A gentleman went awalking
And heard the people atalking
About hell
And the demons that therein dwell.
“Your soul
Is his goal,
He will steal it away
Ere close of day.
So beware
And have a care”
A priest did say.
The gentleman leaned upon his cane
And I maintain
That by the street lamp’s pale light,
I saw
That night
His claw
And a tail.
I returned home much shaken
Though I could have been mistaken,
About the tail …
I was delighted to receive the following message from Audiobookradio earlier today,
“Your poetry will be featured after George Szirtes & Amber Agha this Monday 10th July on our daily poetry hour which is 2pm & repeated 10pm & Tuesday 11th at 6am”.
To find out more about the station or to listen to programmes, please visit, http://audiobookradio.net/
As many of you will be aware, I held a book launch for my recently published collection of poetry, “My Old Clock I Wind” on the evening of 5 July.
I am pleased to report that the evening went well.
There were, however a number of “lessons learned”, which I have set-out below.
I hope this post proves helpful to others considering a physical (as opposed to a virtual) book launch.
1. The venue (a pub called the Railway Bell) is within easy reach of Gipsy Hill station, making it simple for those attending the launch (and using public transport) to access it.
2. The venue being a pub, meant that it was easy to arrange for the provision of alcohol (and other drinks) to my guests. I provided wine and orange juice, while my guests had the option to purchase additional refreshments at the bar.
3. The management where extremely obliging and went that extra mile ensuring that things ran smoothly.
4. There was good audience interaction with a number of interesting questions being addressed to me.
5. I sold (and signed) a number of copies of “My Old Clock”.
6. People stayed on afterwards for a drink in the pub garden which was most convivial.
1. I advertised the event on my blog and Facebook. In addition a number of bloggers, friends and acquaintences very kindly shared the launch on social media including Twitter, Facebook and reblogs on WordPress.
This was all very much appreciated and I would like to send a big thank you to everyone who took the time to share the event.
However, despite all the publicity (including the news releases sent out by the publisher to local poetry/literary groups), those attending where all known to me either as friends or acquaintences.
It was, of course wonderful to have the support of close friends, however having new faces at the event would have been the iceing on the cake.
WordPress provides an effective platform for building and cementing a following and I greatly appreciate every single person who takes the time to follow, like and comment on my poetry and other posts.
My blog has enabled me to reach out to people all over the world and form valued connections with those with whom I would never otherwise have become connected.
However the vast majority of my followers are not in the UK so (although many of them generously shared the event) they could not (for obvious reasons) attend.
Consequently while WordPress is a wonderful platform it possesses limitations as regards getting “bums on seats”.
Facebook didn’t yield any new faces at the event (despite it having been advertised on local Facebook groups), which appears to further underline the limits of social media as a means of drumming up support for events.
2. I scheduled the event at too early an hour (6:30).
Given the London rush hour and issues with transport, I decided to hold off until approximately 7:20, which meant that most people had then arrived.
In retrospect I should have specified a starting time of 7 pm (with the expectation that most people would arrive between 7 and 7:15) and I will certainly do so the next time I organise such an event.
3. While beer and books are a fantastic combination, beer on books is not!
On entering the pub I enjoyed a quick pint prior to the event starting.
I had hung my bag of books on a hook under the bar (they where in a padded envelope within a carrier bag).
I managed to spill some of my drink into the envelope but luckily (and much to my surprise) none of my Fosters got onto my books.
Next time I shall keep my books well away from alcohol or any other liquids!
4. Any profits made from the sale of books require to be balanced against money expended in the provision of refreshments.
However even where spending on refreshments comes close (or even eats into any profit made), one has to consider the benefits obtained from the publicity generated by the event.
In conclusion, the event was a success.
People enjoyed my reading, there ensued an interesting discussion following the reading and a number of books were signed and sold.
While it was wonderful to see so many old friends there, it would have further enhanced the event where new faces to have appeared alongside them.
As previously stated, I possess a loyal blog following and I’m grateful to all my followers for their ongoing support.
However given that most of my followers are located outside of the UK they can not (for obvious reasons) attend book launches and other similar events.
I will look into streaming events live the next time I launch a book enabling the event to be seen by as broad a range of people as possible.
(“My Old Clock I Wind” is published by Moyhill in paperback and ebook formats and can be found here, http://moyhill.com/clock/
Just a quick reminder that I shall be celebrating the publication of my collection of poetry, “My Old Clock I Wind” (http://moyhill.com/clock/), in the Railway Bell, at 6:30 pm today (5th July).
If you are in the vicinity of Gipsy Hill/Crystal Palace, you would, of course be very welcome to come along.
For details of the venue please visit, http://www.rampubcompany.co.uk/visit-pubs/railway-bell.
Kevin
They are my muse.
I choose
To lose
Myself in abstractions
of attraction,
And thoughts of shoes
Encasing …
My mind racing,
Forever chasing
An unreal
Ideal.
The World Poetry Reading series offers opportunities for poets to showcase their work and hosts a regular show, on Vancouver Co-op Radio, which broadcasts every Thursday.
The World Poetry Reading Series has just published its first newsletter.
To visit the newsletters page please go to http://worldpoetry.ca/?page_id=11939, and to read the Spring edition please click here, http://worldpoetry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-05-18-Newsletter-Issue1-Spring.pdf.
To find out more about the World Poetry Reading Series Café and hear podcasts of previous shows, please go to http://www.coopradio.org/content/world-poetry-cafe-2.
I was privileged to appear on Vancouver Co-op Radio to discuss my collection of poetry, “My Old Clock I Wind” and read several of my poems.
To listen to a podcast of my interview please visit, http://worldpoetry.ca/?p=11765.
“My Old Clock I Wind” is available in paperback and ebook formats from Moyhill Publishing, http://moyhill.com/clock/ and as a download in the Amazon Kindle store, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0735JBVBG.
Title: How To trust Your Human
Author: Victoria Zigler
Genres: Children’s Stories – Animals / Children’s Stories – Social Issues – Death And Dying
Release date: July 3rd 2017
Synopsis:
“Losing a sibling is hard. Losing three of them is even harder. Repairing a broken bond of trust is harder still.
After his three brothers disappeared, one after another, gone to a mysterious place known only as The Rainbow Bridge, Buddy the degu is all alone in his cage.
Confused and frightened, he knows only one thing for certain: he last saw his brothers in the hands of the human caretaker.
That knowledge breaks the bond of trust forged between Buddy and his human in the years since he was a pup, and leaves him convinced that letting her get her hands on him will mean he disappears too.
Somehow, she has to convince him he’s wrong, and earn back his trust.
Based on actual events that took place in the life of one of the author’s own degus, and told from the point of view of a degu, this is the story of how patience and love taught a confused and terrified rodent how to trust again.”
Author bio:
Victoria Zigler is a blind poet and children’s author who was born and raised in the Black Mountains of Wales, UK, and is now living on the South-East coast of England, UK.
Victoria – or Tori, if you prefer – has been writing since she knew how, has a very vivid imagination, and spends a lot of time in fictional worlds; some created by her, others created by other authors.
When she remembers to spend some time in the real world, it’s mostly to spend time with her hubby and pets, though sometimes to indulge in other interests that capture her attention from time to time, such as doing crafts, listening to music, watching movies, playing the odd figure game or roleplaying game, and doing a little cooking and baking.
To date she has published 8 poetry books and more than 40 children’s books, with more planned for the near future. She’s also contributed a story to the sci-fi and fantasy anthology Wyrd Worlds II.
When he died
A few cried.
Some maintain,
Much to his friends disdain
That he fried …
Should you
Ask me for my view,
I shall, of course
Refer you
To a blind horse.
Look in my face; my name is Might-have-been;
I am also call’d No-more, Too-late, Farewell;
Unto thine ear I hold the dead-sea shell
Cast up thy Life’s foam-fretted feet between;
Unto thine eyes the glass where that is seen
Which had Life’s form and Love’s, but by my spell
Is now a shaken shadow intolerable,
Of ultimate things unutter’d the frail screen.
Mark me, how still I am! But should there dart
One moment through thy soul the soft surprise
Of that wing’d Peace which lulls the breath of sighs,—
Then shalt thou see me smile, and turn apart
Thy visage to mine ambush at thy heart
Sleepless with cold commemorative eyes.
On 27 June, I wrote a post entitled “Its My Blog and I’ll Swear If I Like”,
In that article I expressed my dislike of swearing on blogs and stated my disinclination to share content which contains expletives.
I did, however state that there exists a place for swearing in literature where this is intrinsic to the characters/plot being portrayed.
In addition my article states that some factual content (rightly) will use expletives (for example a report of a court case will, of necessity document any expletives used by the defendant).
Given my recent post I was interested to read that the owner of the Sameul Smiths Brewery, Humphrey Smith, has banned swearing in all his UK-based establishments.
According to The Guardian several pub managers have been sacked by Smith for allowing swearing in his pubs and customers have been barred for indulging in such behaviour.
The newspaper toured several Sam Smiths establishments and found no pub goers in favour of the prohibition. Typical of the views expressed was that of Craig
“Craig, 38, a cable jointer from Oldham, thought the ban was immature. “To be honest if you banned everyone who was swearing in a pub you wouldn’t have a business,” he said. “Are they going to send you outside to swear?””
Despite my dislike of swearing, I am inclined to agree with Craig that this ban is unworkable.
People in pubs should, of course be aware of their surroundings and should, for example never knowingly swear when children are present as it sets a bad example.
I also think it reasonable for bar staff to tell customers to “tone it down” when swearing is occurring at a high volume.
To my mind a muttered expletive overheard by a member of staff who is in close proximity to the swearer, is significantly different in nature from a man (or woman) swearing at the top of his (or her) voice.
One can not, in short, police swearing out of existence in pubs or other similar establishments.
As always I would welcome the views of my readers.
Kevin
K Morris - Poet 