UniSWriters, Goldenford & reviews

Had another nice review of “A Dangerous Man” (http://www.flamebooks.com) last night – from Julie Lewthwaite, author of Negotiate to Succeed, who emailed me to say the following:

“I loved A Dangerous Man. Nagged at me while I was reading it and stayed with me after I'd finished. Can't ask for much more than that. Nice work!”

Hey, thanks, Julie! I appreciate that. Very much. Not only that but Clayton from MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/dwbsoho) tells me that reading it is curtailing his love life, as he’s too busy reading to do anything naughty. Sorry, Clayton – hope things pick up (as it were) soon. But thanks for telling me, tee hee! And I’ve had some very positive comments from the Writewords (http://www.writewords.org.uk) Flash Fiction II group on yesterday’s uploaded work, so that feels good too. Thanks, gang.

And you’ll also be pleased to hear that Lord H’s theology presentation went well last night – they had lots of discussion on it, though he wasn’t so happy with his summing up. Though I would have thought that was impossible to do anyway whilst you’re in the middle of something! Anyway, the group seem to have decided that they definitely don’t want GM crops, even though not having them puts the orang-utan under threat as it means the tropical rain forest will continue to be depleted. Lord, but life is so complex sometimes. Thank goodness it was only an exercise (though, sadly, one based on fact). But Lord H is at least pleased it’s over though he’ll have to wait to see what the assessors say. Oh, and the whole group are ruddy tongue-rollers, apparently. Damn it!! Is there no end to the horror?

Lunch-hour was our next UniSWriters meeting, with a focus on writing about furniture. We had a jolly good time too, with a fair number of manuscripts to look at, and a fun writing game which gave rise to a lot of good stuff. It was great! Have decided that the theme for the next set of homework should be water and/or thirst, so I’ll see what they come up with for that one. And I’d better have a bash too, of course … Oh, here it is:

River

It’s already too hot.
Pick up the bottle,
unprick the seal, take a slug.
It will ease the dryness
in your throat.

It won’t be enough though.
The heat from the bazaar rises,
engulfs you.
In its blistering touch,
you can taste
noise, narrow streets, saffron,
bread, whisky, camel dung.
All the customs and language
of a people you do not know.

Unlock the bottle again.
Raise it to your lips,
pour it like a blessing
over your head:
a talisman against the dark.

See how the water floods
your hair, your eyes, your mouth.
The shock of coolness on your skin
makes you shiver.
It’s a river, rushing, roaring,
carving lines of cleanness
through dirt,
sweeping all your past
away.


Other than that, I have to say that I’ve spent most of the day feeling absolutely shattered – I really do need my holiday next week (Lord H and I are off to Madeira for four days, and I’m really really hoping I might get some rest – it’s been a hectic few weeks, all in all). That said, I don’t feel as low as yesterday, which can only be a good thing, hurrah.

Oh, and I've joined Crimespace (http://crimespace.ning.com) and now have a page on there - they seem like a nice bunch of crime writers & readers. So possibly they're all mad - it's hard to say just now ...

Tonight, it’s the next Goldenford (http://www.goldenford.co.uk) meeting, so I’d best get my minute head at the ready.

Today’s nice things:

1. The responses to “A Dangerous Man”
2. The reaction to my flash fiction piece
3. UniSWriters.

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com