Author / Colette

by Colette

March – It’s all about the Bunnies!

They may be ornamental, but they are still damn cute! - Taken at Brigg Garden Centre

They may be ornamental, but they are still damn cute! – Taken at Brigg Garden Centre

Hey Inkblotters and welcome to March!

Spring-time may not be quite on the horizon yet, but there’s still been some lovely days where we’ve spotted sunshine leaking from those murky clouds. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves – usually April is when we get those weird heatwaves – let’s talk about bunnies and chocolate and flowers and what else is there? Okay, so basically March is like Valentine’s Day, but with bunnies and we don’t feel depressed when we eat our Easter Eggs.

Last month, our Half Hour Challenge gave our writers a kick up the sleepy side and encouraged them to share their weird and wonderful Dreams and Nightmares, and they were excellent – or should I say ‘eggsellent’ – I know, I know, I’ll shut up. We did have some great entries though and a couple will be finding their way into our March posts, so keep an eye out for them. The theme for March is Mad as a March Hare, so we’re expecting lots of crazy and kooky entries to spice April’s content up. Continue reading →

by Colette

Friday Frenzy Winner – A Week Without Olly

Written by Dice

Could you survive a week without him? *sniff*
Image Courtesy of arundelteddybears.co.uk

You’ve been alone for a whole seven days.
You’ve not had much cause to laugh or play.
Without a friend to hold you tight,
Alone you braved the deep dark nights.

But now you are together once more.
Hug him close and hug him evermore.
For though you were brave and never lost hope.
You will never believe with what Teddy had to cope.

Teddy survived a journey exciting to tell.
An adventure full of trials and certain peril.
Alone in that park he couldn’t know what to do.
All he wanted was to be back with you. Continue reading →

by Colette

Friday Frenzy – 22 February

This is something we were born to do, we survive.

This is something we were born to do, we survive.

Inkblotters, it’s time for another Friday Frenzy! From now on, we’re holding the Frenzy from 12am Friday 22nd to 12am Saturday 23rd BST/GMT so that you guys have extra time to submit your entry – good, eh?

If you’re unsure on the Frenzy and its rules, you can have a quick look at our Frenzy House Rules post, and get up to date on all the details.

Remember, if you want to submit your entry, please email it to creativewritinginkwell@hotmail.com before the competition deadline – if you do it after, we won’t be able to count it, sorry! If you’re submitting your entry from across the pond (Australia, America, Japan etc) and can’t remember what time it is in Britain then don’t worry, send it to us within the 24 hour time-slot from when this post was published. If you can headline your email ‘Inkblots FF Entry’, then smashing, it means you won’t get filtered into spam, and that’s definitely a good thing!

This month’s winner will be notified by email on Saturday 23rd and will have their entry (complete with image) published onto our site.

Remember, this competition also runs on our writing forum, The Inkwell, so you may be up against some awesome writers – don’t let that put you off though! Continue reading →

by Colette

Three-minute reads – Haiku Selection III

These Haiku posts just give us an excuse to look for pictures of tea and biscuits! Mmmm… cream tea.
Image Courtesy of blog.englishtrackers.com

The warmth of Spring is finally in the air! Here in the UK, we’ve had a sunshine-filled day, and it is more than welcome, what with having to battle a weird string of blitzing, wintry winds and (more than usual) lots of snow. Well, we didn’t get as much as Canada, but by heck we sure moaned about it. Hey, that’s what we Brits do best (unfortunately)!

So, with a spring in our step – and hopefully yours – we’ve got another selection of Haiku to bring you today. I’ve specially picked these three poems as they seem to tell a story, what that story is, however, you will have to figure out yourself. With many interpretations to seek, or gather, you have one minute to read, another to ponder and one extra to decipher – so get cracking! Continue reading →

by Colette

Valentine’s Poetry

Aren’t these just adorable? Might have to buy some ourselves!
Image Courtesy of – and tea lights available at – http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk

Hey Inkblotters, it’s good ol’ V Day, so here’s what we promised you: one sonnet written by Lilith and one by a little poet named Christina Rossetti, you might have heard of her. We didn’t want to be too cliché and give you the Bard though, but we thought we’d give you some traditionalism with some Lemon Sherbet-ty goodness too.

If you haven’t read of Christina Rossetti’s ‘In an Artist’s Studio’ you are really missing a treat. There’s something truly beautiful about obsessing over art – any form, whether it be literature, music or a painting itself, it is still beautiful in the eye of the creator. So, sit back, enjoy and read between the lines.

And Happy Valentine’s Day!

– Silver

Continue reading →

by Colette

Smile

Written by Rob

Bell’s Palsy: Something for us all to think about.
Image Courtesy of http://www.patient.co.uk, where more information about the disease can be found.

A smile or a grimace? Ted Jones isn’t renown for his happy disposition, yet he seems pleased to see us. “Who are you and what have you done with the real Ted?” I think, though I don’t dare say it. The last three times Claire and I came to the warehouse to deliver training, Ted had been conspicuous only by his growl and then his absence.
“Oh, it’s you pair of plonkers again, is it? Well, you’d better set up in the meeting room like last time and stay out of my way. Some of us have got work to do.” Ted’s disposition hasn’t changed to match his new-found demeanour.
“You’re supposed to be managing this warehouse Ted. I’d like to know what work you consider to be more important than improving it.”
“We’ve got spare orders to pick, pack and ship. I’m bloody certain our customers prefer my lads doing that than sitting in your training sessions.”
“Your lads sent three parcels to the wrong place last month. What do those customers think about your attitude to training, I wonder?”
“Yeah, well the only folk who don’t make mistakes are the ones who do nowt. I’ll bet you don’t make many.”
“So do you think we should carry on as we are or should we try to improve?”
“I haven’t time for this. Deliver your training!” and he spins on his heel and marches out the door.
Claire rolls her eyes at me, “same old Ted,” and unpacks the projector. Continue reading →

by Colette

Lovey-dovey February!

We may not like V Day, but we love these cute cupcakes! Nom nom.
Image Courtesy of minkykittencakes.co.uk

Hi all and welcome to lovey-dovey February!

If you’re like us and Valentine’s Day is not your thing, then no worries, we have lots of written content this month which avoids all the chocolate, red roses and teddy bears. However, if you do like a bit of love poetry, we’ve got a wonderfully written sonnet by our blog administrator Lilith to get you in the mood – we’re posting this on Valentine’s Day, so make sure you stop by the blog or follow our twitter account @inkblotswriting to keep up to date with all our posts.

As always, we have a new Half Hour Challenge theme for the new month, and this time it’s ‘Dreams and Nightmares’. We’re looking for some awesome entries this month – remember, you can submit your HHC at any time of the month to our email creativewritinginkwell@ hotmail dot com – whether it be poetry, a short story, or something experimental, we love to see it all. For me, dreams and nightmares are closely associated with Freudian philosophy, but for others it may spark the innocence of childhood nostalgia, hiding under the bed or duvet from those utterly ghastly nightmares. Continue reading →

by Colette

The Battles of Sir Fluffs

Written by RicardoCC

Sir Fluffs, we salute you!: We tried to find a bear with a blue shield, but we ended up getting the next best thing – Twilight Link from LoZ.
Image Courtesy of Inkandscissors.com – go on, buy a bear!

The light of the full moon illuminated the bedroom of the small girl, who lay silently in her bed, tucked away under the confines of her quilt. With only her small head protruding, her shoulder-length blonde hair coated the majority of her bright pink pillow. Her button nose twitched, attempting to scratch at an internal itch without removing her arms from the comfort of her temporary cocoon.

“Good night, Sir Fluffs,” she whispered to a small, light brown teddy bear which sat upright on the pillow next to hers. A small blue plush shield was attached to his short, chunky left forearm and a blue plush sword in the finger-less hand of his right arm. The girl drifted off to sleep, a bright smile on her face.

A low tapping noise echoed through the room several minutes later. The noise came again, this time accompanied by an eerie scraping sound. The sound was interrupted by occasional bursts of laughter and chatter erupting from downstairs – where the girl’s parents seemed to be having a party of some kind. It came again, louder than before, and it only got louder. From the bottom of the girl’s wooden bed, three enormous lengths of grey, bony flesh topped off with black nails the length of a thirty-centimetre ruler, rose and wrapped around one of the four bedposts. Continue reading →

by Colette

The Friday Frenzy Competition Reminder!

What will this month's theme be? Check it out on 25 Jan!

What will this month’s theme be? Check it out on 25 Jan!

Hey Inkblotters!

This is just a quick note to remind you all of our new challenge for 2013, The Friday Frenzy. Now, as you might already be aware from this post here, the FF is something new, fun and creative to get your teeth into.

This Friday 25 January, our awesome forum admin and Inkblots editor, Sparky, will be stopping by to post all the details for you guys to enter.

For a quick and condensed reminder of The Friday Frenzy, check out the info below: Continue reading →

by Colette

35.1

Written by Bobartles

N.B. The title refers to the writer’s core body temperature at the time of writing.

Hammersmith Bridge, London: I hear her footsteps tap across the bridge…
Image Courtesy of Reddit

“You’re cold,” she says.

I shift my hands in my pockets as she appears at my side, not taking my eyes off the shifting lights of the motorway beneath us. She crosses her arms and leans back on the railing. I feel her eyes on me.

“I’m fine,” I lie.

She keeps staring at me, brown-blonde hair catching the feeble rays from above and shining as bright as the headlamps far below. I don’t meet her gaze.

“No,” she murmurs after a moment. “You’re not. You’re really not.”

I don’t reply.

“Are you going to the funeral?” she asks quietly.

“Maybe.” The words haven’t even registered. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice starts screaming something. I ignore it.

“That’s it?” She’s staring at me even harder now. I avoid looking at her face, but I can imagine the look of shock.

Silence, besides the rumbling below. She turns away. Continue reading →