Hello

You’ve not heard from me in a while, and for that I am truly sorry.  As some of you will know I separated from my husband at the beginning of the year, and the silence has been generally through moving home, being incapacitated with emotional pain, and having no internet connection.  But all three are pretty much sorted now!  I have been busy though so here is a list of Stuff What I Have Done.

1. I have a smashing new flat in Comely Bank, and found out there are some smashing writers living near-by.  I’m going to be setting up a wee informal group which people can attend for a bit of a chat about writing and tea and cake.  If you’re in the area, or around (I’m not too fussy on geography) and your interested send me a message.
2. I have got a poem in Under the Radar.  Which I am very pleased about.  It’s a great magazine to get in.  They had rejected me once before but told me to re-submit, so it just goes to show it’s worth trying more than once.
3. The erotic anthology I am in Bedtime Stories 2 has been published.  I’ll hopefully be getting my copy next week, and will blog more about it then.
4. I’m also in the Small Stones project anthology Pay Attentions:  A River of Stones, in lovely hard, paperback and download.
5. I attended the This Collection Friendly Slam.  My aim was to get through to round two and I was successful.  Both Andy Philip and Russell Jones have blogged about the slam and I think they can do it better justice than me.  All I can say is that I’m really pleased to see how Scottish poets are taking something that didn’t necessarily fit well with the prevailing culture and are being creative and adaptive with it.
6. I went to hear poet Jacq Kelly read.  I’m always nervous when I hear people I know read for the first time, but pleasantly I didn’t have to lie about how much I enjoyed it.
7. I have also guest blogged at Burdz Eye View, although this is mainly about breasts.
8. I have suffered from hypergaphia and have written most of a second pamphlet in the last month.  The only down side of this amazing amount of energy is my brain sometimes breaks down and has a migraine.
9. I had Bibliotherpay book art style and it was utterly brilliant.  I would recommend you catch this woman and get her to write you a prescription.
10. I went to the Literature Salon and meet some new people.
11. Gillian and I are planning to move again with Marvelou – I know we’re being very tardy – and spend a whole day binding, probably here.
12. I may have identified some new work for Marvelou.
13. I’ve had a breakthrough with my writing, which is just amazing – not sure if this is the cause or the effect of the hypergraphia.
14. And I may have more exciting news to come soon…

Not bad for a month and a half.