Online Writing Portfolio

Last Updated: October 2021

The Way She Surfs

Excerpt:

The rain hits, hits; pummels her face, her neck – the wind snapped her umbrella hours ago. She is defenceless, yet resilient. She pulls the drawstrings around her neck, tighter, tighter – an almost useless shield, but a shield nonetheless. There are no birds around her today, no gulls for her to observe. No man to sit beside her. She is alone.

Almost alone. Out at sea, across the watery depths, she (Alex doesn’t know her name, probably never will) plays tig-you’re-it with the waves. This is the fourth week that Alex has come to this jetty, alone, to watch this woman surf. The whole ordeal, to Alex, is mesmerising. Or maybe the woman is the mesmerising part. Alex feels like the Bandar-log, hypnotised by the hissing and swaying of Kaa as he preps for his feast upon the monkey people. She has no feast to look forward to, no mass brawl to feed upon and gain satisfaction from. She does, however, have a leftover korma sitting in her fridge, coconut milk seeping into every pore of her chicken pieces. Absorbing the cumin spice, ginger, garlic; marinating the rice that floats in every which way, swimming like fish against the tide when she stirs the pot above the flame.

Devil’s Lettuce

Except;

03/07/2020

Just watched the toilet roll flip and land I don’t know why I’m finding it so funny but my cheeks won’t stop grinning and Lord Huron is playing and this was meant to be a short story about Phil about magic about unicorns about making them cry, making them sad and harvesting their tears for healing and- my left hand is strained. The joint muscles pull.

A slight tremble.

A shaking of my external limbs, punching of the keyboard keys clack clack clack and a sip of coke zero to soothe this drying throat. Never mind Coke zero tastes fucking weird. Gonna drink it anyway. One might call that a mistake. I might be the aforementioned one.

The Publishing Post

Excerpt;
The project has firmly bolstered Aysel’s CV, showing a dedication to helping others and a passion for writing, as well as providing her with new skills in terms of website management. She has also developed skills for editing, social media marketing and team management; Aysel prefers, instead of turning away work and giving budding writers yet another rejection, to give feedback and help the writers find pride in their work. The project has made her feel more passionate about publishing generally, giving her that push to view the industry as one designed to help others flourish. Feather Pen Blog is always on the lookout for new talent, and anyone thinking of submitting (whether it’s poetry, prose, or new article ideas) is greatly encouraged to do so through the email listed on the website

Should brands use #Pride as a marketing tactic?

Sapphic Lifestyle

Excerpt;

But Is Using #Pride Marketing Bad?
Inherently, no. It does encourage new shoppers – you may see that Converse have a Pride collection, for example, and buy a pair – and now you’ll never wear another brand of shoe again after falling in love with the way it fits your foot. But the catch is, you should know if this collaboration with LGBTQ+ charities is a one-off, a Pride month only event, or if it occurs all year round. Companies should be helping to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ men, women, and non-binary people throughout the year, continuously donating money or helping fund initiatives that improve the lives of LGBTQ+ communities.
Spreading awareness is not enough in these times; the pandemic has hit LGBTQ+ communities harder than imaginable as people found themselves trapped in unsafe environments where they could not be their authentic selves. It is entirely possible that more have been forced out of their family homes, and so an increase in funding for shelter, food banks, and safe spaces is needed – and not just for LGBTQ+ communities.

Monthly #BiCon

London-born singer/songwriter and poet Arlo Parks has been open and proud about her bisexuality since her teen years, which is why she has been chosen as this month’s #MonthlyBicon. When Parks spoke to the Independent in early 2021 she said that there was never a ‘moment’ where she came out, that it was “always just a thing”. ⁠
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Parks further explained that “I never felt uncomfortable. I never felt like it was something I had to explain to them. People like to write that it made me sad and confused and angsty, but I never felt that.”