This week I’d like to welcome Attie Lime to my blog. Attie is a poet and author who specialises in writing and teaching the joy of poetry and how to create poems to children.

Attie, welcome. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I’d like to say I really admire your energy and how you inspire children to express themselves through poetry.

But I’d love to know, what is it about that that feeds your inspiration?

Hi Caron and thanks so much for inviting me! When I started writing in earnest again after a long break, I wrote for adults, and was published in online and print litmags, which really boosted my confidence; I’d never really submitted work before. Children’s poetry came along by accident, really! I had submitted the first part of a novel for children to a competition and didn’t want to continue writing it while I waited, in case I won mentoring, so I had a try at children’s poetry, and fell in love with it. Then came the pen name! That was in the second half of 2021.

I am inspired by my own children, things I notice in everyday life, memories, and particularly by words, phrases, and rhythms which catch my attention and spark a poem. Anything at all can inspire a poem – usually when I’m not thinking about writing one.

I’ve had one children’s short fiction piece published and I started a middle grade novel… I also write poetry and flash fiction for adults, but I mainly write poetry for children.

And what were your earliest influences? What did you read as a child?

I enjoyed Enid Blyton books, Roald Dahl, Funny Poems by Spike Milligan, Milly Molly Mandy, that sort of thing. What I mainly remember about poetry is my mum sharing (not reading) poems with me at bedtime – poems she had memorised. I loved it. It felt special.

Oh my mum did something similar, though she mainly read from books to me, no doubt setting my own love of reading and stories in motion. But to this day I can still quote sections of poems from When We Were Very Young or Spike Milligan and others!

And what are you working on at the moment?

Writing-wise, I am currently expanding and polishing a poetry collection aimed at Key Stage Two children (my debut next year is aimed at Key Stage One), a plan for a craft-and-poetry book, a collection of action poems for young children, plus various poems for submission opportunities, and of course just writing poems for the love of it (including poetry for grown-ups). I am also co-editing a poetry anthology for children – and probably doing some other things I’ve forgotten about!!

It’s amazing how many writers have more than one work in progress! What can we look forward to in the future from you?

My debut children’s poetry collection will be published in early Spring 2025! I can’t share its name yet, but there is fruit in the title (not lime!). I feel very lucky to have signed a contract with Otter-Barry Books.

There are a few exciting poetic things happening throughout 2024 – you can be sure I’ll shout about them on socials when the time comes!

I would like to have a chapbook of my poetry for adults published at some point.

Who are your favourite authors or poets?

I always struggle with this because a) I am terrible at ‘favourite’ ANYTHING (never ask me to arrange anything in order of preference from 10 – 1!) and b) lots of them are actual friends, so I couldn’t possibly choose – different poets bring different things to the poetry table!

What I will say though, is just how important it is to read, read, read! I absolutely would not have had a book accepted for publication if I hadn’t read the good, the bad, and the great, and learnt from it all.

Reading is a wonderful way to learn as well as being good for our mental health! I find my ‘favourites’ tend to change almost as often as the weather – I definitely couldn’t number them in order of preference, either! 

What do you do when you’re not reading?

I enjoy sniffing out poetry books and interesting bits and bobs in charity shops (often with the excuse of “I’ll use it in one of my writing groups”! I like to walk in the trees close to where I live, and enjoy time with the family (my UNO game is strong, but my table football skills need a lot of work!).

What is your creation process?

Not always the same each time! I wrote a blog piece about a poem I wrote, which is here: https://www.attielime.co.uk/post/how-i-wrote-a-poem

I loved reading that – it really does show the process, even though it’s clear the process can change. It’s just the same when writing a novel – I often think that each one of my novels is written in a completely different way. (Plus mercats, what’s not to love?)

What single piece of advice do you wish someone had given you 15 years ago?

15 years ago I had an almost one-year-old, and I had put writing on the back burner to say the least, so maybe “Pick up a pen more often – remember that you love it!”.

An easy thing to forget, especially when life gets busy!

What books or poems do you regularly reread? Where do you turn for inspiration?

I reread children’s poetry far more than anything else. Reading poetry by brilliant children’s poets is the most inspiring thing for me. If I am stuck in a rut and can’t get started on a poem (e.g. if I’m writing to a theme for a submission), then the best thing for me to do is read (or walk in the trees!). For that reason, my children’s poetry book collection is growing by the week – I need them all to hand, so although I do use the library, I buy new and second hand, too, so they’re mine to dip into at any time. I also reread adult poetry books, writing how-to books, and writing prompt books, to help me to plan the creative writing groups that I run locally. Two books on writing that I know I will reread in full at some point, are On Writing by Stephen King, and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

And lastly, Attie, thank you so much for allowing yourself to be bullied taking part in this interview, it’s been great to find out more about you. Good luck with all your upcoming endeavours, and especially the new book!

And lastly, where can readers find you?

My website for children’s writing is www.attielime.co.uk and for adult writing www.marielittlewords.co.uk (embarrassingly in need of updating!). I am also on Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram and YouTube @attielime and Twitter (X) @jamsaucer (with my grown-up hat on). Thank you 😊

You can watch, and listen of course, as Attie reads some short works on YouTube here.

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