Brokeback article and editing notes

Here's today's meditation for you - and I'm now onto the story about Lazarus, as you can probably tell:

Meditation 163

The slow disappearing
into the dark cave,

solidity weighting the skin,
impression of night

velvet-rich on the tongue.
It is hard

when the eyes
no longer open:

when will he come
when will he come

when will he
come.


How very jolly I am, eh. Anyway I've had a fun time this morning typing up my article about Brokeback Mountain for Vulpes Libris - goodness me, what a lot I had to say indeed. It feels great now I've got it all onto the page. Or rather screen. Adaptation Week will be the week of 20 July and will include lots of hugely exciting pieces too, so don't forget to look out for that.

I've popped into Godalming to get my essential weekly fix of the local news, and I'm also thrilled to see that a short article about my books is included in this month's Writers' News magazine. Well, gosh. On the other hand, I am hugely annoyed by some ridiculous article in the accompanying Writing Magazine about how self-publishing isn't "real" publishing and we shouldn't do it. Ye gods, how old fashioned can you get?? Really, authors who've been lucky enough to land deals every time they so much as venture into the outside world or who simply don't know the first thing about how the real writing world is should learn to keep their mouths firmly closed and give the rest of us a chance to do whatever we damn well wish to. It's very condescending to think that self-publishing is a lesser relative in the publishing world - these days, sensible writers (such as myself - ho ho) take advantage of it whenever we need to. Harrumph, I say. Speech over.

This afternoon I've finished taking notes about The Gifting and now all I have to do is type them up. Hey ho. That's just over 20 sides of scrawl so it could take some time. Only after that can I really get onto the actual editing of Hallsfoot's Battle. I hope Annyeke and the gang aren't fretting too much at my curious absence ... I'll be back - as they say.

I've also had a much-needed Alexander Technique lesson but was ten minutes late as the traffic in and around Guildford is at the moment a Living Hell. Apparently some lorry has overturned and the whole of the south-east has ground to a halt. I felt much more chilled after the lesson though, thank goodness. I needed it for the long journey home ...

Oh, and I've just received a rejection (groan) from the second publisher I sent my long poem too. I still like it, but I don't think I have the heart to send it out anywhere else. Too much effort. I don't think I'll be writing another one of that length either. But, talking of poetry, I'm making plans to self-publish my first forty meditations and am thinking of using I-universe this time round, as Lulu seems very ponderous sometimes, not least when you approach them as someone attempting to buy one of their books. Or maybe I'm just unlucky when I try to buy?? So if anyone has any pressing warnings about I-universe that I need to take into account, I'd be hugely grateful for the benefit of your wisdom. Thank you!

Tonight, I must catch the last of the Torchwood radio plays on the i-player. So far they've been great fun. And later, Eight out Ten Cats is on TV, so that should give me my essential Friday night comedy quota. Ooh, and there's pizza and ice cream for dinner too. What bliss.

Today's nice things:

1. Poetry
2. Brokeback article
3. An article about me in Writers' News
4. Finishing the notes for The Gifting
5. Alexander Technique lesson
6. Thinking about my next poetry collection
7. Torchwood
8. TV
9. Food.

Anne Brooke
Anne Brooke - puzzling over poetry