I’ve been SO EXCITED to share this – and as my poetry publisher knows – I can get pretty darn excitable when I have news to share. So here goes…

I can officially confirm that my next fully poetry collection, Little Quakes Every Day, will be released on 9^th November this year (2020, for retrospective readers), and be published by the wonderful Valley Press.

Want to know what it’s about?

Here’s an extract from the synopsis:

“Here are stories of human evolution and natural laws, of technology, of the world’s problems and the twisted inventions we create. Step into a world of philosophers, automatons, wild things, and the ghosts that dwell deep in the heart of the earth itself.”

Though the collection is complete, there’s still a lot of work to do. Publishers generally like to do some editing with you (no matter what you might think, improvements can ALWAYS be made), there’s an author questionnaire to complete, a cover to collaborate on… If you’re interested in seeing what happens when a poetry collection or chapbook is being published, you can see mydiary of what happened when I was publishing my first poetry collection here.

But that’s not all. I’m hoping to have two other exciting announcements in the next few months, too.

One will include dates of the Festivals the Operatic Song Cycle I wrote with a wonderful Composer will be performing at around the country. At the moment I’m not sure how many there will be, but there’ll be at least a few opportunities to go and listen. The Song Cycle comprises of six of my poems, transformed into gorgeously melodic and extremely haunting art songs about women in mythology. I CAN’T WAIT to hear these new interpretations of the stories of Medusa, Bean Nighe, The Morrigan, and the rest in person.

The other announcement will be to do with the fiction I’ve been writing in recent months, but this one is still up in the air so I have to keep schtum. Exciting though. 😉

I’m also ploughing ahead with my second novel, and so I have to be organised. It’s major Filofax time in the Hardaker household. I’m writing down everything so I don’t forget – from trawling Pinterest for cover ideas for Valley Press, to when to give Juno’s little tray a proper swoosh. It brings me such peace of mind to have it all down on paper.

Blimey, it’s also just occurred to me that I’ll need a launch for the collection! Being a massive introvert (though a strangely social one at times), I managed to wheedle out of one last time, but this year I think I need to do things differently. I already have an incredibly talented writer friend and event planner ready to help me find a venue. So stay tuned for news on that later in the year…

So there’s lots happening right now. Exciting times! And to think – I was going to make this month’s post about my favourite pens for writers! You lucky things, getting out of that one. I’ll stick that idea on my bloging list for the future. But if youfollow me on Twitter you may still have to put up with my love of pens, inks, and everything in between in the meantime…

If you have any top tips for a poetry book launch, or ideas for things you’d like to see at a book launch but don’t often do, please do leave a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Speak soon 🙂