Thursday, May 09, 2013

I have some news

Blimey, I've just realised how long it is since I last posted anything personal. An aversion to anything remotely resembling self-promotion is hard-wired in my DNA, so although I have some good news to share, I'm going to bury it in a post that promotes other people's creations as well.

So ... I'm delighted to announce that I've signed a contract with Dzanc Books who will be publishing Nirvana Bites and Trading Tatiana (originally published by Orion) as part of their rEprint series. Dzanc's ethos of supporting writing - and reading - at every level is close to my heart and I'm really happy to be with them. It's also really exciting to know that these novels will be out there again and available to a whole new readership. You can see more about Dzanc in this article in Publishing Perspectives.

While I'm sharing, I'll also say that my agent loves my latest novel and has begun pitching to publishers. There are no guarantees he'll succeed, of course, but having his validation is cause for celebration as far as I'm concerned. 

Now we've got that over with, let me tell you about Stories for Homes. This project is the brainchild of Sally Swingewood - a visionary, mega-talented and hyper-caffeinated friend who is producing an anthology of short stories (and maybe the odd poem or non-fiction piece) on the theme of 'home', with proceeds going to Shelter. Sally is looking for all kinds of help with the intention of launching the anthology in July. That caffeine is going to be essential. The deadline for submissions is 31 May. Get involved!

And here's a different kind of creativity. A close Twitter friend, known as @FemalePTSD, has come up with a genius invention: the Anxiety Wristband. This simple but effective grounding device can be used to ... Oh look, why not just go to her site and let F tell you about it herself. Once again, any money raised will go to charity. F also blogs here. Please note, there's a trigger warning attached to her blog which deals with her struggles with PTSD resulting from gang rape. I just want to say that she's quite possibly the bravest person I know and she uses her blog and Twitter to share her journey as a way of supporting others in a similar position.