Storm Orbs

Hi Everyone!

Take a look at these photos I took last night. Wow! Energy Orbs everywhere. I was trying to take photos of lightning. I failed at that, but look what I caught on film. Unbelievable. Wonderful.

Woo Hooo! They were everywhere in every photo. Click on each image to see the larger view.

Obviously I can't post all the photos here, but these will give you the general feel. It's amazing to think that we were walking around with these floating in the air all around and above us and we didn't even see or feel them.





Cheers

Brittany Kingston

It's Out There... Somewhere

As all authors do, I eagerly look forward to seeing the release of my latest "baby".

"Where the Night Things Are", my latest anthology of poetry, was released earlier this month by Eternal Press, and it was great to see it up there with all the other new books.

There is one little disappointment, though. Poetry is still a poor cousin to novels and short stories when it comes to promotion and review opportunities.

There are no end of sites on the net for people to post their newly published novels and short stories for reviews and sales, but hardly any at all for poetry and poetry anthologies. Most of the sites that review poetry or poetry anthologies are only interested in unpublished work that they can potentially publish themselves. That's okay, but...

Where do we poets go for serious reviews of our published work?

It makes it just that little bit harder to promote a book of poems when there are no rave reviews to quote.

Public opinion is slowly changing. More people are now enjoying short stories. The internet has actually helped the short story industry a lot. Those who want a good weekend read, buy a few short stories from eBook Publishers for their portable eBook readers and laptop/notebook computers. The days of portable computing has opened up the industry to more and more opportunities for writers of short fiction of all genres. That's wonderful.

However, this great revolution still has not spread to poetry.

Even though there are more and more people out there in the world writing really high quality poetry, it is still seen as somewhat of a novelty by those who read and publish "real" fiction.

This, I believe, goes right back to early education levels.

Poetry is only marginally tapped into as a serious genre in schools. It's glossed over. Only the old classic poets are focussed on to any great degree. Don't get me wrong, this is a wonderful thing. However, there are so many poets in today's world whose work would be of great inspiration and benefit to students of the written word, but this work is not being presented to students.

This, in turn, filters right down the line to publishing houses. So few these days are willing to spend any money or time on the poetry market. Let's face it, the poetry market is nowhere near as big as the other literary genre markets. So, who can blame them?

I don't for one moment think that poetry will ever disappear. It keeps bubbling up from the depths of the emotions of one generation to the next. Poetry will always be an important part of many people's lives.

It is a pity that it still isn't seen as an important part of today's publishing world.

So... I'll raise a glass of bubbly to my two poetry anthologies as they join the millions of others out there... somewhere... waiting for someone to accidentally discover them... some day...

Happy reading, poetry buffs!

Getting Back to Business

It's good to be getting back to my science fiction writing again.

Over the past couple of months, my time has been consumed by poetry, GST and business, editing and gardening.

At last I can get back into what I love doing best - writing science fiction and paranormal short stories and novels.

The Shadow Runners has been neglected since the beginning of this year. I'm up to the most important part - the last, technical re-write - and I've not even had the time to get on with it.

I did enjoy putting together, "Where the Night Things Are". That was huge fun, but now that's out and under promotion, my thoughts are turning to more science fiction writing.

If only I could get rid of all the other distractions around here, then I'd have a whole day or two to myself to just write. Wouldn't that be great?

I'll have to just grab the odd moment here and there like I usually do. As frustrating as that is, it's the only way I can get any writing done at all.

Catch ya soon.

Charlton Heston

I am profoundly sad to hear of the death of Charlton Heston.

He was one of my all-time favorite actors. I adored his work and I adored the man. I feel like a light has gone out in the world.


And yet... his films will stand testament to the rich gift he gave to all of us from all over the world, of all ages, nationalities and beliefs. He has left us so many wonderful memories to cherish.

May your spirit soar, Charlton. May you go on to be all that you can be.

Love sincerely

Brittany Kingston
(Heather Williams)

Almost There

...almost ...almost there!

At last, after months of agonizing, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's almost finished.

I'm talking about my new poetry anthology, "Where the Night Things Are".

Due for release on April 9, 2008
with Eternal Press.

Not only is this my second poetry anthology to be published by Eternal Press, but it is also a "labor or love".

"Where the Night Things Are" has been loads of fun to write. It's full of nice little creepy poems about all those things that go 'bump' in the night.

It's not scary, dark and dreary. It is a light-hearted look at the dark side of life.

For example: One of the poems I've included is based on a real event that happened to me some time back.

Footsteps

I called around to see a friend
one wintry, rainy eve.
We ate, we drank and
shared some laughs
until I took my leave.

I walked the streets as darkness fell,
in the town where I had grown.
Two blocks was all
I had to go to
take me to my home.

Footsteps behind me I did hear
and I headed for the light.
Should I run, or stop?
Or turn to see
who followed me that night?

Reaching the light, I turned around,
but there was no-one there.
He'd hidden in the bushes.
Of the danger
I was aware.

My heart beat loud; I could hardly hear
the steps that followed me.
I'd only one more
block to go
until I was home free.

My feet went splat upon the ground
his steps behind not far.
Two more corners
to go around.
Why didn't I take my car?

I slowed, then sped, and he did too.
He was closing in on me.
Around the corner
I could see my house
and felt compelled to flee.

The light was brighter. I dared a glance.
The question forever moot.
Not who, but what...
No stranger I found.
Just my coat against my boot.

So... keep an eye out for "Where the Night Things Are" at Eternal Press, and enjoy a giggle or two at the creepier side of life.

Run-In With The Australian Taxation Office

I had a run-in with the Australian Taxation Office last week.

I do all our farm accounts and GST, etc. I finally finished the last quarter's GST and posted it. The very next morning I discovered that I'd made a huge mistake and overpaid them to the tune of about $6000. Yikes! Some mistake.

I had to go to Albury (where our nearest Tax Office is) that day, so I took the cheque book with me in the hope that I could cancel the previous cheque and write a new one for the correct amount before they processed my GST.

Well... Silly me. That was too logical, wasn't it.

The people over the desk at Albury were less than helpful. They wouldn't even consider any alternate action. They wouldn't even look to see if the mail from Wangaratta had actually come in. All they did was put me on the telephone to Head Office - wherever that may be.

I explained - again - about my mistake and what I wanted to do to correct it. The person on the telephone informed me that if I did cancel the cheque I would be up for defrauding the taxation system. They said I had to wait 14 days after my GST was processed. Apply for a form to fill out to request a revue of my GST, and then, IF they deemed that I had made a mistake, I could get my money back in about 49 days.

As you can imagine, I was very upset and left.

The next morning I went straight to my accountant and told him what had happened. He said he couldn't understand why they wouldn't just accept the cheque over the counter and replace the cancelled cheque with it. He lodged my GST online, I paid immediately at the Post Office, cancelled the cheque with the wrong amount on it, and all was well. It cost me $17 to cancel the cheque. Although I object to such extortion by the bank, I consider this $17 to be money well spent.

What's wrong with our ATO that a person cannot even correct a mistake BEFORE their GST is processed? Why should they have been able to hold my $6000 and get interest off it for more than 49 days when it wasn't their money to begin with? And why should they accuse me of trying to defraud the tax system when all I was trying to do was to fix a mistake.

I'm certain that, had I underpaid them by $6000, they would have been on my doorstep that very day!

Cheers for now.

Brittany Kingston

New Blog on the Block

Hey, all you writers and readers!

There's a brand new blog on the block.

Surf on over to:

http://eternalpressauthors.blogspot.com

and catch up with all your favorite authors and editors
- including yours truly -
at Eternal Press.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL.

Dogs, Cats, Possums & Tigers

We had a bit of a drama here last night.

As nobody else was at home, I'd settled myself in front of the television to catch up on one of my favorite shows, "Bones". The two working dogs, Tiger and Nig, were tied up on the veranda, Mickey was inside with me, and the two cats, Dixi and Rambo, were curled up in their chosen spots. All was quiet and peaceful...

Until 11pm, that is.

Tiger started carrying on like a lunatic. He's been doing this at the same time almost every night for the past couple of months, and it was driving me crazy. Our resident brush tailed possum and her offspring would come across the veranda, down the rose bush beside the water tank and drink out of Tiger's water bowl while completely ignoring the manic dog that could easily have eaten them both. Tiger would bark, whine, jump, run to the length of his chain and quake with fear. One brave cattle dog!

Last night, enough was enough. I raced outside with a rolled up newspaper to make the dog behave. I could hear hissing and spitting going on. He'd bailed up, not the possum this time, but one of the neighbor's cats. I went back inside and grabbed a torch.

When I went back out, Tiger wouldn't let me get near the cat. I thought it must be a nasty feral cat he had backed up against the house.

At this stage I must say, our house is up on stilts because we live on the flood plain. We're at least 5 feet up. No problem for a cat or a possum.

But my torch light didn't find a cat or a possum. It was a tiger snake. No wonder the dog was going insane.

I couldn't believe it. A tiger snake!

I shifted the dog around to the other side of the veranda and tied him up where he'd be safe and I got a shovel. It was no use. I couldn't wield the shovel in one hand and the torch in the other. There was no way I could kill the snake. [Snakes are protected out here and I normally wouldn't go after one to kill it, but sorry, this one is too close for comfort. It has to go.]

The snake took one look at me and disappeared down a slit in the floor boards - and I do mean a "tiny slit". That was a bit scary. If it could get into a tiny space like that, it could get into the house.

Anyway, I thought it was gone and tied Tiger back up where his bed was. He was still shaking and nervous, but I told him everything was okay and that the nasty snake had gone.

I went back to watching television, then not half an hour later, Tiger was carrying on again and looking up at the rose bush that's growing up the veranda post. It had to be the possum this time because tiger snakes don't climb trees. It definitely wouldn't climb a very prickly rose bush.

Out I go, once again, with the torch. And this is what I found...

Click on the photo for a close look.
It's sitting there, curled happily around the rose bush, coming down from the top right hand side of the photo, facing the camera. No doubt it was wondering what I was doing flashing bright lights in its face. I couldn't get a closer shot. It is a deadly snake after all. I've had one lunge a few feet at me, so they can jump forward fairly quickly when they're in a bad mood. Tiger snakes only have 2 moods - aggressive and insanely aggressive.

Now I feel really bad about yelling at the dog to shut up and not be such an idiot about a harmless possum having a drink.

This snake has been terrorizing the dog for weeks. Poor Tiger.

Now, when I see where the snake was sitting, I realize how close I must have been to it every night when I went out and rattled the rose bush to show the dog that there was nothing in it.

Lesson 1: Don't assume your dog is a fool.
Lesson 2: Tiger snakes really can climb trees.

We still haven't caught the snake. We'll have to find it. We can't risk having one of the dogs or cats, or one of us killed.

Tiger spent the night around the other side of the veranda with Nig. Out of harm's way.

So...

Round 1 goes to the snake.

But, this fight ain't over yet...

Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

Hi everyone!

It's evening here on Christmas Day and I've finally found a quiet moment before it all starts again for the evening meal.

I wish you all the happiest Christmas ever, the best festive season, celebration, holiday, or however you wish to celebrate this time of the year.

May you all find, love, peace, happiness, hope, and strength and inspiration to carry you forward into the coming new year.

Cheers

Brittany