Warning – this entry will disappoint you. Too tired to actually think on things, here’s a very brief round-up of the past ten days, not including nice dog walks, meals, sleep and binge-reading Alice Munro.
11 –
the number of fantastic poets I saw read/talk at the Newcastle Poetry Festival. I actually wanted to see more, but was too exhausted to attend the next day. Readers/speakers included Kei Miller, Rebecca Perry, Mark Doty, Jackie Kay, Neil Astley, Niall Campbell, Linda Anderson, Vidyan Ravinithiran, Susan Stewart, Richard Price and Ahren Warner. I also had the pleasure of chatting to Rebecca Perry, having Kei Miller sign my copy of The Cartographer and meeting some nice Durham Uni students.
7 –
the number of readers at the monthly Authors’ Open Mic, at the Voodoo Café in Darlington. I dragged CM to this for back up, and had no idea really what to expect. We both came away agreeing it was a great night. The standard of writing was extremely, extremely high, as was the standard of reading. Best of all, the group was friendly and made up of some people who came to listen, others who came to read, a really good mixture, and very welcoming. I read my story Sea Monster, that appeared in Synaesthesia Mag. I also finally met a twitter pal in person, and got a glimpse of her fab writing in the Flash Dogs Anthology. Definitely be heading to this again next month.
5 –
the number of books I won from Faber Academy by taking part in their weekly quickfic challenge – here: Puppetmaster.
2 –
the number of driving lessons I’ve had – two hours long each. I’ve got an instructor who is extremely good at winding in my nerves, and I’m enjoying driving for the first time. I might actually manage to get a license at some point this year!
1 –
the number of hedgehogs that ended up in our garden in the middle of the night mid-week, winding up the dogs and having to be rescued.
0% –
apparently the effort I can be bothered to put into this week’s blog. ‘Night all.
Bookworms and Coffee Monsters 