Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: Promote Your Poetry

Prompt This

Do you ever get stuck for words? Or ideas? I know I do. All the time! That's where writer's prompts come in super handy. Pretty much every writing class I've ever done was structured around a series of writing prompts to get my imagination firing and creativity flowing.

Think of a prompt such as 'What lies beyond the stars?' or 'Write about your day from the point of view of your shoe' or 'Where is home?' I just made all those up but it took me a while to figure them out. The brilliant thing about writer's prompts is someone else has already done the hard work of figuring out the prompt for you so all you have to do is to respond to it.

So far I have added these prompt packs to my collection: The Writer's Toolbox, Writer Emergency Pack and The Writing Deck: 52 Prompts for Putting Pen to Paper. These kits are aimed at storytelling and writing fiction but you can easily use them to write poetry as well. Especially if you're interested in writing narrative poems.

On a slightly more poetic note comes Poems to Share II from Red Room Poetry. Red Room Poetry are a great Australian organisation that promotes and supports poetry through programs for schools as well as the publication of poetry on its website. The Poems to Share II prompt cards are brilliant. On one side is a short poem and on the other a prompt inspired by the poem. The deck comes with instructions on how to use the cards as well as a description of different poetic techniques.

What happens when you add dice and metaphors? Well you get metaphor dice of course! Taylor Mali is a genius and this idea is amazing. Roll three dice, get your metaphor and then expand it to create a poem. Brilliant!

I'm hoping there are more prompt decks for writing poetry out there. Drop me a line if you know of any!

March 7, 2023
Splendor

So it turns out that when your kids don't want to play games, it's actually that they don't want to play any of the games you've backed and bought! Instead, they want to obsess over a game you played at a friend's years ago and that your husband bought on impulse at the discount store up the road.

It started out with the youngest girl and I playing together. Then the Lovely G joined in and finally Miss Seventeen couldn't hold out any longer and joined us. It's been so lovely to be doing something together as a family again.

We've been playing just about every night for the last few weeks. One of the cool things about playing a game with different numbers of people is the way it changes up the strategy you need to use. I have to admit that I'm not particularly good at this game and almost always come last, in spite of the tips and coaching I receive from the girls. But I don't mind because I love that we are here, together, playing this game.

February 19, 2023
Two Player Games

Family games nights are great but sometimes there's just two of you and what do you do then?

I feel like a lot of the bigger games are designed for more players and optimally for four people which seems to be a standard family unit these days. So what do you do when it's just you and your partner and you have no kids? Or how about if there's just you and one child?

Luckily there are some games (that play better in my opinion) with just two players like the deluxe versions of Citadels. And then there are the hugely successful games like Seven Wonders (which my youngest daughter loved so much that she bought it herself with her own pocket money!) which bring out a two player version. In this case, Seven Wonder Duel.

And then there are games that are specifically designed for two players. Like Jaipur and Hive. I'm know there are more games out there but these are the two that we own.

In Jaipur you are competing to become the Maharaja's personal trader by collecting and selling goods.

I bought this game because it was beautifully illustrated with gorgeous components which as you already know, I'm a sucker for. And I was so excited when I opened the box because the game tray is gorgeous and fits the elements perfectly. So many games these days give you little plastic baggie to store your pieces which I find really off-putting. I know that designing a game tray isn't easy so I really appreciate it when a designer gets it right.

I love Jaipur because it is fun to play. I feel that because you get to have some little wins along the way, it doesn't feel so bad if you loose the game at the end. Which is important to little peeps who may not like losing. And let's face, who does? This game is definitely in the cosy game corner.

Hive is a twist on the two player strategy of Chess but it's more accessible for younger players and more appealing with the insects on the tiles. Chess can drag on and adults can crush kids making out not a lot of fun. We own the portable version which comes with little bag so we can take it wherever we go.

I feel like more and more designers are realising that there's a demand for two player games and are rising to the challenge of making games that are interesting, complex and beautiful. Titles that may be worth checking out include: Inhuman Conditions, Summoner Wars, Targi, The Fox in the Forest, Yinsh, I haven't played these games (yet!) but they look cool! For more ideas check out this great article.

January 16, 2023
Calico

This super cute board game from Flatout Games has captured the hearts of the whole family. How could it not? After all, we are a house of cat lovers and share our home with two very funny and quirky Tonkinese cats. If you're curious, the breed is a cross between Burmese and Siamese. We have one cat that is more Burmese in nature and build. She is the adventurous one who will eat anything including broccoli and kale and she used to climb the curtains when she was a kitten. The other cat looks very Siamese and she is super vocal and loves to be with people. She also likes a good belly rub and she played fetch when she was a kitten.

In the board game Calico, you are stitching together a patchwork quilt using cardboard tiles. You're aiming to group patterns together to entice a cat to come and snooze on your quilt. You can also add buttons to the quilt if you match colours. The game has a lot of intuit variety with changeable goal tokens set into each player's board. You can also choose from a range of cats. The instruction booklet has pictures and bios of each cat featured in the game.

I picked up this Kickstarter edition of Calico when I backed the game Verdant which we still haven't played! But I'm not complaining. It's great to be playing one of the new games that have arrived recently, even if it's not one of the ones that I actually backed!

November 21, 2022
Back It

During the seemingly endless lockdowns during the pandemic I spent a lot of time on Kickstarter, drooling over new board games. The girls and I would pore over the graphics, read through the descriptions and watch the videos. And then I would decide which games to back. We decided to invest our pennies into Birdwatcher, City of the Great Machine, Honeybuzz, Mythwind, Roll Camera and Verdant.

For those of you new to Kickstarter, it’s a platform for designers and creatives to source funding for their projects. It allows them to raise the money they need to pay for the printing and production instead of having to take out a loan or use their savings to do so. Although projects aren’t guaranteed, the pay off for a backer is, hopefully a shiny, brand new thing. Cos there’s also books, cameras and just about anything you can think of.

It’s a super clever platform with projects having stretch goals and Kickstarter exclusives to get backers excited and spending their money to back the project. Stretch goals generally improve the quality of the components for a game when a certain funding goal is reached. For example a linen finish on cards or screen printing on meeples when $10,000 has been pledged to the campaign. Kickstarter exclusives are game bonuses that only folks who back the original game on Kickstarter can get. I’m still wishing I’d known about Coup when it was on Kickstarter so I could have got the bonus cards.

When you back a game, you then receive emails and behind the scenes updates as the game is brought to life. And you know how much I love hearing about the creative process. My favourite email updates so far have been from Malachi Ray Rempen of Kean Bean Studio when I backed the Roll Camera expansion, the B-Movie Expansion. He was super funny and I love his graphics.

The other great thing about backing games is you can often buy other games by the same publisher. Sometimes you can even get the Kickstarter exclusives you missed out on in an initial campaign. When I backed Verdant I grabbed the opportunity to get Calico with the bonus content and Cascadia. By backing the B-Movie Expansion I could also get the original Roll Camera plus the travelling card game, Itchy Feet.

The only problem with backing games is the time you have to wait before they arrive on your doorstep. A lot can happen in that time. Like your kids deciding that they’ve grown out of games and not wanting to play any of them any more! It’s okay, Birdwatcher, Roll Camera and Verdant can wait until they’re ready or I decide to host a games night. Now that they’re here, they’re not going anywhere. And I still have the excitement of City of the Great Machine, Honeybuzz and Mythwind arriving on my doorstep to look forward to. Future me is going to be very happy indeed!

November 7, 2022
Double Choc Bliss Bombs

Still sugar free and still loving it. Especially when I can manage to concoct something as scrumptious as these double choc bliss bombs. Mmmmm.

Think rich and velvety with crunchy nuggets of cacao nibs and bursts of dried cranberries. Rum balls without the rum (or sugar). Vegan, dairy and gluten free. What more could you want really? (Apart from world peace and an end to the climate emergency of course). In the meantime, eat cake, I mean, bliss bombs.

Double Choc Bliss Bombs

2 cups of pitted dates

¼ cup dried cranberries

¾ cup of desiccated coconut

¼ cacao nibs

¼ cup cacao powder

extra desiccated coconut for dusting

Soak the dates in boiling water for at least 30 minutes to make them soft and squishy. Skip this step if you're using fresh dates – just remember to remove the pips!

Drain the dates and squeeze out the excess moisture.

Throw the dates and dried cranberries (make sure to buy the ones sweetened with apple juice not sugar) into a food processor and blitz.

Once they've become a paste, add in the coconut, cacao powder and cacao nibs.

Blitz again until it all comes together.

Sprinkle the extra coconut on to a plate.

Dip your hands in cold water (this reduces the amount of mixture that sticks to your hands).

Spoon out some mixture and roll it between your palms to make it into balls.

Roll the ball in the extra coconut and then put it on a plate.

Repeat for the rest of the mixture.

Refrigerate for an hour or two before devouring.

October 8, 2022
Zeus on the Loose

We take games with us when we go travelling. It started with our three month trip to South America way back in 2013 when the girls were six and half and two and a half years old respectively. That game was a cute little deck of cards with watercolour pantings. For the life of me I can't remember its name even though we played it at restaurants waiting for food, in hotel rooms before bedtime and on trains travelling to new places.

On our most recent family trip to Tassie to see our good friends, we discovered a fabulous shop on the main street of their closest town, Deloraine. I love Deloraine, with its fabulous pub meals, quirky shops and the gorgeous river along which it is situated. The shop had a great selection of games and on a whim I picked up Zeus on the Loose. It quickly became a firm family favourite and we played it over and over again. Which is pretty good when your kids are now twelve and sixteen.

Zeus on the Loose is another game from the publisher, Game Wright. We already have loads of their games because they are perfect for families and younger children. They typically involve some luck, some strategy and a little bit of thinking but not too much.

This game is fast and fun. Just what you need for some down time after a day spent sightseeing! Kids who are fans of the Percy Jackson series of books will love the Greek mythology theme. And for parents – it's also a maths game so you can sneak in some learning while you're travelling and the kids won't care cos they're having too much fun!

June 15, 2022
Eating Out

One of my favourite things about this trip has been not having to cook dinner. I am feeling thoroughly spoilt and lucky as we have eaten out most nights even though we have been mainly staying in self-catered accomodation.

With all my dietary requirements, it's usually a nightmare for me to eat out but all the places we've been to have had gluten free and vegan options marked clearly on their menus. It may seem a like small thing but it's the difference between feeling ostracised or included. When you can eat anything on the menu you take it for granted and revel in all the choices. When you can't, you stare at it the menu despair trying to figure out what won't make you sick or interrogate yet another waiter to find something you can actually eat for dinner. For me that's usually a super expensive steak and thank goodness I'm not vegetarian or I'd never be eating out.

Cycles at the Empire in Deloraine had the most amazing house-smoked trout omelette with roquette and aoli for lunch. Thai at Bushman's in Strahan served the most incredible prawn pad thai. The buffet on board the Spirit of the Wild had the best Tasmanian cold smoked Atlantic salmon (pictured) I've ever had – and probably spoilt me for life!. In Swansea at the Artifakt Cafe and Gallery I ate smashed avocado with poached egg and a salad with a most delicious dressing.

But the icing on the cake or the dessert to end all desserts was eaten at the Japanese inspired Raiida in St Helens. Coconut mousse topped with roasted rhubarb, coconut jubes and strawberry granita. It was so good people that we went back the next night just for dessert!

May 25, 2022
The Blowhole

Bicheno, east coast of Tasmania

May 21, 2022
Unexpected Sights

One of the things I love about traveling is the unexpected things that pop up on your journey. You're looking for a place to stay and you stumble across a great little cafe with the best burnt toffee almond slice you've ever tasted. Or you're trying to find the turn off to the beach and you end up at a waterfall you didn't even know existed.

This afternoon saw us in the Freycinet National Park heading for the lookout to Wineglass Bay. It's part of the Great Eastern Drive on the East coast stretching fro Orford in the south up past Binnalong Bay in the north. It's billed as one of Australia's great drives. I have to say, the Tasmanian tourist board have a positive genius for naming places. There's the cabin of lagoons, Bay of Fires, Honeymoon Bay just to name few. Much more enticing sounding than pools water, red rocks and a sandy beach.

Our walk up the hillside to the lookout for wineglass bay passed through the most incredible scenery. In an island of gorgeous landscapes and vegetation, it was another stunning setting for a walk with magnificent red rocks, rising jagged from the mountain's edge. Trees, mushrooms, flowers and birds all clinging to the side. Evidence of mammals although none actually seen.

The view from the lookout was gorgeous but my money was on the walk the top. Sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination.

May 21, 2022