Gigs Update

In my last Blog I mentioned a couple of gigs that are coming up. It's really exciting as my husband and I haven't gigged together for a while due to family commitments. We're definitely ready to start again! We perform as Folk/Rock duo Despite Water. So here's what's coming up -

Relay For Life - This is a Cancer Research UK event which will be taking place in Braunton on Saturday the 8th of June. We will be opening up this event with a half hour set starting from 2pm, but the main point to this gig will be to play my Cancer Research UK single 'It Wasn't Meant to Be' live. As if this isn't exciting enough, we even get to try out our very own, brand new PA system!

Despite Water's Yamaha PA system



CalvertStock - This is another charity gig which will be raising money for  Calvert Trust Exmoor on the 22nd of June. It includes a great line up, and we will be playing a half hour set at 1:30pm. You can find more details about this event here - https://www.facebook.com/events/553348468028819/?fref=ts

Our band Despite Water on a poster!!

So that's what's coming up for us in June. We hope to see you at one or both of the events. But for now, back to rehearsing!

Keep chasing your dreams!

@steffiemarie28

And now back to the writing!

It's been a while since I last posted anything, due to completing two more modules towards my English Literature degree, but I'm finally free to start blogging again...well at least till October anyway! So here's a little update of what I've been up to over the last few months:

April and May have been very busy months completing a Level 1 module towards my degree which required a three hour exam to complete the course. Needless to say, I was very nervous about this as the last time I sat an exam was thirteen years ago when I took my GCSE's. I feel confident that I've done enough to achieve a pass though and will keep you informed of the results when they come out in June...fingers crossed.

I've also just completed my level three Creative Writing module, which finished with a 4000-Word short story to write for my end of module assessment. I was very excited about writing this as I had a great character in mind that I wanted to develop. As soon as I get my result back for that I look forward to sharing my new character and story with you all.

Hmm, what else have I been up to? Oh yes! On the second of February, my husband and I travelled up to Plymouth to perform live on BBC Radio Devon for a second time. This time we performed as Despite Water and played two original songs live on air. However, I think the highlight for both of us was joining in with the end of show Jam with a full band performing one of our favourites, 'Folsom Prison Blues' by Johnny Cash. Click the link to have a listen -
https://soundcloud.com/bigjgproductions/folsom-prison-blues-jg-jam?in=bigjgproductions/sets/jg-jams

Despite Water at BBC Radio Devon

On the 10th of February we had another road trip. This time to Torquay to perform live on Riviera FM. I really enjoyed this interview and performing my Cancer research song 'It Wasn't Meant to Be.' This interview was a great opportunity to get my Cancer Research story back out there.

Me rehearsing for my live performance on Riviera FM

Now that I'm free for a few months before my last few modules start, I'm going to concentrate on finishing my children's picture books and sending them off to Publishers. Also my husband and I intend to expand our band Despite water and add a lead guitarist and a drummer. We're currently rehearsing for two charity gigs coming up which I'll tell you about in my next blog.

Keep chasing your dreams!

@steffiemarie28

The Unwritten Haiku

I've recently started a writers page on facebook so I can share my work and hopefully inspire others to share their own. On Tuesday I started 'The Unwritten Haiku' where I invited people to be creative and write their own Haiku, and then share them to my wall. I think we came up with some really creative poems so I thought I'd share them on this blog. I hope you enjoy them!

A small seed waiting                                          Take me out to play
Beneath the earth to blossom                            Outside where the people throng
To become unique                                              Desperate to belong

By Steph Lott                                                     By Melissa Jackson


Never ending stream                                           It is great to fly 
Flowing always onwards. Or                              When the spirit takes you high 
just our perception?                                             Don't O'er let it break!

By Rob Lott                                                         By Melissa Jackson


Life begins; through our                                     Thunder and lightning 
tears we start to grow then back                        Take over the skies; But the
to the earth we go                                                Sun will always rise

By Steph Lott                                                      By Steph Lott


Hold me close and tight
never let me go from you
you're special and mine.

By Melissa Jackson

Keep chasing your dreams!

@steffiemarie28

My goals for 2013

2012 bought for me some unexpected achievements. From my single I wrote and composed in aid of Cancer Research UK to becoming a published poet; both started out as just goals I was planning on working towards that year with no expectation of actually achieving any of them. I proved to myself that hard work, motivation and perseverance pay off. I can’t wait to see what I can make happen in 2013. 

So here is a list of projects I have on the go and goals I am hoping to achieve this year. If I make just one of them happen I will be satisfied. 

CR UK Single – This will be an on going project for me until I complete my quest in finding an established artist to record it so we can raise maximum funds for this amazing charity.

Chocolate Shop Epidemic – Again this will be an on going project. I’m going to make sure my poem ‘Chocolate Temptation’ is displayed in as many chocolate shops as possible, including some of the big ones in London!

English Literature Degree - I’m looking forward to completing my diploma in Creative Writing in April. This will count towards my final mark to complete my degree.

Teddy’s Tales – This is a work in progress. It’s a children’s book that includes a collection of tales about Teddy and his friends and their adventures. I’m going to try my luck at having this published this year. I will keep you updated with its progress.

James and The Dragon – This is another work in progress. It’s going to be a full children’s novel. My seven-year-old son Joe inspired this story just because he wants me to write a book for him. (He even gave me the title).

My first album – 2013 will hopefully be the year that I record my first album. It will be an album of country/folk original songs to be titled ‘Heart, Soul and Guitars’.

Poetry – I’m determined to have more poems published this year starting with entering my poem ‘Waves’ into The Cardiff International Poetry Competition. Fingers crossed!

On top of all of this I continue with the biggest challenge I have ever faced, and that is bringing up my four boys. This is probably the most stressful challenge ever but definitely the most rewarding.

So there we have it. Looks like another busy year ahead for me and I cant wait!

Keep chasing your dreams!

@steffiemarie28

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 Review

Well where do I start. This year has been a weird mix of emotions that has involved the sad loss of the father of three of my children and the happy occasion of the birth of my fourth son, and there have been many ups and downs in between. I’ve also had a couple of unexpected achievements.

At the beginning of the year I started my Chasing Dreams blog with a post about projects I had in motion and what I was hoping to achieve in 2012. To my surprise I realised that with a bit of motivation and a lot of hard work, my dreams could become a reality.

One of my goals that I had listed was to write a song to raise money for Cancer Research UK. This was inspired by the death of Michael Harris, the father of three of my children who lost his battle with cancer on the 1^st May. I not only wanted my song to raise money for this amazing charity but it was also something I wanted to put together for my boys to have something to remember their dad by.

I was lucky enough to have my song produced by a local musician, Chris Millington. My husband then put a slideshow video together to go with the song and you can watch this on you tube by following this link –  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoXoptiiHpk

My story made ITV WestCountry News and I performed it live on BBC Radio Devon. I also made front page of my local newspaper The North Devon Gazette and had a write up in The North Devon Journal and EX33 and EX34 Magazines. My song also became available to download from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and Google Play. Quite an achievement I’d say!

My main aim for this song was to find an established artist to record it to help raise maximum funds for Cancer Research UK. This is an ongoing project that I hope to develop further in 2013.

Another goal I wanted to achieve in 2012 was to have a piece of my writing (be it poetry, fiction etc) published. I didn’t really think this was possible at the time of writing it down but again to my surprise I made it happen.

I had written a poem called ‘Chocolate Temptation’ that I included in an assignment I was writing as part of my English Literature degree. I loved this poem so I submitted it to Graffiti Magazine. I couldn’t believe it the morning I got an email saying that they loved it and wanted to include it in their next issue!

I also took this one step further. As my poem was all about chocolate I decided to contact chocolate shops to ask if they wanted to display my poem. I was over the moon when the first shop agreed, and once again I had another story that made my local newspaper. It was great publicity for all of us. To date I have had three chocolate shops agree to display my poem and have even received free chocolate out of it…bonus!

Well there you have it, those are my two biggest achievements of 2012. Two dreams I had listed at the start of the year that I made happen. I still have lots of other projects on the go that I am hoping to make happen in 2013. I am looking forward to see what the New Year will bring.

Keep chasing your dreams!

@steffiemarie28

 

 

Out of Time

Hello, for this blog I thought I would share a poem I wrote in July that I had forgotten about. It wasn't untill my husband was looking for a spare sheet of paper in a note pad that it was found, so here it is!

Out of Time

 

I watched you rise, I watched you fall

You had a life, you lost it all

You laughed and cried, you schemed and lied

So unaware you were broken inside.

 

You lost your faith, your hope, your dreams

This life isn’t always what it seems.

 

Mistakes were made, No lessons learnt

Far to many bridges burnt

Then just when you were ready to try

Unwillingly you said goodbye.

 

 

Please feel free to let me know what you think by leaving your comments below.

Keep chasing your dreams!

 

@steffiemarie28

Chocolate Shop Epidemic

I'm starting a Chocolate Shop Epidemic!

Recently I had my poem 'Chocolate Temptation' published in issue 12 of Graffiti Magazine, then last weekend I handed over a framed copy of my poem to The Chocolate Emporium in Ilfracombe to be displayed in their shop. This story is going to appear in The North Devon Gazette next week.



The handover by Rob Lott Photography!

This small achievement got me thinking...what if more than one chocolate shop were willing to display my poem? So two days ago I contacted Nutcombe Chocolates in Dunster and asked if they wanted a framed copy of my poem to display in their shop. They were more than happy to join the chocolate shop epidemic. So tomorrow I will be visiting their shop to hand over my poem, as if this isn't exciting enough...they have a chocolate fountain!

My goal now is to have my poem displayed in as many chocolate shops as possible including some of the ones that have made The Top 10 Chocolate Shops, including Harrods Chocolate Box and Melt which are both in London.

I am hoping to gain some media help to promote my quest. An appearance on ITV's Thismorning or Daybreak would be fantastic. It would also be great if my local news (BBC Spotlight SouthWest and ITV Westcountry news) got involved. The publcity would be fantastic not only for me but the businesses displaying my poem.

Lets start a 'Chocolate Shop Epidemic'!

Keep chasing your dreams!

@steffiemarie28