Sunday, May 23, 2010

A Dangerous Man, books and interviews

Lots of exciting news this week, so hang on to your hats! I'm thrilled to say that Cheyenne Publishing will be publishing a new edition of A Dangerous Man later in 2010, so more news to follow shortly on that front. A big thank you to Mark for saying yes!

I'm also happy to say that all my Untreed Reads eBooks are now available at Books on Board and Powell's so thank you to Jay for sorting all that out. It's much appreciated.

Other writing news is that my GLBT fantasy short story, Tuluscan Six and the Time Circle, will be published by Amber Allure on 18 July and you can also read an extract here. Love the cover too! In terms of reviews, it's been a nice week also: The Bones of Summer gained two reviews at Goodreads, which you can read here and here - two very different reactions, but thank you to both readers for sharing their comments. At the same time, Maloney's Law gained a 5-star review at Goodreads, and Painting from Life also gained a similar review at Goodreads - so many thanks to those readers also.

Astonishingly, and thanks again to Jay at Untreed Reads, I've been interviewed twice this week, once talking mainly about The Delaneys and Me at Author Offerings, and once more generally about my writing life by Kipp Poe. I hope you enjoy finding out my little never-before-revealed secret in one of those! Ah, the shame ...

Meanwhile, GLBT Week at Vulpes Libris comes to a stonkingly riproaring finish (oo-err, missus ...), with my review of Clare London's wonderful PI novel, FreemanSam's review of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides; and last but by no means least, Rosy's amazing article on Brideshead Revisited - a big thank you to everyone for taking part and for reading. We've all had a fabulous time! Let's hope we can do it all over again next year.

Speaking of things fabulous, Lord H and I had a great time out at the Guildford Theatre on Thursday seeing Headlong Theatre's production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. I have to admit I wasn't hugely looking forward to it, as I've studied the play in the past but have never seen it - it's rarely performed, and though the poetry is rich and lush and amazing, it's always been hard for me to really "get" it in my head. Well, Thursday was a revelation and it completely opened up the whole thing for me as a play rather than as a poem-drama, proving once again just what an astonishingly good playwright Wilde was, in whatever genre he was writing in. I loved the passion, the humour, the teenage angst, the hugely complex adult relationships shown, the setting and the actors. Everything really - especially that marvellous scene at the end where Salome drinks the blood pouring from John the Baptist's head. Oh, yes, bring it on - I'm a Jacobean tragedy girl at heart and really can't get enough of that sort of thing on stage - Lord H said when that happened I was the only one in the audience smiling and sitting up. Ah well - the more blood and death and drama, the better really ... Anyway, the play was amazing - if you get the chance to go, for heaven's sake do, as it may not be an opportunity we'll see again in our lifetimes. And kudos galore to Headlong Theatre for having the balls to revive it when the audience can be counted on the fingers of one hand - hell, we may have been small in number, but we loved it.

But, keeping to the theme of poetry, I'm pleased to say that two of my poems have just been published in the spring edition of Mayo Review. And there's been 3 meditation poems in the latter half of this week, plus the Sunday haiku:

Meditation 355
Just when you thought
everything you held dear
was lost,

someone you hardly know
steps forward
to stand with you,

taking with him something
of the pain and making
everything clearer:

even the wilderness journey,
even the wild river crossings,
even the grief.

Meditation 356
If you want to steal
your master’s life,

take as much
bread, raisins, fruit

and wine
as you can carry

to your master’s master
and wait

for your ship
to come in.

Meditation 357
Sometimes it’s necessary
to endure the stones

and insults,
knowing the truth

that lies
within them.


This week's haiku:

A silent poem
drifts across the page, seeking
the margin's embrace.

Anne Brooke
The Prayer Seeker's Journal

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