INKSPILL 2018 Guest Writer Kate Garrett Bonnie’s Crew

This year Kate Garrett embarked on a new project Bonnie’s Crew. Kate tells us more about this in our final interview.

1) Can you tell us a little background on Bonnie’s Crew?

Bonnie’s Crew was originally just going to be a little A6 print anthology, put together from work sent in by my friends in the poetry community, and sold via JustGiving to raise money for the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund. Leeds Congenital Hearts – which is funded by the CHSF – saved my daughter Bonnie’s life when she was born, but they did it without surgery (so far – she does have a condition that often requires surgery later in life). Other babies, children, teens, and adults need the unit’s help in much more complex ways. Our time on Ward L51 opened my eyes to congenital heart disease and made me want to do something to help.

 

2) At what point did you realise poetry was your way of giving back?

Almost immediately – it’s where my own heart lies (aside from my family unit of course, but even then my husband and closest friends are poets too!), and poetry is where my people are, where the community is for me.

 

3) Please tell us about the Bonnie’s Crew anthology and webzine.

The Bonnie’s Crew anthology is fiftyish pages of poems, mostly by poets in the UK, printed in A6 size with beautiful original cover art by Marija Smits. The poems range from those written just for Bonnie to suitable reprints, and everything in between.

The webzine has become far wider-reaching – poets from all over the world submit to Bonnie’s Crew! For both mediums, I wanted poems touching on hearts and hope, above all else, but also hospital experiences, grief, loss, love (romantic or otherwise) – as these are all very universal things, we all have a body, we all have emotions, and when we experience health issues, or loss, or family problems, or anything that moves us deeply, it’s good to have a place to express those things and find solace in other stories.

Sometimes our poems are inspired by news articles that aren’t even about human beings, but are relevant to our moral dilemmas (I’m thinking of Jude Cowan Montague’s brilliant ‘the sadness of the experiment’ https://bonnieandcrew.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/poem-the-sadness-of-the-experiment-by-jude-cowan-montague), and sometimes the poets themselves have been in hospital for heart conditions. It varies, but the writing is always beautiful.

We currently publish two poets a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but from February 2019 we will be publishing in a web journal format every other month. BC #1 will be released on 9th February – and there’s still space for more work. To read what we’ve published so far, and to submit your own work, visit http://bonnieandcrew.wordpress.com

4) How many poems have been published on the zine?

I’m not exactly sure! Over 150, or around that… at the time of answering these questions there have been 105 posts published or scheduled, and quite a few of those include multiple poems. We’ve been publishing since the first week of February 2018.

 

5) How did it feel to hit your fundraising target?

Amazing, unbelievable. And I was so moved by the fact that through poetry we were able to raise over £1,000 in 6 months. We’re still going, and still have anthologies left to send out, so if people are interested, our JustGiving page is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bonnieandcrew and if people would like an anthology after donating (£5 minimum for a book, but even a £1 donation helps!), please email me at bonnies.crew.poems@gmail.com. I’d love to raise £2,000 by the time Bonnie turns one in January, or at least by the time the print anthology turns one in May.

6) When did you decide to include visual art?

When I decided to change to a bi-monthly web journal format. Our webzine has been characterised by me pairing public domain images with the poems we publish, and people always remark on the lovely combinations. I’d like to carry on the visual aspect when we change to releasing work in issues, but I wanted the art to come from submissions instead of public domain resources.

7) What have you enjoyed most about this project?

What haven’t I enjoyed! It’s honestly the most rewarding bit of editing and publishing I’ve ever done. If I had to stop editing/publishing everything else tomorrow, I would not be able to put Bonnie’s Crew down. It’s made such a difference to people, not just the heart unit, but regular people who come across the poems and feel soothed by reading them.

 

8)What is the future for this project?

Well, as I say, I’d love to raise more money (which means selling the remaining anthologies), hold an event in Leeds with readings, and see where the new web journal format takes us. I’m accepting creative nonfiction articles and essays now as well, alongside the poetry and visual art. Bonnie’s Crew’s tagline has always been ‘poems helping hearts of all sizes’ and it’s grown to helping hearts in both literal and figurative ways. It would be lovely to keep that momentum going and reach even more people.

INKSPILL 2018 Guest Writer Kate Garrett Editor Interview

Kate Garrett is a poet and an editor. In this interview we will discover more about her editorial work.

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1) What makes your magazine /journals different from others on the market?

I don’t know, I didn’t set them up to really be anything in relation to other publications, they are just what I wanted them to be – Picaroon is for “rogue” poems, work that might be too odd or outspoken for other markets. Three Drops from a Cauldron is for folkore/myth poems but for everyone regardless of geography/nationality, age, race, sexuality, gender identity, disability, etc – I love myth and lore from all perspectives. Bonnie’s Crew was originally set up to raise money and awareness for a heart charity, but it’s now a place people come to read gentler poems about being human, or poems that will give them a moment of calm.

 

2) What’s your mission at Three Drops from a Cauldron?

Actually, apart from indulging my own love of reading work based in myths, lore, magic, superstition, legend, and son on – another side of our mission is to show that myth/folklore/fairy tale/legend-themed writing has more scope than people sometimes think. I’ve seen people say ‘folklore poems’ as if the very idea leaves a bad taste in their mouths, that ‘political’ poems are somehow superior… and while I appreciate a good political poem, and agree they are very important, I’ve published poems that are both of those things – mythical and political. In addition to this, many of our poems are personal to the author, the stories have a lot more to say than just ‘here is some magic happening’ or a direct retelling of an old tale. These things – myth, folklore, legend – are ingrained in all of us and fanciful stories are not always told just for the sake of it. There is often more under the surface.

 

3) How has expanding your team changed things?

Well, it’s definitely made the seasonal specials a lot more interesting and fun! I took on our readers and editorial staff for seasonal specials (Samhain, Midwinter, Beltane) specifically, and to help out with our early themed print anthologies. While I try to keep a wide range of readers in mind when selecting work, it’s definitely easier to do that with seven other people going over the submissions. Sadly, we won’t be doing any more themed print anthologies, and our seasonal specials will be ending with Midwinter 2018 (submissions open 1 November, and it will be published in December), but the team have said they will still be around if I need them. They’ve also expanded our audience by sharing Three Drops with quite different groups of people – their own social media friends and followers – which is wonderful.

 

4) Do you have a theme for each issue?

No, for the regular web journal issues, there is no set theme. Themes might arise in each issue of my three web journals – Three Drops from a Cauldron, Picaroon Poetry, Bonnie’s Crew – but it’s not intentional.

 

5) How should writers contact you?

By email please. Three Drops: threedropspoetry@gmail.com

Picaroon Poetry: picaroonpoetry@gmail.com

Bonnie’s Crew: bonnies.crew.poems@gmail.com

 

6) What’s your day like as an editor?

It varies wildly – because I have five kids, currently four journals (as well as people’s pamphlets in print) to publish, and health issues. One day I might not do any editing at all – I might do some writing instead, I might have to have a full housework day, or a day resting, or there might be appointments for the kids. On the days I do edit, the weekday mornings always start with coffee, then giving Saoirse and Bonnie breakfast after the husband and three teenage sons have left the house, exciting mumsy things like that… After the girls have settled, if it’s a Saturday/Sunday/Monday I am probably responding to submissions. If it’s any other day I might be formatting a book or a journal issue, designing a cover, scheduling posts on the webzine format mags, proofreading. It’s organised chaos.

 

7) How do you edit? / What are you looking for?

Most of all, I’m looking for work that moves me. I’m not concerned with how much the writer has been published, what degrees they have, what competitions they’ve won – I don’t even read bios until I’ve read the submission itself. A writer with no publication credits could send a poem or flash fiction or creative nonfiction that blows my mind, and maybe a writer who has won every possible contest and has a PhD could send their least impressive work – I will accept the pieces that make me feel something regardless of who wrote them.

 

8) What’s your final advice to writers?

Probably the same advice most people give – keep writing, keep READING (I cannot stress how important it is to read if you’re a writer; apart from improving your craft, I don’t understand why anyone would want to be published if they don’t like books…), and don’t take rejection too hard. Rejections seem to upset people more than anything, it seems, and honestly they are just part of the whole writing game. Everyone gets them. Being a bit of a melancholy person, I actually expect them! Take a step back, look for any positives you can take from it (I always look at my work again, and sometimes – though not always – in the harsh glare of a rejection things appear that might need more work), know that selections for journals, anthologies, and pamphlets/collections/novels/everything else are made based on a number of factors, and try again.

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Check in later to find out more about Bonnie’s Crew when we chat to Kate this evening.

Hark Magazine Launch & Reading in London

I had my poem ‘Clench’ published in Hark magazine, issue 2. Back then, it was an online publication, now (Issue 4). The Hark team (Owen Vince, Matt Apperley, Dimitris Tsomokos & Diana Kurakina) have taken the jump into a very handsome print magazine – the sort that looks like a book.

To celebrate this they were inviting readers to take part in the launch. It was a great opportunity to go to London and read (I found out after that some poets performed at Keats house and the Poetry Café on the Saturday, had I known I would have stayed over), as it was I decided that I would make the journey home in the early hours. I only live a few hours from London, but unfortunately the coach broke down at Watford Gap and what should have taken 3 hours, took 7. However, I had allowed a 4 hour window to reunite with London, so I was there in time for the Launch. As soon as I walked in I knew it would be a great night and instantly relaxed.

The venue – The Washington, has an amazing cellar bar, accessed through a secret bookcase door (there should be a joke here on how many poets and publishers it took to open it). It was a great night and as soon as I arrived, I was instantly made welcome and calmed down from LONG my journey.

Hark organised an night of contributors reading in North London.

Zelda Chappel
Jemma Borg
Hazem Tagiuri
Nina Lewis
Andrew Wells
Imogen Forster
Rebecca Bird

It was a delight to meet everyone and it truly was a rich evening of superb poetry.

I was excited to meet people who I knew only by name, to discover new poetry, to meet the editors and see the handsome Hark magazine in print form.

It was definitely worth the 7 hour journey (and of course, I made it back in 2hours)!

ABOUT HARK

HARK is a literary magazine of poetry and short fiction. Founded in 2014 and based between London and Norwich, this small but highly ambitious magazine has built a reputation for brilliant, formal writing that pays close and sustained attention to the imagination and the possibilities of language. HARK is for those writers and readers who take the act of creation through language to be a sublime and, even, ethical act.

With a dedicated team of passionate editors, the magazine’s mission is to find, publish and promote the most exciting new voices, always alongside established writers who continue to challenge their readers with intelligent new work.

HARK is available to purchase either through our online store, or in Foyles (Tottenham Court Road branch), the London Review Bookshop, and the Book Hive in Norwich.

© 2014 – HARK literary magazine

© 2014 – HARK literary magazine: Owen Vince

© 2014 – HARK literary magazine: Matt Apperley

One of the features is asking how the writers write, you can find my explanation here;

http://www.harkmagazine.co.uk/2014/08/26/writers-on-writing-issue-2/

And of course you can buy your own copy of Issue 4

Malvern Book Promoters – MAD MARCH Book Promotion Events

Mad Malvern Book Promotion

I was asked in back in January to take part in this event, organised by Jill Peer.

11 MAD MARCH events organised all over the beautiful tourist destination of Malvern, designed to promote local writers and their books. Many of the events were during the week and I hoped to get to some at the Cake Tin Cafe in The Cube, but work bookings came in thick and fast and I was practically working full time. I plumped for a weekend event, due to roadworks and unlit roads (and being a nervous driver) I went to the daytime event in the Lyttleton Rooms, before moving onto The Hive, in Worcester, to work with the Young writer Group (Writing West Midlands).

The events started on the 3rd March and I am in awe of Jill’s organisational skills in pulling this schedule off.

Tues 3rd March – Zinnia (shoe shop) Live Music

Tues 3rd March – Forget Me Not (Florists) – Live music, spoken word -Floral/Love

Tues 10th March, Cafe H20 Wyche Innovation Centre, (Malvern Hills Geo Centre) – Live music, spoken word -Getting Around

Thurs 12th March – Foley Arms – Live Music, spoken word Life, Mums and Health & a Healing area

Fri 13th March, Cafe H20 Wyche Innovation Centre, (Malvern Hills Geo Centre) – For the KIDS – Word & Songs, Storytelling, puppets, poems & tales

Sat 14th March, Lyttleton Rooms – Spring Craft Fair – Live music, spoken word -Springtime (the event I performed at) ^

Weds 18th March, The cake Tin Cafe, The Cube – Live Music, fun, Lifestyle

Sat 14th & Weds 18th March, Rachel’s Cowleigh Gallery – Live Music/ Mother’s Day/ Love

Thurs 19th March, The Beacon Dentist (not the name of a pub – an actual Dentists) – Spoken Word/ Music – Mum’s/ Springtime

Tues 24th March, The Malvern Book Co-operative Shop – Live Music, Books, Springtime

It was great fun! I love looking for more unusual events. I also enjoy craft fairs, so it really was perfect to perform at the Lyttleton Rooms Craft Fair. I enjoyed it very much.

Thanks for inviting me to participate Jill.

For more information on the local authors and the books promoted follow the link it should let you read the events page even if you haven’t got an account.

Pinch, Punch First of the Month – EXCITING NEWS, Motivation & Submissions

Having updated my Writing Life Pages* this morning, I realised not everyone checks there monthly and usually that’s not an issue, as they are retrospective pieces about the month that has just disappeared, however (maybe it is because the New Year is close) I have written about things to come in the future. I wouldn’t want any of the 783 followers to miss out on these new ventures so I decided to post more details.

*Actually it’s called The Write Year – maybe if I changed it to ‘My Writing Life’ it would peak your interest. 

Go On CLICK IT

ANNOUNCEMENT

I am very proud to announce that throughout 2015 I will be promoting the work of Daniel Sluman leading up to the publication date of his new collection. I am very excited about this opportunity and hope you’re interested in finding out more about this young talented, ‘Nine Arches Press’ Poet.

Daniel and I are already collaborating on posts which will hit the blog after Christmas and before the New Year. So WATCH OUT for any post with DANIEL SLUMAN in the title and be very excited too!

 

Daniel Sluman’s poems have appeared widely in journals such as Cadaverine, Popshot, Shit Creek Review, and Under the Radar. He received an MA in Creative & Critical Writing from the University of Gloucestershire in 2012 and his debut full-length collection, Absence has a weight of its own, was published in 2012. His second collection, ‘the terrible’, will be published Autumn/Winter 2015, also with Nine Arches Press.

Sonia Hendy-Isaac
© 2014

 

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I am always motivated on the first day of a new month and today is no exception! It also helps that the rest of the week I am committed to my day job and will only have a few spare hours and evenings in my writing skin, so I have a whole list of TO DOs to get done today.

I started well, up early (too early) I managed to submit 3 poems before breakfast, I have often written about how long submissions take even when you already have the writing ready. This was no exception. One cup of coffee and several reads of the guidelines before starting the online form. They join another 6 poems already flying around begging to be accepted!

After breakfast I updated the blog, checked emails and did some background research for current writing ventures. Which is why it is now suddenly nearly 11a.m and I am only 3 items down my TO DO list. I have learned not to PANIC as this only leads to getting less done.

Taking a break to go and visit my Grandma, it is her birthday tomorrow (I’m working) and then I will be back to tick more things off my manic, Monday list!

HAPPY DECEMBER EVERYONE!

© 2013 lushhome.com

Poetry Bites At The Kitchen Garden Cafe

© 2014 gastrocard.co.uk

Poetry Bites was a superb start to a week in my poetry skin. I was delighted to see Tessa Lowe, Chris Fewings & David Calcutt there again, all performing. The main guests were Roy Marshall & James Sheard, who I recently discovered (before tonight) lectures in Creative Writing at Keele University. Roy and I talked about Leicester in the interval, as that is where I discovered performance poetry, creative writing courses & the spoken word.

© 2014 KGC

It was a warm atmosphere,  Jacqui Rowe started the night with Larkin, I am a fan of Larkin and enjoyed dipping into the evening this way.

 

Anthony R Owens (who headlines next month along with Matt Windle) came to soak up some poetry and treat us to a taster and a poem hot off the ink of his pen. The floor spots were all filled and an enjoyable mix of work was read. I performed ‘Your Gift’ and ‘Touched’ and received positive feedback and encouragement to send one of them off to competition, I will pursue. Thanks Deborah Alma!

Seeing Roy Marshall perform a range of works, chatting to him & buying his book was great. You can buy it too! Click the link.

The Sun Bathers

James Sheard, with his dry wit, was a treat to hear at length too. He has shared one or two poems at The Poetry Lounge in the Sitting Room before, but to hear some from a collection he soon hopes will be published was a treat. James Sheard’s collection ‘Scattering Eva’ (Cape, 2005) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for best first collection. His poems appear in the  anthology
‘Identity Parade’ (Bloodaxe, 2010)

I have had a superb night!

Friday 7th March, 1st Submission and PUBLISHED

At the beginning of the month I had an opportunity to join a list of other fantastic poets submitting work for an Anthology of Poetry to support the Born Free Foundation/Charity. I found this specific writing task challenging, mainly because I did a lot of research into the fur trade (the focus of our work) and found it beyond upsetting. I also found it really hard to write decent poetry on the subject.
In the end I opted for a wide view of the whole human impact in the animal world, especially considering we are ALL members of the Animal Kingdom, the second was the release of several animals rescued from captivity. They had never seen the outside world before and it took over 20 minutes to coax them from the cages.

The anthology is the brain child of Elaine Christie and the other nice thing is that it features lots of my poetry friends. She has compiled a wide selection of excellent poetry and the book will also include some stunning artwork. My poetry was accepted. I look forward to holding this publication in my hand and supporting the promotion of the project later this year!

It took the whole writing day to complete the final edits, but it was worth it and besides the two poems I submitted it has provided me with a small bank of poems on this important subject.
AND I GOT PUBLISHED! 🙂

 

A Question for You, With a POLL

Feel free to answer in comment boxes too – I know some followers love a poll…here’s the issue;

Would you enter a competition where the publishers own the copyright of your work automatically?
I was getting really excited about a Flash Fiction Competition – there is only 1 financial prize to be won – and I am sure 1000’s will enter…
I am new to the form this year.

I do not object to my writing being used in the publication/ advertising – I have not found out if there is even an author credit though…

REAL Writers’ have told me it is OKAY to do free and be free a few times early on in your career. Is this one of those or

does it smell a bit ><((((0>y??! Please help!

My Writing Life vs Sleep! A Tale of Spontaneity

The trouble with adrenalin is it is the nemesis of sleep. Half past midnight, Mr G has spent the day without me, he is tired and I am lying there in the dark, willing sleep to come. In the end I am up and downstairs again and I have to write – write it all out of my system!

This alone is not conducive to sleep. I am stimulating my brain with thoughts and technology, a bright screen in a dark, quiet room. I could blame the Americano I had at 7pm at Park’s Café. Or the Indian meal I have just shared with 23 other hungry poets.

I know the cause.

My creative spirit has had a date with herself today and she is as excited as a child on Christmas morning. I have spent the entire day and night with like-minded souls and have pushed my own writing life and plan up into 5^th gear.

I still cannot believe how strange it is that when you set your heart and mind onto something, everything falls into place – as if it was meant to be. Happily ever after (for now!)

I have so much to share from today!

Like all good stories (this one is true) I shall start at the beginning…

Mr G and I had plans for today as the weather was sunny and tomorrow is forecast heavy rain across the whole country. He bought me/us/ our garden some tulip bulbs last week and we were going to plant them and then go to the allotment to pick beans and sweetcorn.

We were awake early. We had breakfast and then chilled out. A while later the post arrived. We both had a white envelope and I was convinced the bank had mailed us both. I was wrong! AND I LOVE GETTING POST! Mine was the latest programme of events from a mailing list I am on. I discovered Writing West Midlands back in February and was gutted I had missed so much good input (in January) – I think I may have made up for it since!

I had already checked out the new programme online, some of it went in and some of it didn’t. So I read through the pamphlet and came across a Network Meeting held today. The last one I went to was back in the Spring and it led to meeting a fair few writers and signing up to a scriptwriting workshop/ course. That meeting was about an hour away.

This one was close to the boarder of Wales, I used a route finder and found out it was only 1.5 hours away. (My sciatica often kicks in after an hour of driving, but I thought I would be okay.) It was 11:30 when I decided to go and it took me an hour to sort directions (no sat nav as yet!) I had to write them out by hand as we are also not hooked up to any printer! (What kind of writer am I?!) I had to get up properly (we were in PJ chill mode) by the time I told Mr G of my plans I literally had time to kiss him and run out of the door!

Here is where the adventure begins…

For starters I had forgotten the rule of adding 30minutes onto the estimated time a route finder provides. Then the ‘country’ traffic was half the speed it should have been. Plus I was navigating myself from a scribbled A4 sheet and road signs. I reached the point when I thought this 70 mile journey was a waste of time and decided to find a nice tea room and then head home before the book launch tonight.

Then the writer inside me pinched me hard and said … Ian Billings and SIMON THIRSK! And I put my foot down and drove on!

I reached the stage I knew I would be late, I tried not to panic. I had been driving for over an hour and a half and I was still a good 20 miles away.

I began to get concerned once I arrived at my destination and got trapped in the one way system of the town centre with the name of a street for parking and no idea how to get there or what road I was on.

This had been advertised online (yes I checked the parking too!) as cheap rate parking for the day. I didn’t get close to a ticket machine to find out, some angel walked past me (and interpreting my harassed I am late for the writers’ meeting face to be oh my – I haven’t got any change for the meter) she offered me her ticket that had plenty of hours left on it. This isn’t usually possible in my part of the world as we have to type in our registration plates.

So now not only is my parking sorted, but due to the mini detour I had already seen the roads I needed to take to get to the library and it was less than a 5 minute walk. The only mistake I made was trying to get into the Council House building – which is not open at weekends – the library was next door!

And what a swish place it was (all our libraries have been redesigned as hubs for the 21st century.) I felt sad I wasn’t early, would have loved a mooch around, the children’s section was an actual castle! WOW!

(Real pictures of today will be uploaded and added tomorrow.)

I was late … Ian Billings (Children’s writer) who I also wanted to hear, was close to the end of his talk when I arrived and quietly squeezed into the back row. To make me feel better there were at least 4 others who all arrived even later than me (we had obviously all used the same route advisor!) 😉 I caught the gist of Ian’s projects and the end of the talk. (Later after the event – in the ‘networking’ part, I was able to speak to him at length about what he was doing/ working on.)

It was Simon Thirsk (joint-founder and Chairman of Bloodaxe Books) that caught my post-breakfast attention. They are a specialist poetry publisher that I recognise from my first time round, having been published throughout the nineties and early noughties. Most of the small presses and publishers I worked with are no longer in existence or have been gobbled up by main players, or lost there funding and disappeared.

 I have also taken 2013 as my YEAR OF LEARNING. A lot has changed in the past 13 years, and I knew that listening to what Simon had to say would save me a days research at least!

In addition to all of this post-breakfast thought (and I hadn’t even had porridge!) I marvelled at the fact that less than 2 weeks ago I made the decision to stop sticking my fingers in all the genre writing pies and focus on one – poetry – get out there again as a poet and reclaim my space on the circuit. (I had established a name for myself before but in places that were 70 miles North and 200 miles South) I have never really existed as a poet in the Shire. That is what today has been about, but I hadn’t planned it starting with such a BANG!

I wrote pages of notes and picked up a little gold-dust too. The room was packed and some good questions were asked, lots of conversations were born out of them.

When it came to a close, I started to feel awkward as I often do before the mingle. I need to get some business cards made. (Next mission!) I knew I wanted to speak to everyone on the panel as well as some fellow writers and poets.

I met lots of interesting people and exchanged details with a few of them.

 I met other teachers who (like me) have made the same decision to upgrade the creativity dream and downgrade the day job… by the end of today the total was 3. I wish us all luck and success with this one.

I also got to speak to both Simon  and Ian.  

I then spoke to Jonathan, the Chief Executive who I have met and spoken with about 4 times this year (5 months), I wanted him to know my plan and make some offers. I will be following up emails on Monday and keep my fingers crossed for some very exciting opportunities. I was thinking of years to come (in my Olympian Mission/Dream) but basically ‘why wait?’ was his response! I can start now. Obviously as far as paid opportunities they will (hopefully) come later. Experience is something I yearn for as much as learning and I know all too well that catch 22 – of this is what I can do -this is what I want = ‘Lovely dear, where is your proof? What have you done?’ CV’s need to start somewhere.

 I look forward to new horizons on the near future front.

I was having such a good time mingling that I nearly forgot I was 2 hours drive away from the Book Launch and a quick glance of the clock confirmed I had 2 hours. I said my goodbyes and exchanged details with people before hot footing it out of the library and back to my car!

I did look for someone to gift the ticket to (which still had 1.5 hours on it!) I saw that they had recycle bins. The back of my car has been full of shoes to recycle since the end of July. Now I have space behind my seat again to stuff everything I take out with me.

 One important thing I took from today (other than getting rid of old shoes taking up valuable handbag space!) is something I hadn’t considered before. It is Jonathan Davidson’s advice;

SUPPORT FELLOW WRITERS’ – WHEREVER IT IS POSSIBLE, this includes BUYING their books. We all know how important those sales are post publishing. Offer more than a congratulations if you can.

PART 2 Link to follow

A Whole Day with Poets and Writers!

And I feel great! Just have no time or energy to blog it after 12hrs and 140miles… Will treat you tomorrow!

stay tuned.

My soul has been nourished today and my heart has connected with words, with thoughts, with hopes, with shared ambition and with happiness!