This is the sixth of twenty videos both written and produced by me as part of my ‘Pejorative Terms’ Project. You’ll find the central hub for the poetry by clicking here.
I’ll be providing information on the inspiration and production of this video this week, which will again be linked to the central hub. There is also a portion of this content which will only be available to those who subscribe to me on Ko-Fi.
Click here to go to my Ko-Fi Page.
Thank you for your support.
This is the fifth of twenty videos both written and produced by me as part of my ‘Pejorative Terms’ Project. You’ll find the central hub for the poetry by clicking here.
I’ll be providing information on the inspiration and production of this video this week, which will again be linked to the central hub. There is also a portion of this content which will only be available to those who subscribe to me on Ko-Fi.
Click here to go to my Ko-Fi Page.
Thank you for your support.
And here we have, as promised, the video of me and Niki (plus Julie and Nina) performing via the magic of Zoom.
I would be very interested to hear comments in the chat 😀
This is the fourth of twenty videos both written and produced by me as part of my ‘Pejorative Terms’ Project. You’ll find the central hub for the poetry by clicking here.
I’ll be providing information on the inspiration and production of this video this week, which will again be linked to the central hub. There is also a portion of this content which will only be available to those who subscribe to me on Ko-Fi.
Click here to go to my Ko-Fi Page.
Thank you for your support.
It has taken me almost a week to get to this post, and I’m going to backdate it because a) that’s a Thing and b) it’ll be a good indicator of who actually reads the blog to begin with. The Virtual Launch was far and beyond more successful than I could have imagined. I thought when another group scheduled their event for the same evening that was it, nobody would show, but my concern was unfounded. Not only did people turn up, they stayed to the end. They also said some totally lovely things about my work.
These two videos are the slides I made for the presentation. Obviously there is no sound, but it gives a rough idea of what was achieved. Six poems of mine, and six poems by the poets who have helped me get this far. It was a real bonus when I asked everyone for permission that nobody said no, and they’d all said yes within 72 hours. I take that as a sign that I asked the right people. Also, massive thanks to Nina Parmenter for being my support act. When I grow up, I really want to write as well as she does.
I’m waiting for the official video to appear, and when it does? I’ll let you know. For now, I need to be organizing a Real Life Launch on the 30th, and my caterer has completely ghosted me for the cake… 😦
This is the third of twenty videos both written and produced by me as part of my ‘Pejorative Terms’ Project. You’ll find the central hub for the poetry by clicking here.
I’ll be providing information on the inspiration and production of this video this week, which will again be linked to the central hub. There is also a portion of this content which will only be available to those who subscribe to me on Ko-Fi.
Click here to go to my Ko-Fi Page.
Thank you for your support.
Well, it’s been A Week, but in the most excellent manner possible. I’m less than two weeks away from my first ever book launch. The reality hasn’t really sunk in, and I expect it won’t until well after the event, but for now, I’m already looking ahead, because it is a foolish woman who lives in the moment of one success for too long. When I look at what has bought me from 2018 to now, a lot of my progress has come by not resting on my laurels and trying as many new things as possible to see what feels like a good fit. That means, right now, I’m on TikTok and making YouTube Shorts.
TikTok is, I have to say, a genuinely intimidating experience, which is why I need to be there right now. It will also be where I advertise the pamphlet launch, just to see if I get anyone buying the book as a result. The same goes for YouTube, whose Shorts programme is being set up not just as a direct rival to TikTok, but as a means of funnelling people from short to long form video. It all makes perfect sense to me from a marketing/promotion perspective. This is how I’m going to start and end my days for the foreseeable future. Time to learn some new skills and see what happens.
I also need to fit this into my new working schedule, which will take a while but should make life a lot easier going forward. Twitter as an advertising medium for me has been transformative in the last twelve months, after all. I’d not have my book deal without it. Bearing that in mind, it is time to keep innovating and assessing where I am.
There is a phenomenal amount to look forward too, after all.
Last night, I did a live appearance in Brighton. MUAHAHAHAHAHA.
I wasn’t a headline, but I was first on. Four poems were read, two of which were less than 10 lines long. I’m enjoying the economy at present of small pieces. All the words have to work extra hard. Also, CRUCIALLY, I’ve seen pictures of me AT THE MIC which will be very useful going forward. I do not possess nearly enough pictures of me doing poetry, it’s on the To-Do list to fix. There’s also so much to think about as a result of last night that I think my head is going to implode. Lots of tea today will help me organize my thoughts.
The biggest takeaway from the gig is that poetry is in good hands right now. I spent time listening to MA students who had been encouraged to come and practice their trade in front of a microphone and, it must be said, utterly owned the space. God, I wish there’d been the ability to poet that early in my life, what might have been different now… but there wasn’t, and life took a different path. This is the space I need to be in now, and it’s great. There were some lovely moments too last night when it became apparent I’ve inspired people with what I’ve produced. THAT’S A GOOD FEELING.
All the poetry on offer was utterly top-notch, and yet again it is a testament to Barbara and Darren that the space not only works, but it is thriving. I really hope to see it grow too in the months that follow, and it is time to organize what I’m doing in February when it happens again. However, before that, there is the matter of TWO OF MY OWN BOOK LAUNCHES…
Yesterday, I celebrated my 56th rotation around the planet. Notably this year, a number of people whose good wishes could be guaranteed (even when I have been very variable in my continued ability to be consistent) were absent. It then occurred to me at 5am this morning, waiting for the painkillers to kick in for my jaw, that all things will inevitably come to an end. Expecting to have friends for life might be the aspiration of some, but it’s not something I’ve ever managed with confidence. To be fair, up until the last five years or so, I’ve not been that great a bet for friendship anyway.
I have really struggled with consistency, lurching from one crisis to another, since I was in my early teens. It is only recently that it’s become apparent that, most of the time, I’ve been the problem. It is very rarely other people, but my often disastrous inability to judge how to deal with situations. The trick, it seems, is just to be lovely to everybody and not worry about anything else. Who knew? The problem, such as it is, becomes the terrible toll that this then takes on someone whose default state in most situations is just to be blunter than a VERY blunt thing and to tell everyone exactly what I think, at that moment.
Change has been in the wind since the start of the year. As I begin to gain traction with my work, where it is easy just to be brutally honest and pass it off as art, it is becoming more obvious with each passing day that the online spaces in which I ply my trade are beginning to become unfit for purpose. The lines of integrity and advertising are becoming increasingly blurred, and morality is easy to sacrifice, if it means an increase in personal Twitter hits and a light on your ‘brand’. Therefore, it really is time to come back to blogging, where most people liking this are spiders. I know you’re not real. It’s perfectly okay.
If you are one of the (very few, that’s great) Real People here, then HI. I didn’t come back in this capacity to preach at you, nor indeed as a cheap alternative to the now ‘must come as standard with promotion’ newsletter option so many creatives fall back on. I’d just like somewhere to talk where if you make the effort to come and engage me, it will be rewarded just as conversation and not as a means of upping my follower rate. This mind was grateful yesterday for three good meals and a walk in the rain. My personal happiness should not become a spectator sport. I’d like to record it as just that, and move on.
I’ll start by trying to do this every Monday. Let’s see how that goes.
This is the second of twenty videos both written and produced by me as part of my ‘Pejorative Terms’ Project. You’ll find the central hub for the poetry by clicking here.
I’ll be providing information on the inspiration and production of this video this week, which will again be linked to the central hub. There is also a portion of this content which will only be available to those who subscribe to me on Ko-Fi.
Click here to go to my Ko-Fi Page.
Thank you for your support.
The Internet of Words 
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