Sandy golf, paperback Bones and GLBT fiction

What a peculiar day it's been today, I must say. I haven't really been able to get much of a grip on it. Anyway, here's this morning's meditation:

Meditation 156

A simple sheet of paper
and another’s command

cast you out
from all you have known:

voices; the pattern
of a room; the schedule

of days. What once
has been lost

cannot be found again.

That sense of being lost has followed me throughout but it hasn't been a bad day. Just strange. My golf was ridiculous really. I managed to get two very beautiful (though I say it myself, I know) pars but then was completed and utterly fettled and lambasted by two really appalling holes where I went into those great deep bunkers of despair. Twice. Ye gods and little fishes, what a disaster. My first attempt at getting out of the bunker resulted in a score of twelve. Twelve!!! The shame is almost overwhelming, my dears. My second attempt at getting out of a new bunker they appear to have added to the last hole (the beasts! - how could they??) then resulted in a score of eleven. Oh for the rivers of Hades to rise up and swallow me down. All of which meant that, in spite of my two pars, Marian won by a massive ten shots. The only positive thing to come out of this sad debacle is that while we were playing I had the carwash people wash my car inside and out - so it's all lovely and clean now. All the better for weeping in ...

Perhaps I should revisit my bunker-play?...

Back home however, there has been the wonderful moment of joy when I opened the post to find that my authors' copies of The Bones of Summer have arrived. Joy abounding indeed! I have tried not to spend too long stroking them and licking their nice shiny covers, but it was hard to resist. But panic not, you people who are expecting copies - I made sure not to lick yours (as it were) ... And they will be in the post to you tomorrow. I have to say the books all look so wonderful - Dreamspinner Press have done a truly amazing job with production and it is classy beyond belief. I am soooooo pleased. A huge thank you to them.

Oh and I have a new published article, about the importance of settings in books, which can be found at the You Gotta Read review site. Thanks, Tami, for having me as guest writer for the day - much appreciated!

Talking of GLBT literature, a brand new Wiki GLBT bookshelf is now open for business and easily browsable for all your GLBT reading requirements, and there is a rising number of authors, reviewers and publishers on there. You can also find my bookshelf there, and can browse for my books under title, categories or publishers, as you wish. It's a great idea and well done to Mel Keegan who has organised it all and particularly helped me overcome my fear of Wiki. Thank you, Mel.

This afternoon, I've continued working on the read-through of The Gifting and am now on Page 200 with about 9 pages of notes. So about halfway through now. And I have to say it's a pretty damn good story too (though again I say it myself and shouldn't - still, dammit, I will, and sod the consequences, eh ...) - I'd forgotten most of what happened since I last opened it up last summer and it's nice to be reminded. I am already thinking of additions and depths I can add to the edit of Hallsfoot's Battle once I get into that for real.

And tonight we really must do some cleaning before the Domestic Police turn up again, groan. They do go on so ... What joy.

Today's nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Two pars in golf (let us not speak of the rest of my game again, alas ...)
3. A nice clean car
4. Authors' copies of Bones, hurrah!
5. Published article
6. A new GLBT bookshelf
7. Reading through The Gifting.

Anne Brooke - just don't mention those pesky bunkers ...