New Fiction this Autumn from SALT

Hold on tight and prepare yourself for a world-wide tour of new fiction, published this autumn by SALT. Kicking off in the small towns of California's Central Valley, Manuel Munoz's outstanding collection The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue brings to life the interdependence of two disparate communities and how their paths cross to reveal a neighborhood shaped by misunderstandings and long-held secrets. This book has received tremendous critical acclaim across the US and was a finalist in the International Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize. -- "Moving and tender. . . Muñoz writes elegantly and sympathetically. . .a softly glowing, melancholy beauty that. . .makes [his stories] universal." -- New York Times Book Review. The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue is published 1 November 09 (UK, Europe, Australia/NZ only). Next we're over to Ireland and Nude by award-winning Irish writer, Nuala Ní Chonchúir, who expertly uses sensual frankness and poetic language to chart stories of the unclothed body: in bedrooms, in art, and in and out of love. The women and men in this collection play out their desires and frustrations from Dublin to Paris, Delhi to Barcelona, and beyond. Nuala Ní Chonchúir was highlighted by the Irish Times' as one of the "Faces to Watch in 2009" - the only writer on their list. Her book is available NOW from the Salt website in the UK, and the Book Depository for free world-wide shipping. Here in the SALT office we are eagerly awaiting delivery of Too Many Magpies, a novel by Welsh author, Elizabeth Baines. A young mother married to a scientist fears for her children’s safety as the natural world around her becomes ever more uncertain. Until, that is, she meets a charismatic stranger who seems to offer a different kind of power… To ameliorate the environmental impact of this book, Elizabeth Baines is working with Eco-Libris who will plant a tree for every copy printed. And don't forget to check out Elizabeth Baines' short story collection Balancing on the Edge of the World "An innovative and committed writer of distinctly pure talent." -- The Short Review As soon as stocks arrive, we'll let you know! And finally on our whistle-stop world tour, we're off to Singapore to meet Singapore-born, multi-lingual American writer Wena Poon, and her short story collection Lions in Winter. This book, which we have just sent to press, charts the 21st century journey of Singaporeans as they settle in the cities of New York, Los Angeles, London, Perth and Toronto. In 2008, Lions In Winter ranked in the Top 10 Bestseller List for Fiction in the Singapore newspaper, the Straits Times, and was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize. "The exile returns to illuminate an intimate part of Singapore, and does so quite beautifully." -- Time Magazine As soon as we take delivery of stocks, we'll let you know. (This book is available throughout the world, other than in Singapore where it is published by MPH Publishing)

Girl Guides' Centenary

Catering for the Centenary, originally uploaded by Jen170.

I had such a lovely day on Saturday. It was start of the 100th anniversary of the Girl Guide movement and there were celebrations up and down the country, including in Cambridge. I went along as a helper with our village Brownie pack and spent the day in the city doing a treasure hunt and stopping to for various activities. I don't know about the Brownies, but by the time we got back on the bus, I was exhausted!

We were hosted marvellously by Churchill College, where we were fed (see photo of college chefs who cooked around 3,000 sausages) and were treated to fireworks and a fly-over by the Red Arrows -- I just love them; such skill, it was so moving.

It was wonderful that everyone pulled out the stops to mark this event and give the girls a treat they'll hopefully remember for a long time to come.

"Hey, Fool, Turn Around Where Possible!"

I am so excited as, in the middle of the hall, sits two large and heavy bundles: one full of poles, the other containing the rest of a --- wait for it -- tent! I loved our camping holiday so much I just couldn't resist buying a tent I saw at half-price on the internet. We've not got round to unpacking it and doing a trial run of putting it up on the village green, but I have managed to plan our next half-dozen holidays!

Holidaying in a tent is what I would call a Real Holiday. No fridge means minimal shopping. Two saucepans and a frying pan means minimal cooking (plus cooking outside means you can get away with anything!). A washing up rota, no TV or computers and lots and lots of fresh air: perfect!

It didn't take us long to get the hang on sleeping on the inflatable mattresses (we even managed to reinflate them in the dark, half asleep), helped considerably by the dog not being able to work her way into the sleeping bags. She's terrible on holidays, a real creature of habit: if she's not in her own basket in our kitchen, she whines all night until she can get in beside me. Then she's constantly moving around and getting in and out of bed. Last year she refused to go up the stairs of our holiday house and I ended up sleeping down stairs with her, just to shut her up. No such antics this year - she just lay on the floor next to me.

The only downside to the holiday was our 100% reliance on the TomTom. It's never been very useful on our trips away and more often than not we've had to abandon it in favour of the good old road atlas. But this year, the car had been cleaned out before we left home and nothing had been put back, so no National Trust Handbook and no road atlas, resulting in constant moaning on my part when I knew that Mr T (our TomTom navigator) was taking us the wrong way but the driver didn't believe me -- and I was right! As it turned out, the road atlas hadn't been left on the kitchen table or in the hall, it had been put in the bin. No one admits responsibility and I wouldn't like to point fingers.

You can imagine then how pleased I was this morning when the postman knocked on the door bearing a large padded envelope -- a present from the AA. A road atlas! To thank me for 5 year's loyal membership! I have never been so happy! It will live in the car and heaven help anyone who tries to remove it.

Just One More!

I enjoyed the London to Cambridge bike ride so much that I signed up for another. Here is a slide show of my adventure. It was quite hard going -- the hills weren't so bad, but there was a constant head wind that made progress slow. But the scenery made up for it -- lovely inland stretches of quiet country lanes, and then the coast. Wonderful!

What a Difference a Month Makes!

So much to report! Well, first of all, the London to Cambridge bike ride: on Friday, two days before the Big Day, I decided that I would have a go at it, despite everything, not least of all, my lazing around for the previous couple of months (well, sitting at a desk, etc, not training). The thing was, although I told the team that I wasn't doing it, my place remained booked and on Thursday I got my official event number, and Friday my team T-shirt. Well, it was all too exciting to pass-up!

Ed picked me up at 5.45am on the Sunday morning, and by 7am, the coach full of Marshall Aerospace staff and us was on the M11 heading south. I couldn't help but notice all the hills as we drove along and I must admit to feeling like I had made a big mistake. The day before we'd been at Tom's farewell party (he's left Salt and is now living in Newcastle: starting uni and a new job in September) and heard horrendous stories from folk who'd done the ride a few years ago. How I regretted not buying cycle shorts!

Anyway, thankfully the weather was overcast and dry, and we had a wonderful time. Ed was the perfect cycling companion -- we more or less stayed together, stopping every ten miles or so, and made it over the finish line after 5 hours of cycling. I am happy to report that neither of us have any aches of pains, and I've even gone and signed up for another event on the 9th of August - 60 miles along the Suffolk coast -- looks lovely (and this time I'll remember to take my camera - and buy some cycle shorts, just in case!). The photos above show Ed and me crossing the finish line in Cambridge, and the route we took. If you look closely you can just make out a faint green line near the top right corner - this is my normal ride to work - all 2.8 miles of it -- hardly adequate preparation; no wonder I was anxious about it!

On the work front, Tom has left us after almost a year of keeping us tidy and organised. He's at such an exciting stage of life and we are sure he'll have a wonderful time in Newcastle. We have two part-time people replacing him: Charlotte, who's been with us as an intern since February, and Sarah-Jayne. They'll be focussing on promotion and marketing -- a very exciting development for us and I'm sure we've got the right people in place to ensure that all of our books are given a fighting chance. We've taken delivery of initial stock of Nuala Ni Chonchuir's wonderful collection of short stories, 'Nude' and are about to send Elizabeth Baines' novel 'Too Many Magpies' to press. I'm working on several other books, including work by Martin Bax (editor of Ambit Magazine), Wena Poon, Emily Benet -- I'm so lucky being able to work with these authors and do my bit for their writing.

Meanwhile, we're only just over one week into the school holidays. Eldest child has taken root on the sofa - I'm sure they've become one. Daughter wants to go out all the time or have friends over every minute and youngest just wants to go to nursery. The weather has been predictably wet, leading to fallings out and house-trashing, just to add to the fun of it all. Time to get on my bike, me thinks!

Yay, 3rd Best Jam in the Village!

Yay, 3rd Best Jam in the Village!, originally uploaded by Jen170.

What the heck, I may as well crow about this! Third prize for raspberry jam at the village flower show last weekend. My next door neighbour won 1st prize -- all I can say is she'd better enjoy it while she's got it!

I am pleased to report that I'm feeling much better now - most of the noise in my head has quietened down, thanks in part to the hot weather we've had, which has forced me to slow down and potter, mainly in the garden. At work I've been doing lots of typesetting, which is always therapeutic, and even now, doing the end of year accounts, having a systematic solitary task is doing me good. No stress, just plod. I'm getting the hang of keeping my blood sugar levels not too high, not too low, and have got into the swing of being a caffeine-free teetotaler.

A couple of weeks ago I paid a brief visit north of the border and went to the awards ceremony for the Scottish Book of the Year award. Our poet, Tom Pow won the best poetry collection section and the race was on to see who would win the coveted Best Book award (full list of category-winning books are here).   It went to James Kelman - I've put his book on a list of ones to get when I'm able to cope with distressing stories. I met Tom for the first time, which was a real pleasure -- he is delightful -- and a wonderful writer, we're so proud of him doing so well with 'Dear Alice'. This evening I vow to buy Andrea McNicoll's book, 'Moonshine in the Morning'. I had a chat with her over drinks and have felt bad ever since as I wasn't quite myself having eaten a load of sweets and drunk proper (albeit National Express) tea on the train for 5 hours. I seem to recall being none too generous about Glasgow, which is a city I'm very fond of, given it's where I'm from and anyway, it's got such a buzz and wonderful buildings that I know I would love it even if it wasn't in my blood. I said it was looking shabby last time I was there due to all the demolition that's going on as they extend the motorway through the city centre. I might have said more than that, I can't remember. Reading her book may just help ease my conscience - she's from there and lives there and I feel baaad, which is probably stupid of me, I know. Ah well. 

Talking of going places, it's looking very hopeful that Chris and I will be going away for a long weekend, sans children in Sept - the first time in 13 years! My mum has volunteered to babysit while we cash in some of our Airmiles. Venice is looking to be the likely destination - how wonderful is that! 

One month later . . .

IMG_6315, originally uploaded by Jen170.

Over recent days, alcohol has been joined by caffeine and sugar on the list of things I have to avoid. It seems that any stimulant sends me into a spin of emotions and confusion. I thought that perhaps I was developing some sort of terrible condition, so I went to see the doctor, but it turns out that this is a reaction to the trauma of last month when Salt was about to fold and everything lost.

It's likely to last for many months, but think how healthy I'll be by the end of it! Meanwhile, my brain is firing off in all the wrong directions and I live in a state of permanent bewilderment. Hey, great excuse to get a cleaner, I reckon. Every cloud, etc..

Above is a photo I took the other day of a barley field that I pass ever day with the dog. It's almost ready for harvesting. The sun was setting and it looked golden - gorgeous.