Writers' Blok by Ja¢kson Pearce

Can't believe I only just discovered her! Her videos are amazing, and she is such a great role model for young (female) writers. Now I just have to read her books...

Any Galwegians Want to Volunteer?

I am part of the  Galway Science and Technology Festival committee this year and just thought I'd mention that the festival is looking for volunteers for the Exhibition Day which takes place at NUI Galway on Sunday November 27.

The organising committee and NUI Galway are looking for 100 volunteers to help out on the day when hundreds of scientists, engineers and business innovators will showcase their work at 60 interactive stands.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to participate in experiments, watch demonstrations, and discuss ideas with researchers from NUI Galway and GMIT, as well as industry representatives from the festival’s main sponsor Medtronic and others such as Boston Scientific, CISCO, Hewlett Packard, Avaya, Covidien, SAP, Lake Region and Creganna.

Different exhibits will allow the public to learn more about topics such as life-saving medical devices, renewable energy, IT in the future, and kitchen chemistry. NUI Galway’s museums will all be open on the day, and the popular 3D tour of the universe makes a welcome return.

Dean of Science at NUI Galway, Professor Tom Sherry, says the college is delighted to host the exhibition for the second year in a row.

“ Last year’s event was a huge success, “ he says, “and this year we have been working hard to improve dealing with the large numbers of visitors we are expecting. For this purpose, we are inviting anyone who is interested to volunteer some of their time on the 27th to help us get people around to all of the different activities that will be spread across the NUI Galway campus.”

A science and technology background is not required to volunteer as information and training will be given in advance of the event. To sign up for volunteering please contact william.brennan@nuigalway.ie . For general information on the festival seewww.galwayscience.ie and to prebook the shows for the exhibition visit www.galwayscience.eventbrite.com

You can follow the above links to see more about he festival. The exhibition day is free for all and is a fun, family-oriented event. Check out the cool shows that are on and book your place now because it gets crowded. Fast.

Sadie and Loki

Remember Sadie and Loki, those cute little kittens? Well they're getting bigger and stronger.

But...they still think they're kitten-sized!

Twitter Saves a Bookstore

Well not Twitter exactly, but back to that in a minute.  

I'm part of a group called ItStartsWith.Us. The goal of ItStartsWith.Us is "to build a global community of individuals focused on making a positive impact in the lives of the people around them." And it takes just 15 minutes a week. This week the mission is to take that 15 minutes to help promote someone or a cause. It was inspired by a video about how a dedicated son, a blog post, a tweet, and a promise of free burritos saved a bookstore. 

When I saw the video I knew I had to share it, so here it is.

Last Monday there was more flooding here in Ireland. We had some really bad flooding in late 2009 and after the earthquake in Haiti (early 2010) there was a huge outcry that we had helped over there but hadn't helped our flood victims. This time let's do more: The Irish Red Cross is running a Floods Appeal until the 26th November. 

Donal Forde, Secretary General of Irish Red Cross said “Donations received will be used to support those whose homes have been damaged by flood water caused by Monday’s record rainfall. We will work closely with the Community Welfare Service within the Department of Social Protection to identify those most in need of our assistance”.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Irish Red Cross ‘Irish Floods’ appeal can do so online; by phone: 1850 50 70 70; or by cheque made out to ‘Irish Red Cross’ and marked ‘Irish Floods’ and sent to Irish Red Cross, 16 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.

And the Winners...Aren't

On my last post a commenter asked how I manage to win so many competitions.

I replied that you have to enter to win, which is a bit of a disappointment. I mean that's kind of obvious, isn't it? Still, people often overlook it. How can I be jealous of people for getting published in this magazine and that when I haven't even submitted? I can't. Not reasonably anyway.

That said, this is my blog. So obviously everything is a bit one-sided and biased. For example, let's see how many times I've posted about not winning/placing in a competition....

Not once.
(small margin of error here - I might possibly have posted once or twice)

So this post is about all the competitions I haven't won (kind of a difficult feat considering I like to block out these rejections of my work, but I'll work from what I do remember).

Firstly: Foyle Young Poets Competition. I entered in 2010 and 2011 and I did not receive a thing - not even a special mention. Then there's my story Wizened, which I really like. I entered a fantasy writing contest with it and got...nothing. Then a special secondary-schools story competition in the Clare Champion with the same story. Once again, nothing.

Those are the reasons I then decided to focus on my poetry. Even so, I didn't get a thing in Cuisle this year. You can submit up to three poems and I submitted three. None on par with Creation and Evolution I guess.

That's all I can remember off-hand that I have entered but haven't won. Like I said, my mind blocks out losing.

P.S. Lovely bit of graffiti, that, isn't it? These pictures were part of the final result of a photography course we took in school.

And the Winners Are...

I didn't mention it here, but Visit Woods and the WWF were running a short story competition called the Big Forest Story Picnic. The theme was to be about the forest and the woods, and simply to do with conservation I suppose. I forget the exact parameters if there were any. Anyway, the winners have finally been choosen after a month's extension on the announcement date. And, I have won the sixteen and under section. See below :)

http://visitwoods.org.uk/en/visit-woods/news/Pages/big-forest-picnic-story-winners.aspx#.TpddCpuImU8

I win free books. If I had one the older age category it would have been a Kindle, but I suppose I will have to live with ten books of my choice. Heehee...

In addition, you might recall a competition I did mention here, which was the Concern Creative Writing Competition. I have been told recently that my entry (short-listed as I found out) is to be included in the Concern Creative Writing Competition book, which will be published by Liffey Press. Last year I got nothing, so as you can see I am slowly scaling the steps to the top.

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry vs. To Kill a Mockingbird

I was reading the best-seller list in the Sunday paper last week. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and To Kill a Mockingbird were both on it. Roll of Thunder was under Children's and To Kill a Mockingbird was under Paperback Fiction. It seems schools in general are pretty much split between the two. Oh, there are other novels that are chosen (Lord of the Flies and Of Mice and Men, for example) but it is these two that made the best-seller list. These that parents all over Ireland rushed out to buy in their droves the last weeks of August and the first few weeks of September.

The list-fellows of To Kill a Mockingbird are: One Day (David Nicholls, the film is now playing in cinemas), The Help (Kathryn Stockett, also now a film, release date 28 October), The Confession (John Grisham), and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (chick-lit by Claudia Carroll). Altogether a broad range of titles (also not in order).

Roll of Thunder, by contrast, has not one but two Diary of a Wimpy Kids as list-fellows. Need I say more?