First Aid Kit Girl out now

OK, this is one self-indulgent post about myself and then I'll go back to my normal regime of talking about crap telly.
My novel First Aid Kit Girl is out now, published by The Green Press. You can buy it here, and it will be on Amazon properly soon, I think there's some technical issue or some crap so it's not showing up quite right.

If you like my writing on here, you'll probably like it, as it's more misanthropy, and if you do buy it and like it, please leave me a review on Amazon, I'd be so grateful. It doesn't have to be five stars; be honest!

There's a bit more about what the book is about here on my Extol blog in my Next big thing interview but I  think 'girl meets razorblade meets boy' sums it up best. It's really for anyone who's ever worked in an office and wanted to kill everyone there, which I think is pretty much anyone who's ever worked in an office.

And all stuff related to the book after this will be on Extol which is where my creative stuff lives and not cluttering up Exitainment, as that's not what you come here for. I really do appreciate you reading my blog so much and just love writing, so thanks for reading.

I didn't realise that you wrote poetry...

Blowing my cover a little, but it will slip through the midst of blog time, I'm sure.
Two poems by me, one from the second book I'm in What We Were Thinking Just before the End and my poem is called Prize. If you like that, you might like my other four poems in it, or the extract from my novel First Aid Kit Girl. Equally you might not; I can't please everyone!
And another from the respected literary website Big Bridge, who were comiling thoughts on the US election (mine's at the bottom of this page and is about my dead cat, but don't let that put you off).
See it aint all reality TV round here. I'm an artist, honest, guv.

Book review: What We Were Thinking Just Before The End

Is is it fair to review a book that I'm in? Probably not, but it's my blog and you know, it's more highbrow that Big Brother.
This is the second book published by the Willesden Green Writer's Group (which I'm the chair of; just don't ask what THAT involves), the first of which won the Raymond Williams prize of five grand. Not bad, hey?
And the good news is, this book is even better. No, you won't remember the title, yes, you will get bored typing it out again and again if you're me, and you might even have not liked it very much in the first place, but majority rules, democracy is king and all that rubbish (for now; it'll be a different story when it's my own novel, obv). Actually, the cover and the title actually work very well, and the book looks bloody marvellous, and was the result of many hours of hard work, so a lot of respect to all those who put the work in, and respect to all the writers within who just bathed in the glory.
But what's in this bloody book? Well there's loads of totally different stuff, which reflects the many personalities (and egos) at WGWG. There's some damn good writers too, and I'm really proud to be a part of the group.
There's some really funny stuff in there; a story about a Scrabble game gone wrong by Clare Sandling, an amazing story called Piano Smashing Blues by the brilliant writer Steve Moran, and Stephan by Brian Curran which has a brilliant twist at the end. There's some moody haikus from Lee Webber, tales from McDonalds (a subject close to my own heart) by Jeff Achampong, and a really evocative snapshot of Pakistan from Bilal Ghafoor. I can't mention absolutely everything in it or I'd be here all day (so don't shoot me, the rest of you) but the standard is really high. Oh, and there's an extract from a novel called First Aid Kit Girl by Lynsey Rose, about a misanthropic self-harmer (it's funny, honest!) as well as four of her poems (all genius, obviously, even the cucumber one).
Anyway, the group will be doing various readings in and around London over the summer and I'm involved in one on Monday night (which I think we're just cameoing at) at the Pulp Net short story cafe which is at Costa Coffee (just as good as Wembley).
And you can buy What We Were Thinking Just Before The End just here. It's honestly really good, I wouldn't try and plug it if it wasn't. I don't get a penny from it either, it all goes back into the group!
Thanks for humouring me. I'll remember you if I ever get my own theme park.

Oh Fuck It

I might get an attack of nerves and take this down soon but here's me reading at the Metrowords Event on Thursday. I read two poems and a bit from my novel. I read a bit too fast cos my mum was there so I was nervous. Listen to that thunderous applause. ;-)

Intro

Reading

It's a bit quiet so get your ear trumpet out.

The night went really well I thought, everyone was excellent, especially Elle who actually performed hers rather than read it to her feet like me and Jeff. Haha.

You can hear the podcasts here cos the whole bloody lot appeared by magic over night, like when those pixies did that guys shoes. Amazing. It might be mildly masochistic to listen to the whole thing, though.

And here's Steve's reading. Steve is an excellent writer and he ran the whole night and I think chopped them all up for us, so cheers for that, Steve.

I'm gonna go hide in the corner now.