Respooling August and September

Time to catch up with my blog. August was spent in the wilds of Sweden near Norrtaelje living the simple life with no tv and no internet – just woods and mushrooms and water and collecting seeds for the spring. September was mostly Indian summer which is still continuing. A short stay in hospital which I made into some R&R and even managed to collect a sack of fresh walnuts from the hospital grounds. And a farewell to our lovely dog, Reglisse, adopted black lab/husky who almost made it to 17 years of age. She is missed.

Couldn’t make it to Geneva for the Offshoots launch, but my contributer copy arrived and it is a fine anthology with a variety of pieces from international writers, as well as some great photography. And just check out those wonderful kudos on the back cover from Wallis Wilde Menozzi, Robert Stewart, Editor of New Letters, Thomas E. Kennedy, and Geeta Kothari, Fiction Editor of the Kenyon Review.

On the workshop front, a fun day with dental hygienists in Vienna and the secrets of communicating with English-speaking patients about all things teeth – my tooth fairy workshop. A big thanks to all participants for making last Saturday such fun. Last weekend was a blast with dear friends, one of whom I hadn’t seen in 25 years, coming to stay and enjoy the warm weather in Vienna. A trip to Schoenbrunn and a visit to the wonderful Christl’s in Stammersdorf rounded off a great menu.

On the writing front there were a couple of rejections, but also some good news with stories accepted for mobile publishing at Ether Books. So if you’ve got thingies like Iphones or Ipads, do download the Ether Books free app and pick up some short stories. Some are even free – one of mine and one of AstridL‘s. (Her story still tops the free bestseller list – I like the idea of something free being a bestseller 😉 – and with all the sad news around, it’s good that some sex still continues to sell.) My stories, “A Home is a Home” (free), “Necropix”, “An Imaginary Friend”, and “The Rules of the Game” (forthcoming) are all in the Ether Books stable. I’m also waiting to hear how another story fared in Australia. Decision will be 14 October. Fingers are crossed.

That’s all for now. If I’ve forgotten something, then it’ll have to be for next time. Got deadlines to meet now.