All sorts of changes are in the air with the prospect of elections subverting science and sabre rattling to save the political status quo. On that note, I intend to keep testing and wearing my masks. 

And today, Russia invaded Ukraine!

It´s hard thinking about writing, but writing is all I can do, so here´s what I was up to before the news came in:

I had a tiny story longlisted that will be published at The Museum of Walking;

I´ve done 6 of 8 Crime Writing Workshops with Benjamin Whitmer via the Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver Colorado. With the time difference it means zooming on Thursday mornings from 2:30 to 4:30, but that´s fine, as it´s given me insights for the first book of my cozy crime series, The Chef and I.  Yes, there will be recipes.

Last  weekend I was engaged in an intensive flash memoir workshop run by teacher extraordinaire Kathy Fish and I´ve got lots of new stuff to work with that will feed into my flash memoir!

I´m delighted that a revised and updated version of “Riding the Killer Fish”, which appeared in the charity anthology, News Sun Rising – Stories for Japan, to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, will appear in Asian Anthology: New Writing Volume 1 released on 22.2.22. And if you´re in London, there´ll be a launch and signing on Saturday, 19 March, so please swing by if you can.
For those in regions which are not served by Amazon, good news, our anthology is now available on Apple Books and Google Play.

My short time in Kyoto back in 1994 at an ITU Conference gave me fond memories that fed into my writing. A tiny whimsical story I had mailed from that city to Tokushima was accepted within a week with the happy postcard slipped under the door of my ryokan. The story appeared in Yomimono and is part of the longer story in Asian Anthology: New Writing Vol. 1.

In other news, I´m thrilled that Flo Do Books has received a grant from the City of Vienna towards the production of Ed´s Wife & Other Creatures in a German translation by dan*ela beuren.

Again, for Flo Do Books, I´m finalizing the German audio of Winds of Change again translated by dan*ela beuren and narrated by Michael Hain who has just issued his own first book.

For my Flo Do Books imprint, I´m also working on an anthology entitled Sex with Friends with contributions by Adnan Mahmutovic, Lucy Durneen, Rachel Fenton, and my own AstridL. It should be out next month, so stay tuned.

And with the help of a Geneva friend, I´ve nailed the TOC of Collected Stories which I´ll be reissuing anon. It´ll be a companion to Geflimmer der Vergangenheit  (translated from English by my dear friend, Eberhard Hain.)

And do watch out for the March issue of WordCity Literary Journal containing all sorts of pieces on the pandemic.

All in all, a wonderful literary start to Springtime and 2022 despite all the rejections that have just flooded in.

I´m hoping some research for my crime novel will get me going, so if you know how people recruit young ones for Scientology, please let me know.

And as always, I leave you with onwards!