Dearest Readers,

I have been informed that one of my posts has been sabotaged, therefore I have had to delete it.  Hearing this news upset me, as it made me realise that, it does not really matter who you are, big or small in this world, evil is just pure evil and people will go to any lengths to discredit you or abuse your platform.  I am unsure who this said person was and why they would do such a thing.  I just hope, none of you's have been effected by reading that post.  The particular post in question was:  'Tiny Baby Steps ROW80 Style'.  Please let me know if you have noticed any other unsual activities from any of the the other posts (I hope there is no other).

In the meantime, I want to repost the deleted post in it's entirity as it was a pretty significant piece for me at the time.  The lesson I learnt then is an important one, which I often forget time and time again, so as a valuable tool to remember, (maybe fate's trying to remind me a few important truths), I need to take this on again.  I do hope this post is as valuable to you as it is to me.  Apologies in advance for some of the news below not being current; cutting any bits out would lose it's meaning, therefore, I have kept it all together.  I do hope I have made the right decision.  Anyhoo, enjoy.

Whimsical Wednesday Writings: 

Wednesday has come sooo soon and I have not had the time to get anything together for this post (apologies); I am still away from home, which means my ROW80 goals have suffered somewhat -apart from some revising of the research of Becoming and some outlining.  Other than that, I have not accomplished much.  I suppose Monday's post should count towards my goals but I am sooo tired right now, it’s hard to be very positive about that.  Hmmm I think I best call it a day and return to this post in the morning or else it is in danger of being extremely whiney –ermmm not what I want to achieve overall!  So ta-raa for now.  *switches off laptop and heads of to catch some Zzzzzzzz’s*

Ok now it’s time to get back to work…So, what’s on the agenda for today’s post?  Well, I want to give you a brief update on my ROW80 goals (as touched on above) and any amendments for the rest of the week.  I then will follow this with why my plans have been upturned this half of the week and finally I want to round this off with why I love flash fictions and why I take part where I can.

ROW80 Update

After Saturdays post I knew time was short as I had plans for Sunday and Monday; therefore, I prepared my post for Monday (seeing that I was going to be away) and planned that those two days will be my free days again.  I then went over my research for Becoming that evening and spent quality family-time in the evening (it’s a must when the moment is right).  Sunday and Monday soon came so I headed off to see my good friends Katie & Neil (just a ploy so their beautifully cute one-year-old Ava Mae gets used to me so I can babysit for them occasionally when needed).  My plans then changed abruptly when I was needed to stay over longer than anticipated (no problemo –adaptation is part of life and another way to make it fun ).  I will talk more about this later; now back to what I plan to do for the remaining part of the week.

ROW80 Amendments

I am not making any big changes to my ROW80 goals as I am happy with what I have, they are (click here for the actual goals); I just want to tweak it in order to accommodate for the unexpected plans this week.  There is only one main adjustment:

• I will not be hard on myself for not achieving the word goals I have missed out on Tuesday and Wednesday (today).  I will continue as normal tomorrow (Thursday).

Now I feel better about that *phew* and *sighs with a huge relief* -pressure is off somewhat.

Tiny Baby Steps – Ava Mae Style

As I have mentioned above, since Sunday I have spent some time with my very good friends and their very special daughter Ava Mae.  I could not pass this post by without briefly touching on my experience spent here –especially since it has been very significant –especially in terms of how I am currently viewing my ROW80 goals.  Ava is the most adorable baby girl (I will ignore her mother’s endearing nickname for her ‘rat bag’ –Katie really?!!!) –I know you all will be saying all babies are cute; they are I agree.  However, I was very blessed to witness Ava Mae's very first baby steps (I know!) and the tears that welled up in my eyes and the exceptionally proud emotions I felt I cannot describe as words just seem to not be enough.  The moment Ava realised her achievement, the marvel in her face, the excitement –the joy –it encapsulated a million feelings and all I could think of was to hug her so tightly and plant millions of kisses on her soft cheeks –but I did not.  Ava deserved to enjoy that moment and take it in its full entirety, with an audience of her doting mother and me.  I am so glad my plans changed; this was something I would not have wanted to miss for the World.

Ava Mae – Copyright Katie & Neil Thurlow-Chang

Tiny baby steps, every step is precious, every step is worth the effort and the wait; as it will soon be followed by something very rewarding; we should not forget that –I plan not to forget that.  Therefore, I want to say that I will appreciate every effort I make with my ROW80 goals and I hope you do too as every step will make a mark towards that worthwhile goal you are aiming for.

Ava Mae, thank you for being sooo special and thank you for helping me see the bigger picture clearly.  (Yes, your aunty Oz loves you lots and lots and lots!)

Flash Fiction Challenges

I was hoping to have put together another flash fiction piece for today’s post but due to the unaccounted events as mentioned above, this was not meant to be so Ken Broad’ Challenge will have to wait until Saturday.  Whilst we are waiting for that, I wanted to let you into a few secrets to why I love these challenges and why I take part as much as I can.  Challenges –as the word rightly says, it’s a challenge –something to sink your teeth into, something to make your brains tick and force you to think ‘outside the box’ and mainly something to get all those creative juices flowing!  Above all, it’s fun!  There has been times when flash fiction challenges has helped me strengthen a particular plot in my WIP or help me understand it a bit better; it has also been a great aid for me to add a gripping twist to my addition to the DiRosaYikici storyline Where There’s a Will There’s a Way (this website is no longer active, I am looking into to putting up the story either on here, or another site, watch this space).

You may ask why I love torturing myself by combining so many challenges and trying to make it all work…that is a very good question; I think there is something about accomplishing a difficult task and making it work.  A great sense of fulfilment.  Picking the rockier road has always been in the forefront of my life; be it a school, college, University, family life, work life etc…so I guess its no science that I like to ensure that these tough challenges work through my works too.  One good example is when I studied A-Level Art & Design; I hated drawing/painting folds of cloth and too much intricate designs, so what did I decide to embark on for my mock and real exam?  Yes, you guessed correctly –both!  I complained at my brilliance throughout both exams but in the end, I secretly was pleased when I saw the end results; I guess my love for challenges stem back from those achievements…   So all in all asides from the fun elements, it’s puzzling nature and the productive by-products of these challenges it is just a pleasure to write (and from the responses I have received) and to read.

Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.

***

Has Ava Mae inspired you too?  What challenges tickle your fancy?  I would love to hear from you.  What are your thoughts, please share with us -even if it is just a word -as ‘all good discussions start with just one word’.

Want to share an article here on yikici? Then please drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk

Important Note: Please leave a link to your website when commenting as I'm currently having problems following back to your blogs (I hope to have this rectified soon). In the meantime just share some blog-love.

*NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: It has come to my attention that images that I attach as featured or a Tumblog image do show up on the post emailed to you via the newsletter; in order to view the image you will need to visit the blog. Apologies for any inconveniences cause, this is a standard setting which I am unable to override.

Traces of me lay bare,
Elevated, unaware.
Empirical nuances – filter through.
You rarely notice, it's cruel.

You've grown immune to my needs,
Watching as destruction plants it's seed.
Warmth has gone,
I should have known all along.

Love has wilted from your face,
I stand alone in the halls of our embrace.
There was a time, there was a place.
But now, I fall from grace.

And as I search for what I've lost,
Your name is on my heart, embossed.
It's burning deep a blackened hole.
Through which escapes, my tortured soul.

So as I sit here, bemused and so alone.
Wishing that you would, maybe just come home.
I start to ask myself, is it really worth?
When your love to me just recently, has seemed more like a curse.

The Collaborators are:
1st part @yikici
2nd part @sjw
3rd part @richwithey
4th part @LeeLee101
5th part @Stablish
—

This is the first of a fun project I have started to host on Opuss.  You can view the final piece by following this link.  The idea behind it is as thus:

The rules:

To write a collaborative verse (no more than four lines) once tagged by a fellow member of Opuss.  Following the lines you have written tag another wonderful Opussian to continue with another 1-4 lines -who we will encourage to tag another Opussian and so forth until the piece comes to a natural end declared by the last writer of the piece -who will in turn choose an appropriate title for the finished piece.

Each contributor will be required to tag in the predecessors of the piece so we can all follow the developments together.

Please tag it #FridayFun

Please briefly include the above rules at the end of your posts & also follow the contributors/proposed contributors format above.

The following Friday I will set the ball rolling again -so watch out, that person.

—

Since then, we have also been compiling a 'Behind the Scenes with the Writers' as a means to understand what each writer were thinking when they wrote their verse, it's been enlightening.  I'd be curious to know if you find these as interesting as I and the writers have found.  If you fancy joining in with this fun project, please pop on by to Opuss, sign up, find me then let me know on Friday's you're ready to join in with the mayhem.

Want to share an article here on yikici? Then please drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk

Important Note: Please leave a link to your website when commenting as I’m currently having problems following back to your blogs (I hope to have this rectified soon). In the meantime just share some blog-love.

*NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: It has come to my attention that images that I attach as featured or a Tumblog image do show up on the post emailed to you via the newsletter; in order to view the image you will need to visit the blog. Apologies for any inconveniences cause, this is a standard setting which I am unable to override.

Our very first daily inspiration is a photograph captured and edited by Shannon Rogers, please follow the link below titled 'The Orb' and be inspired.

The Orb by Shannon Rogers

You are more than welcome to share anything that has inspired you by this piece.  Should you do so, please link you blog post back to this post, or add it to the linky list below.  This will be open for submission for one week, then will be closed.

You are more than welcome to combine any of the daily challenges (should you wish to), be inspired, let your muse run free.

Thank you for taking part.

Want to share an article here on yikici? Then please drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk

Important Note: Please leave a link to your website when commenting as I'm currently having problems following back to your blogs (I hope to have this rectified soon). In the meantime just share some blog-love.

*NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: It has come to my attention that images that I attach as featured or a Tumblog image do show up on the post emailed to you via the newsletter; in order to view the image you will need to visit the blog. Apologies for any inconveniences cause, this is a standard setting which I am unable to override.

Dearest readers, the schedule is tweaked for my convenience (timewise) and is in keeping with daily/monthly prompts/challenges I have started up on Opuss.  If you fancy taking part in the Opuss challenges, or just want to be inspired, join me there or write your pieces and link your posts back to me me so I can pop by and have a read.

I will try to keep to the daily schedule; however, I will not restrict myself to it and will post as and when I can, again another element of yikici surprise playing afoot here. 

Daily Muse/Prompt:

Similar to the previous Tuesday's Triptych Tapestry, the daily prompts will differ slightly, I will keep the concept simpler.  I will share imagery every day which I hope will inspire to write anything and everything or just help you start the day with a smile.

In Addition to the Daily Prompt the Following Schedule will Continue:

Monday’s Meandering Muse

I will share with you my thoughts and views on life as I see it -be it from a writers, artists or a regular person’s perspective and any other random musings I have with a yikici twist.

Twisted Tuesday’s

Twisted Tuesdays is a weekly challenge that I am hosting on Opuss.  It is about taking a well known story, fairytale, urban tales and rewriting it with a dark twist.  The resulting piece can be in any form; prose, poem, story, etc.  I may share the winning posts from Opuss here too as I provide the new prompts for you.

Whimsical Wednesday Writings

It's as it says on the tin (title), I will share whimsical writings here every Wednesdays, so it'll be a carefree day for all.

Thursday’s Topical Tête-à-Tête

As the title suggests, I will attempt to discuss topical events, as I see it -not necessarily news-related.

Frivolous Fun Friday

Here you will find light-hearted posts where the topics may range from reviews I have carried out to what my pet hates are or random silliness (depending on my mood) as well as fun collaborations I have been part of (and instigated) on Opuss -above all Friday is a day on just chilling and having fun.

Saturday’s Showcase Sketches

Here I will ‘showcase’ my works -be it written, painted, photographed or just sketched ideas.  –Well, a girl has to have some ‘me‘ time!

Savvy Sunday Salutations

On this day I will invite guest bloggers to share a post or two with us and on some Sunday’s I will pay homage to Artists, Authors, Actors I admire etc…  If you want to be one of the savvy guest bloggers please contact me via the contact page.

[PS: The image featured is by yours truly -see footnote below for how to view it.  should you want to purchase it, please follow this link.]

Want to share an article here on yikici? Then please drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk

Important Note: Please leave a link to your website when commenting as I'm currently having problems following back to your blogs (I hope to have this rectified soon). In the meantime just share some blog-love.

*NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: It has come to my attention that images that I attach as featured or a Tumblog image do show up on the post emailed to you via the newsletter; in order to view the image you will need to visit the blog. Apologies for any inconveniences cause, this is a standard setting which I am unable to override.

I'm coming, he said
But he never did.

I promise, he said
But his promise fibbed.

I'll hold you, he said
But his arms didn't reach.

I'll protect you, he said
But his strength breached.

I'll love you, he said
But his heart wasn't hers.

I'll wed you, he said
But his ring she didn't win.

I'll cure you, he said
But that she didn't need.

I'll jail you, he said
But she didn't take heed.

I'll tie you, he said
But her hands were set free.

I'll release you, he said
But she never believed.

I'll drive you, he said
But the driver was she.

I'll kill you, he said
A promise she feared.

I'll play you, he said
His hands on her knees.

I'll dice you, he said
But she reached for his jeans.

I'll circumcise you, she said
She hacked off his skin.

~ Copyright © Ozlem Yikici. 21.03.2013

This poem is a result of my sleepy mind, I wrote it dosing in and of consciousness.  Would be interested to hear your thoughts on what you make of this piece. 

The new schedule will be viewable from tomorrow.  Until then, this is yikici sigining out.

[PS: The image featured is by yours truly -see footnote below for how to view it.  should you want to purchase it, please follow this link.]

Want to share an article here on yikici? Then please drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk

Important Note: Please leave a link to your website when commenting as I'm currently having problems following back to your blogs (I hope to have this rectified soon). In the meantime just share some blog-love.

*NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: It has come to my attention that images that I attach as featured or a Tumblog image do show up on the post emailed to you via the newsletter; in order to view the image you will need to visit the blog. Apologies for any inconveniences cause, this is a standard setting which I am unable to override.

Can you hear that?

That silence which pierces through your gut.

Can you feel how it curls into your heart with a callous tap?

Do you tread on that tightrope?

The one which stretches from within
-a space between yourself and my soul, thin.

Can you hear that crawling thought?
It edges slowly when one's distraught.

A silent tennis match on court
My turn to bat since you're so taut.

Can you sense it?
When you stare into space.
An abyss of loss you fail to embrace.

Can you hear my distressed growl?
Your dismissive air brings it out in a frown.

Do you know why I just leave
-leave you alone to wipe your tears with your sleeve?

The walls you've weaved leaves me no appease.
Your silent thoughts claws at my seams.

Try as I might, you won't let me in
It wears me thin cause I hardly win.

Do you know why I give in?
Why I leave you, just so you win.

Do you know -you don't want to know,
I'm too tired, fighting, this arduous foe.

Can you hear where my thoughts lie?
Yes, it's there if you look in my eye.

~ Copyright © Ozlem Yikici. 24.03.2013

—

As promised, the above piece is a poem I wrote on Opuss, to view it there here's the link: Silent Battles.

[PS: The image featured is by yours truly -see footnote below for how to view it.]

Want to share an article here on yikici? Then please drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk

Important Note: Please leave a link to your website when commenting as I'm currently having problems following back to your blogs (I hope to have this rectified soon). In the meantime just share some blog-love.

*NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: It has come to my attention that images that I attach as featured or a Tumblog image do show up on the post emailed to you via the newsletter; in order to view the image you will need to visit the blog. Apologies for any inconveniences cause, this is a standard setting which I am unable to override.

It feels like another eternity has flown past since I last wrote a blog post.  The passing times have been difficult, the road to recovery, testing, challenging and perplexing at times.  A constant battle in my mind between self-doubt and belief that I can beat this, I believe I will, it will just take time and patience -something, you, my lovely readers have in abundance.

I have good news to share, since I have been away from posting on here, I have found my passion with writing in prose, poetry and attempting a bit of story telling in the horror genre (eak!).  This love has been brought out from a wonderful community I have found on a cleverly designed phone app:  Opuss.  If you have a love of words (like me) or just love to read on the go, then do check out this app, you will wish you had chanced on it sooner.

Over the next few days/weeks, I will be posting my poems, prose and stories from Opuss to here, I do hope you will enjoy the reads as much as I have enjoyed writing them.  I have also taken on a few projects there, some collaborations, others touching on worldwide issues, I hope these will be engaging enough that you too would want to join in with.

Oh wait -I forgot to share another exciting bit of news, I've actually collated a selection of dark themed poems in an e-book on wattpad, it's titled: 'Dark Haunts – Collective Poems 1'.  Please do take a moment and have a read and let me know your thoughts.  The book cover is designed and edited by me and the original photograph was taken by a friend of mine (Geoffrey Batty).  I will be writing a post on how I took the photo to book cover in step-by-step stages, keep an eye out for that post.

In the next two posts, I will share a poem and also announce a new workable schedule for me and my blog, this will be gracing your inbox and screen soon.   Until then, this is yikici sigining out.

[PS: The image featured is by yours truly -see footnote below for how to view it.]

Want to share an article here on yikici? Then please drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk

Important Note: Please leave a link to your website when commenting as I'm currently having problems following back to your blogs (I hope to have this rectified soon). In the meantime just share some blog-love.

*NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: It has come to my attention that images that I attach as featured or a Tumblog image do show up on the post emailed to you via the newsletter; in order to view the image you will need to visit the blog. Apologies for any inconveniences cause, this is a standard setting which I am unable to override.