A literary smorgasbord

I'm dusting the cobwebs off the blog and, as so often happens these days, I've accumulated a huge amount of literary 'stuff' to share which I will assemble into a single post.

Hoovering the anthology
You may remember that the East Dulwich Writers' Group published our first anthology, Hoovering the Roof, last year.

 I'm delighted to announce that the book has been shortlisted for the National Association of Writers' Groups awards.  Result to be announced at a ceremony on 4th Sept.

Meanwhile, we're editing the content for the 2nd anthology, to be published in Nov.  And this is where you come in.  We need your help (again) to choose a title.  Please go here to vote in our public poll.

Blushing for 33
There are several events coming up to publicise 33, the anthology of short stories with one set in each of London's boroughs. 

You can find details on Glasshouse Book's Facebook page and the books (spilt into 2 volumes) are available to buy on their website.

Meanwhile, there's a very nice review here that had me dancing (and snivelling).

Blogging for the Spaces
I have been invited by the lovely Liane Spicer to write a guest post for Novel Spaces.  My post will be appearing there on 15th September.

Getting Published
The winning team who organised the fabulous Festival of Writing in York earlier this year have turned their awesome talents to a Getting Published Event on 2nd October in London.  It promises to be a very productive and useful day.  In case you're wondering, I'm one of the Book Doctors.

Dance Your Way to Psychic Sex
This book by Alice Turing is magic.  Yes, you read that right - it's not just about magic ...  Even the way it has been produced has an undeniable whiff of the supernatural about it.

For a read unlike anything you will have come across before, order your limited edition copy here.  You can read reviews (including one by yours truly) here.

Clashing Innocents
While I'm sharing news of recently or about-to-be published books, I'm betting you will find Sue Guiney's latest novel impossible to resist.  I can't wait to receive my copy and I'm excited that this blog will be a stopping post on Sue's virtual tour.  Watch this space ...

Protecting PLR
This is really important, people.  The info below is pasted from the petition which I hope you will sign in order to protect this vital resource.

The Public Lending Right scheme, under which authors receive 6p when a book is borrowed from a public library, is funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Over the last three years, while public spending has been buoyant, PLR’s allocation has fallen by 3%: over 10% in real terms.

While accepting that DCMS has been instructed to reduce its budget, we ask the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt, to recognise that the £7.5m spent on PLR gives effect to a legal right and is not a subsidy. It provides working writers with a modest income when their books are read by library users free of charge. PLR is particularly important to authors whose books are sold mainly to libraries and to those whose books are no longer in print but are still being used.

Press coverage tends to focus on a few successful authors, yet most struggle to make ends meet. PLR provides a significant and much-valued part of authors’ incomes. The £6,600 upper limit ensures that the fund helps those most in need.

The admirably efficient PLR Office has already cut its running costs very substantially. Any reduction in PLR will have an immediate and detrimental effect on the ‘front line’ payments to authors.