Monthly Archives: November 2010

Hobnobbing with the Poetry Elite

Someone whose poetry isn’t lousy, is my wonderful poetry teacher, Liane Strauss. On Thursday I dragged the Husband to Daunt Books in Marylebone for the launch of Liane’s first full poetry collection. If you haven’t been to Daunt’s and you love bookshops, then definitely make the time to pop in. I could have stayed there for hours (and not just because of the free wine and cheese!) pottering around on the various floors, looking at all the truly interesting books they have to offer. I might go back there to do my Christmas shopping, though I suspect I’d end up buying more for myself than anyone else.
Liane read some of her poetry, something I’d never heard her do before. Her work is funny, wry, American – but in the best possible way. I highly recommend it.
Someone who seems much more qualified than I to talk about this is Ms Baroque, and I hope you’ll read her review here: The Love child of Dorothy Parker and John Donne.

So. My poetry’s in good hands…. when I finally stop playing around with NaNoWriMo and write some!

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NaNoWriMo. Day Seven.

Wordman tells me that he wouldn’t be telling people if he were writing a novel in 30 days, that he wouldn’t be updating his facebook status every thousand words, that he wouldn’t be sharing the day’s WORST WORDS with so many people. He says he’d be paranoid that by telling people, it would hex it somehow and the novel would never get done.
I do it for the exact opposite reason. The idea behind telling people the massive task I have decided to undertake, is that I will have to continue with it, even when (like today) I REALLY DON’T WANT TO. Because I have told them all I’m doing it, and I hate to look like an idiot.
This isn’t entirely true, however. The real reason I am constantly updating my facebook status to include all the words I have written that day is because I am doing nothing at all with my days but work and write, and because facebook is a fantastic way to procrastinate while still sitting in the study trying to prove to the Husband that I am writing.