Monday 14 December 2009

Christmas Poem

Christmas comes round too quickly. It's because the shops start celebrating Christmas in October, and although I'm tempted to buy things then , I've usually mislaid them by December. This year I made some Christmas cards early, and put them someone safe-so safe I've mislaid them. So I'm making Christmas cards on the kitchen table when I should be further forward and wrapping presents, instead of printing out my poem and sticking it in my Christmas cards:

HOLY LIGHT

In this dark time
earth turns
wind, rain and snow
into renewal.

There are moments
of holy light,
when the low sun
skims the earth,
dazzles with its aura.

Saturday 28 November 2009

PROMOTING POETRY

Today Judy Arnopp and I sold our books at The Town and Gown Christmas Fayre at Lampeter University. It's hard selling your own work. I sold more of my friend, the poet Kathy Miles, books because she has put up her posters all round the University and people recognised the cover. However,we didn't do too bad, and Judy's idea of promotional bookmarks ,and bookmarks with poems was a fantastic idea. Every one likes a freebie and a bookmark is a useful freebie. I hope some of those bookmarks will result in booksales. We've returned home exhausted. The hardest part of writing is selling the book.

Sunday 15 November 2009

FRIEND'S BOOK LAUNCH

On Friday I went to the launch of Kathy Miles' The Shadow House published by Cinnamon Press. It was an inspiring evening. Kathy read very well although I knew she was nervous. Having been in the same situation two months ago I could empathise. I was impressed by Cinnamon's Press marketing ability, which is 100% better than Headland, whose webpage is two years out of date, and haven't listed Mirror Image on Amazon. Both Norma and I are concerned about this, especially as we have run out of copies and are sending people to the Headland web page to buy the book.

It was good meeting Jan Fortune-Wood who published a poem of mine in the Cinnamon anthology The Ground Beneath her Feet, and who is publishing a poem of mine in an anthology due out in 2010.

Sunday 8 November 2009

Book Launch


Nantclwyd y Dre,Ruthin,
September 18th 2009

This is the magnificent setting of the launch of Mirror Image, Norma E. Jones and my joint collection ,published by Headland.

A fantastic evening of poetry by Gladys Mary Coles, Dee Rivaz, Norma Jones and myself. I had never been to Ruthin before, but hope to go again. It is a fantastic town with lots of old buildings, a river, castle, old gaol ,Elizabethan house and a modern craft centre.