It has been some time since I last posted anything here.
In fact, this will be my first post of the year.
My health has been a bit precarious. It was January 2020 when I explained where I was in my ongoing dance with Parkinson’s disease in my post “Removing the Mask” . That title does seem strangely prophetic now as we all have been forced to experience the world through a face-mask. Things have moved on for me since then and I will be writing about it soon.
But, despite (or perhaps because of) my jittery physical state, I have not been idle. In fact I have been very busy. Busy writing. Writing poetry. Mainly.
The first result of this is a new collection of my poems called “Pan’s Footprints.”
These poems were all produced during the first UK lockdown. At that time, I was in a fairly desperate state, physically and mentally. I was unable to sleep. One night, at my wit’s end, I called out for help. In the adjoining room, unbeknownst to me, my wife, also, was calling on her Gods to assist me. Later that night, one of those Old Gods turned up in my bedroom and struck a deal with me…..
“Pan’s Footprints” is the result of this surprising conversation.
Should you wish to learn more, you can buy a copy of the book here.
I mentioned that my wife had also called upon the Gods. She stuck her own deal. She is working hard, writing her own book. It will be available soon. I’ll be writing more about it soon. Until then, you can sample her writing and see examples of the jewellery she makes on her own website.
After much deliberation, we decided that, given the unusual circumstances of these books’ conception, we wanted to publish them ourselves. We found a great, local printer. It was important, we felt, that, given the precarious state of the economy at the moment, that we took our custom local businesses. Jo has excellent design skills. Friends volunteered to act as editors and proof-readers. Other friends offered advice and support on marketing and the business end of things. In a pleasingly ramshackle, DIY fashion, we have stumbled towards creating our own publishing press. It’s called wolfword&crowspeak. We have lots more publications planned. We just have to keep on finding ways to make it happen. I will keep you updated here.
andyjukes 