This year has gone past so quickly, it feels as though I’ve hardly drawn breath. My older son graduated, my younger son completed his first year at university. I’m still living in East London but hoping to move out in the next year – I’ve reached a life stage where I crave walks in the countryside and peace and quiet even more than I do impromptu gigs, trips to the theatre and nights out with friends.
I signed up with Rowan Prose Publishing for my debut novel (cover reveal coming on the 20th of January!) The House of Dust and Shadows. Please do add it to your Goodreads reading list if you’d like to be notified when it’s ready to purchase!
I was also awarded Third Place in the Olga Sinclair Prize for my short story ‘Giants’ (which will eventually be published in their annual anthology, I will let you know when it’s available). I’m so happy to have found a publisher for my novel. I completed it as part of my Creative Writing MA and was awarded a Distinction in my dissertation on it. It explores themes of intergenerational trauma and hidden secrets reverberating in the unconscious (‘cryptonomy’) using Gothic tropes such as the haunted house, the hidden room, the oppressive patriarch, the family ghost etc. I found myself reading Derrida for the first time since university and loving it. I still find literary theory intriguing and inspiring! I’m very excited to get to work on getting the final edits done and seeing it on sale.
Meanwhile I’ve been busy reading from my book of short stories and selling copies at various events in East London. It’s a great way to get out there and connect with readers who might be interested in my work. A high point was when the astonishingly talented dancer and choreographer Charlie Jimenez performed my story ‘Crow Girl’ using dance while two other performers played the sax and painted a picture at East End Creatives, an event curated by the brilliant Mei Hui Lui. Since then I’ve read at a Halloween event also arranged by Mei Hui and will be back doing some more readings and selling copies of the book next year. I’ve been dressing up for my Crow Girl and Halloween readings so have included a photo here – it was fun to read on a stage full of amps and electric guitars!
Story Radio, my podcast, is as absorbing and fun as to produce as ever. We’ve interviewed some fascinating writers and had some wonderful short stories and even a drama on the podcast this year. We’ve also been running regular salons for writers to read their work – you can listen to our first one on the podcast and we will be recording one on the theme of Love on February 10th, 6.30pm, at our usual venue, the art, music and cocktail palace that is the Colony Room Green. Please come!
