About me

My name is Tina Cathleen MacNaughton and I am an acupuncturist, a writer and a poet. I divide my time between Crowthorne in Berkshire and Portsmouth, my home city. I have a professional writing services company, WriteRhymes, which produces commissioned bespoke celebration poetry personally penned by me - a very special gift. 

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My Books

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I have written and published a 1980s music-based novel, Delphy​ Rose - the girl who wrote songs, (Troubador 2023), and a collection of poetry, On the Shoulders of Lions, (The Choir Press, 2021) . You can buy my books from independent bookshops; Lee-on-the-Solent's The Book Shop and The Marlow Bookshop, Bucks. They can also be ordered from any Waterstones store or online.

 

I have written three children's Christmas books; When the Elves Rescued Christmas (2020), Santa's Still Asleep (2021) and Christmas Socks (2024), all published by WriteRhymes. My children's books may be purchased directly by emailing me. 

 

In fact, all of my books can be ordered directly. Just email me (write.rhymes@outlook.com) and I am happy to personally sign them with an individual message.

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Anthologies and Other Publications

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I am thrillled that my poems and short stories have been short-listed and long-listed frequently and have found homes in several wonderful anthologies and a range of fantastic journals and online forums. I have been published by Orbis, Ingenue, The People's Friend, Hedgehog Press, Spillwords, Flora Fiction, T'Articulation, Pens of the Earth, Portsmouth's Star and Crescent, Writing Literary Portsmouth's online map, and, last but not least, Portsmouth Football Club! ​

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 In 2024, my short story Walk on By was short-listed in Victory Online Radio's Pick of the Pops competition and was read out on local Portsmouth radio. Voices, a short story with an environmental theme won First Prize in Pens of the Earth's 2024 Community competition and features in their celebrated anthology Wild Seas, Wilder Cities. Seventeen was commended by T'Articulation's 2023 Blake Project competition. Short stories Seventeen and Two Wills both feature in the resulting T'Articulation anthology, Night-Lines. My reflective poem Winter's Sigh won Third Prize in US County Ventura's 2021 annual poetry competition (international category).

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My Writing Community and Performance

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I am privileged to be a regular on the south-coast open mic poetry circuit and have performed with Chichester-based spoken word group Words out Loud, T'Articulation, Pompey Poetry and Portsmouth Authors' Collective. My poem Tiny Pieces formed part of Words Out Loud's collaborative play, The Well of Lost Voices and I performed with the troupe onstage at Chichester's Graylingwell Chapel in 2023.

 

I have had the pleasure of reading my poetry on the Literary Stage at Portsmouth's Victorious Music Festival several years in succession. 

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I am an active member of Portsmouth Writers' Hub and am proud to feature in Writing Literary Portsmouth, an exciting collaborative online project with Portsmouth University and local writers which can be accessed at this link.