sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Verse Off Week 3

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Week Three of the Verse Off – and a special welcome to any who may be joining us for the first time! (Feel free to scroll below to past posts and see what we’ve been up to.)

If you’ve played before, you know the routine.. If this is your first time, here’s the drill…

May is a dual celebration with the release of Kathryn Apel’s This is the Mud!,

a humorous rhyming picture book, and Sally Murphy’s Pearl Verses the World,

a free verse novel.

To celebrate, each Sunday in May we are inviting blog readers to have some fun by responding – in verse – to some prompts. You can choose your style – either free verse (unrhyming) or rhyming verse. This is your chance to prove that your preferred form is the best.

If you want to respond in free verse, please post your response on Sally’s blog, and if writing in rhyme, you can post at Kathryn’s blog.

The next day – Monday – we’ll post the verses in a new post for all to see.
Here are the rules:
1. There is no ‘right’ answer to the prompt. Be creative.
2. Limit your response to twelve lines (so there is room for everyone’s response)
3. You can respond in either free verse or rhymed verse. If you’d like to do both, post each at the appropriate blog.
4. This is your work, so add your name, and a link to your website or blog, if you’d like.
5. Everyone is a winner! But there is no winner.
Got it? Great. Then here goes with the new prompt…

Post your poem in the comments below if you’re writing in free verse. Or visit Kathryn’s blog to post your rhyme.

So are you versed in rhyme – or free? May is your chance to find out!

blog tour day 8 and a special Verse Off

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Welcome to Day 8 of my blog tour. Today the tour visits Write and Read With Dale where Dale has written a wonderful review of Pearl Verses the World. Head over and see what she has to say.

Today is a day of celebration, with the official launch of Kathryn Apel’s This is the Mud! as a part of the Miriam Vale State School’s Under 8’s Day celebrations. (Believe me, there’s one, mammoth, muddy party happening here! But we’re finding it a bit tricky to log onto blogs at school – impossible! – so we’re also holding our own mini Verse Off within the Verse Off.)So, on this the momentous 8th day of May 2009, I hereby take a moment to shout,………. Let the mud fly!That’s the official bit over…

Now it’s time for the second round of our Verse Off.

For those of you who’ve just joined and are wondering, what is this Verse Off thing? Let me make it as clear as mud!A Verse Off is what happens when two authors who have books to be released in the same month realise there is a common link in poetry. All be it different kinds of poetry.Sally Murphy (that’s me) is celebrating her free verse novel, Pearl Verses the World – and from all reviews, it truly is a pearl amongst books. A treasure!

Kathryn Apel is launching her rhyming picture book, This is the Mud! – a rollicking rural story of muck, mess and mayhem.

To celebrate this momentous month of May, Kat and Sally have invited blog readers to join the fun by taking part in an online Verse Off, running each Sunday in May. (Today’s event is a special, muddy launch edition of the Verse Off.)The Verse Off is your chance to prove that your preferred form is the best. Free verse, or rhyme? Now is the time…But first, a recap of the rules:

1. There is no ‘right’ answer to the prompt. Be creative.
2. Limit your response to twelve lines (so there is room for everyone’s response).
3. You can respond in either free verse or rhymed verse – or both. If you do both, post each at the appropriate blog.
4. This is your work, so add your name, and a link to your website or blog, if you’d like.
5. Everyone is a winner! But there is no winner.

Got it? Great. Then here goes with prompt number two.


If you want to write a rhyming poem, head over to Kathryn’s Blog.

If you want to respond with a free verse (non rhyming) poem, scroll down to the comments section below this blog posting. Don’t forget to add your name – and link, if you have one. And if you’ve been at the muck, mess and mayhem of Miriam Vale’s book launch (and are now back home on your own computers) tell us!Tomorrow – Saturday – we’ll post the collection in a new post for all to see. So don’t forget to check in to see your poem feature.And Sunday, we’ll be back here to do it all again!So are you versed in rhyme – or free? Let’s find out!

Welcome to the Big Verse-Off

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The celebrations to celebrate the release of Pearl verses the World continue, and today I am delighted to be visiting Tips for Young Writers, where I’m being interviewed by Dee White. Dee has also written a wonderful review of the book.

It would be great to see you there.
But, before you head off – drumroll please. Today is the first day of the much-trumpeted Verse -Off. Read on as all is finally revealed.
When verse versus verse – what do you get?

A Verse Off of course!

A Verse Off is what happens when two authors who have books to be released within days of each other, realise there is a common link in verse. One has a novel in free verse, and the other a rhyming picture book.

‘We should get together and celebrate,’ says Kat.
‘Great idea! We could get people to write poems on our blogs’, says Sally.
‘What blog?’ says Kat ‘I’ll have to start one!’
‘They could write free verse to my blog,’ says Sally.
‘And rhyme to mine,’ says Kat.
‘Hmmm… What would we call it?’ says Sally.
‘A verse off of course,’ says Kat.

That explanation should make everything as clear as mud (that’s appropriate!) so let’s put it more simply.

May is a dual celebration with the release of Kathryn Apel’s This is the Mud!, a humorous rhyming picture book, and Sally Murphy’s Pearl Verses the World, a free verse novel. Just look at the pretty covers:

To celebrate, we are inviting blog readers to have some fun by responding – in verse – to some prompts. You can choose your style – either free verse (unrhyming) or rhyming verse. This is your chance to prove that your preferred form is the best. So are you versed in rhyme – or free? May is your chance to find out!

Each Sunday in May we’ll post the prompt on both blogs, http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/ and http://katswhiskers-thewritestuff.blogspot.com/ and invite readers to post their verse responses. If you want to respond in free verse, please post your response on Sally’s blog, and if writing in rhyme, you can post at Kathryn’s blog.

The next day – Monday – we’ll post the verses in a new post for all to see.

On Friday, 8th May we will be holding a special Verse Off – because that’s the day This is the Mud! will be launched.

Here are the rules:
1. There is no ‘right’ answer to the prompt. Be creative.
2. Limit your response to twelve lines (so there is room for everyone’s response)
3. You can respond in either free verse or rhymed verse. If you’d like to do both, post each at the appropriate blog.
4. This is your work, so add your name, and a link to your website or blog, if you’d like.
5. Everyone is a winner! But there is no winner.

Got it? Great. Then here goes with prompt number one.

Over to you. Write your response to this photo (remember twelve lines or less) and, if it is free verse, post it in the comments section below. If you’d like to respond in rhyme, head over to Kathryn’s blog. Don’t forget to add your name – and link, if you have one. And check back tomorrow to see your poem featured.

Go on – have a go. you know you want to. And thank you for celebrating the birth of our two books with us.
sallymurphy.com.au