywhere when we go outside. He is so adorable and very talkative. He loves to be cuddled and plays with various toys our other cats have long forgotten about. He will never be able to join us indoors, because we have several other felines that would object strongly, but he is welcome to be our outside cat and we will continue to make sure he is warm and well fed. To celebrate his return to health, I decided to do some slow synch flash photographs of Boris at play, and write some Haikus to go along with the pictures. I have fiddled with the photographs to try and make them look more like paintings or pastel art works.

So, here’s to Boris. One hell of a cat!!

From out of the blue

Whiskers and claws, swipe at the

Mouse unused to play

Feral leaves, feral

Cat, both fall and tumble in

Autumn’s blustering

Beyond the greyness

Red. A slash of hue amidst

The colourless day

They become circle

For one brief moment and then

Split like a seedpod

He wanders solo

Shrugging off the shoulder ghost

His Doppelganger

Half in the picture

Long white nails scratch at the air

Summer leaves behind  

Happy National Black Cat Day to Boris and all the other black cats in the world!!

     

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Book Launch and Paperback Giveaway

A Silence Heard – the second book in The Song of Forgetfulness series – is out now!

 

A Silence Heard continues the quest of Adara and her friends to save her brother Deogol, and all the missing Meeks. 

Adara’s struggle to save her kin becomes a desperate battle of life and death, as Agros send in their army of cloned killers to destroy the insurgents who are moving ever closer. Adara is forced to use her voice again and again, to try and stop the Agros from winning the war, but each time she does, a part of her dies.

As filthy battles ensue and loved ones perish, Adara must sing The Song of Forgetfulness one last time if she is to save not only the Meeks, but all the folk of NotsoGreatBritAlbion, from a life of slavery and despair.

 

To celebrate its launch, I am giving away one signed paperback copy. To be in with a chance to win, all you have to do is Like/comment on this post or the post on my Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/thesongofforgetfulness?ref=hl

Or go to my website and email me direct (your contact details will not be shared): http://www.thesongofforgetfulness.com/

 

As a taster here are some quotes from the book alongside some of my experimental light paintings.

 

Out from the unlitness, a face appeared.

Then another, and another, and another.

As light filled the cubicles we saw more and more young ’uns and bubs alike, staring back at us.

Their hands pressed upon the panes.

Their eyes wide, their mouths open.

 

This time I summoned up a nasty. A venom filled noise that let them hear what I had seen up in the secret room of the pyramid. An aural image of slaughter, fear and hate.

 

They wore black peaked hats and below the brim identical round black-eyed faces looked out. In each cloned hand was a black stick-like weapon.

They stood still as a forest.

 

The lights flickered and I swear at that moment the world took a deeply breath.

“Song of Forgetfulness is dystopian done right…I do appreciate a masterpiece when it comes across my desk. This story is one such masterpiece, reminiscent of an Escher painting that ever draws the eye as the brain searches and seeks to map out the complexities of his art.”  Amazon review by Andi Houtsch

 A Silence Heard is available to purchase in paperback and Kindle editions, on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Heard-Song-Forgetfulness-ebook/dp/B00JMPWRX2/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399283858&sr=1-1&keywords=A+silence+heard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming soon – Glimmer

My collection of short stories Glimmer is due to be self-published shortly!

So as a taster, here are a couple of images and quotes:

Scarecrow
‘She caught her breath and ran through the sodden, rutted fields.
Stumbling and falling, she headed towards a low privet hedge at the end of an overgrown meadow.’

Earnest Thirk
‘…the mullion windows that cast a soft light upon her naked body; the thick grey smoke that curled from his Russian cigarettes.’

Editing Your Work

Ah, that word so evocative of heartache and worry – EDITING!

I am currently editing the second book in a series, and it is hard. I keep putting it off and doing other things.

Making soup, taking photographs of random insects, writing Sestinas, and cutting my own hair. Anything except editing my work.

I asked myself why, and replied, ‘Because it is hard work and because it feels like I am slicing bits of my own flesh off each time I cut a sentence or paragraph.’

But deep down I know it is necessary to prune and hone my narrative to make it the best it can be. So I got together a list of what to look for when I edit.

If I have missed anything out, please do let me know!

Editing – Some things to look out for and check:

Over long sentences that would be more dramatic or effective if they were more concise. (Did you see what I did there?)

Choose the right/appropriate word.

Get rid of unnecessary repetition of words and or ideas.

Use appropriate similes to enrich the narrative. Get rid of inappropriate or redundant similes.

Typos. Grammatical errors. Punctuation.

Tighten the language. Depending on what genre you are writing in, make sure your sentence length reflects the mood and pace of the narrative.

Are your characters believable?

Is your dialogue naturalistic?

Do you tell too much?

Does your story have a strong beginning?

Is the storyline/plot believable?

Is the ending satisfactory? Does it make sense with the rest of the story?

Does your story get stodgy around the middle?

Do incidental characters add anything to the plot? If not, erase them.

Is the setting described well enough?

Is the point of view consistent?

Are there scenes that can be cut?

Now creeps ever forward the editing bug.