Tiniest of Plug-ettes

Regular readers of this blog may be surprised to learn that as well as my regular cycling, gardening, ford-monitoring and general trouble-making activities, I am technically supposed to be a writer. Friends, family AND regular readers of the blog may be even more surprised to learn that I have actually finally written something AND found someone to publish it. No, not the long awaited Difficult Second Novel – honestly, who do you think I am, Thomas Pynchon? – but a short story which will be appearing in the forthcoming issue of the Edinburgh Review. Not only that, but I have decided to dig myself out of my rural isolation, pick the straw out of my hair and scrub the chain grease off my knuckles – I might even change out of my gardening trousers, if I remember – and go to the launch. Well, what can I say, there was a promise of free wine. Anyhoo, if you’re interested, I shall be here, and if you’re even more interested, you can buy a copy of it. I’m sure it’s packed with brilliance.

Oh, and if you’re reading this and going ‘I didn’t know she was a writer! Where can I buy her fabulous and acclaimed and likened-to-Barbara-Vine-no-less first novel?’ then can I direct your attention to the links on my sidebar.

Here endeth the plugging. As you were. Carry on. Nothing to see here, folks, move along…

Writerly Stuff

OK, it’s not all been bike rides and somersaulting green beans and scenery up here – I’ve been doing some writing stuff too. No, not a new book yet, so don’t ask – ‘how’s the writing going’ is one of those great unanswerable questions like ‘who can stop the rain?’ or ‘have we got a government yet?’ – but I have been busy setting up this, which will be out at the end of the month. There will be a short story from me in it, and – when it’s printed and I’ve wrestled PayPal into submission – there will be a way to buy it on-line and have it posted to you, actually physically, in a proper envelope with a stamp on it and everything. This digital world is overrated, I’ve decided. We put it together with actual cut and pasting – scissors and glue – and it was the best fun I’ve had in a long time.

Hmmm. Maybe Paypal is the wrong approach after all. Does anybody still do postal orders these days do you think?