Fancy a Coffee?

Now, you know me - I can't resist the odd visit to my local coffee shop for a spot of people-watching over the rim of my cappuccino...

I was chatting to my best friend Helen, who works in a coffee shop, and we were discussing how often you see people and wonder what their stories are. This gave me an idea (which can often be dangerous!)... Why not create a fictitious coffee shop and create stories for its customers and staff?

So, I've created a new blog for my coffee shop stories. Called September's, it will feature a new story each week and will give you a unique insight into the characters who visit or work at the small café in Northbridge, a small market town on the River Severn. The tales will cover the whole range of human experience: some sad, some funny, some tragic - there may even be even some fantastical ones every now and again.

Of course, Coffee & Roses and my website are still very much alive - I just wanted to create a home specifically for a series of stories.

If you've got a spare minute, please pop over to September's and be sure to let me know what you think!

Now you can BUY the Story Wot I wrote!

Wow - two stories published in a row!

This time, my short story Remember has been published by Authortrek.com , as part of their series of downloadable PDF stories.

Praise for Remember:

'...a chillingly classic short story from a superb writer... an excellent short story... great emotional depths, as well as being supremely spooky. I can foresee 'Remember', like the great Victorian ghost stories, living on for many years to come…'

For the princely sum of 50p, you can download the PDF from Authortrek!

If you're interested, click here

Woo-hoo!

I'm PUBLISHED!

Wo-hoo!!

I've had a short story published!

My story, Towards Happiness been accepted by The Hardline Magazine, an online magazine for new writing.

Although it's only one story in a new publication, it feels like an enormous step forwards... After all the rejections just one speck of light is like a 5,000 mega-Watt floodlight!

Rejections and the Art of Positive Thinking...

I just received three rejections for my work.

Three. Count 'em...

Being a writer - I refuse to use the term 'struggling', although poor is probably apt - I am getting used to rejections and I'm determined not to take it personally. Even though each rejection feels a bit like the literary equivalent of someone calling your kid ugly... But even a self-confessed Eternal Optimist like me has to admit that three in one day is a bit much...

Nevertheless, the way I've decided to look at it is like this: each rejection is one less to endure before someone says 'Yes'. Just purely by the Law of Averages, someone, somewhere has to say yes eventually.

I've had some success - visit www.myvillage.com to see my latest review of Made of Honour - so I know I'm not a completely useless scribbler. Still no money, but it's the writing that counts.

One day, I will write something that becomes part of someone else's world. It's not an if, it's a when. Until that day, I'm utilising the Positive Gene™ whenever and wherever possible!!

Sneezing pandas!

A-a-a-a-a-a-chooooooo!

As this is the season of hay fever, I thought I'd share these sneezy videos to make fellow sufferers smile. (In between sneezes, that is...) Enjoy!

Panda sneezing fit



Making Mum jump

The Slowest Learner Moped Driver in the West Midlands...

Tonight, I encountered a strange creature.

I was running late - something that happens to me with surprising frequency, despite my best attempts to avoid it - so I needed to get to my friend's house in ten minutes flat, or else risk missing the film we were supposed to be seeing. Normally, I can do this easily, traffic lights pending. Tonight, however - as is so often the way of things when you're in a hurry - every light was a red one, making my progress frustratingly slow.

Just when I was starting to wonder if I would ever get there, I encountered a strange creature, as it pulled out cautiously in front of me. It appeared to be too large for its mode of transport; wobbling precariously atop a bright red moped. With a comically big and shiny helmet, the picture was magnificently completed by the gaudy flowers painted on the sides of the moped and a large 'L' plate blowing slightly in the breeze at the back.

I'm not sure what was the most amusing - the extraordinary flash of be-thonged bum cleavage heaving over the top of the driver's too-small jeans, or the fact that she appeared to be incapable of going any faster than 20mph.

At first this too-slow vehicle in front of me was a source of annoyance. But, after a few minutes, I found myself fascinated by the sheer effort this creature had to exert simply to stay upright on her mode of transport. As we approached each hill, I was rooting for the driver: "Come on, you can do it!"

When she managed 25mph on one section I was triumphant on her behalf; when she freewheeled down a long hill and hit 28mph, I was practically euphoric.

I never thought that being stuck behind the Slowest Learner Moped Driver in the West Midlands could turn out to be such a life-affirming experience. But when she finally turned off the road, I found myself strangely deflated.

I hope that, somewhere, that wobbly, overly-cautious owner of the splendidly be-flowered two-wheeler continues her journey towards 30pmh - and that, one day, she will truly discover the joys of attempting speeds beyond her wildest dreams.

"One day, my friend," she will say, patting the shiny red paint of her beloved scooter in the growing dusk of the evening, the look of a wild deamer in her eyes, "one day we'll hit 35mph - hell, 42mph even! One day - maybe not so long from now - we'll push as hard as we can until we reach the Holy Grail of speed - yes, the National Speed Limit will one day be ours and ours alone!"

As for the film, I didn't get to see it after all. But that's another story...

Swanky new website (fnar, fnar)...

Oh yes.

I am now the proud webmaster (?!) of my very own swanky writer's website!

Holds up hands to quieten thunderous applause... Why, thank you, thank you. You're too kind...

After several dead-ends and false starts trying to get my work out there (wherever 'there' is...), I finally decided to put my own site together so that I could have an outlet for my writing. Whether or not anyone actually visits it is another thing, but at least I know it's there.

I've called it Coffee & Roses , like this very blog - not because it's going to usurp this one but rather that coffee and roses sums me up quite nicely. So feel free to pop along and have a leisurely stroll through its pages - and let me know what you think!

You can find my site at: www.miranda-dickinson.com

Also, if you have a site, blog, or similar online thingy that you would like me to plug on my site, just ask nicely and I'll see what I can do. Blatant bribes in the form of chocolate or coconut mushrooms will be considered but never officially condoned...