Description

Episode 11

Join your hosts Carmen and Sophia Micsa on a virtual afternoon tea with flash fiction writer and editor Keely O'Shaughnessy and learn about why being concise and specific with your writing will help you with your school essays, or any other writing you do. Also, discover some fun UK tea traditions that Americans view differently than the British. 

Keely O'Shaughnessy lives and works in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire in South West England, with her husband and two cats. When she is not writing or editing, Keely works in a primary school (ages 4-11) as a teaching assistant for children with special education needs.  Separate from school, Keely is the Managing Editor for Flash Fiction Magazine and has a Masters degree in Creative and Critical Writing. Keely’s writing has been shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award and won Retreat West’s Monthly Micro contest and my short fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions as well as being selected for the Wigleaf Top 50. Keely also has cerebral palsy and keeps active by taking walks in the countryside. She enjoys history, baking, traveling, and listening to David Bowie. If she had the opportunity to live anywhere else in the world it would be Canada. 

Keely O'Shaughnessy has great writing tips for children and adults, as well as delightful observations about British tea traditions:

•  WhatKeely enjoysmost about living in the UK, especially in Gloucestershire are the countryside and the lovely green spaces. 
• Keely has cerebral palsy and does not let the condition dictate her life. With her illness being mild, Keely chooses to live life with kindness toward everyone she meets, as they could have their own struggles to overcome. 
• Keely explains that having a cup of tea is a uniquely British experience that some of her American friends that she works with as an editor think means food and eating.
• Also, having a traditional British afternoon tea is a special occasion, Keely explained. 
• Keely is a big fan of Indie presses because they are about quality over quantity and for the love of writing.
• Keely is drawn to flash fiction because of the level of clarity it calls for and its need for constant forward momentum. For her, there is nothing more exhilarating than landing on the exact word or image that conveys your meaning. Perfectly in flash immediacy and urgency are everything. 

On this Seeds of Sunshine episode:

• You will learn that Keely has mild cerebral palsy and chooses to live her life with intention and kindness. 
• When we write something, we don't despair if we get pulled away from our original intention and message, as creativity can lead us on different paths, which

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Full editing credit & art design to my daughter Sophia Micsa.
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