NEWS
Parkinson's & the Tango Effect: my Year on the Dance Floor
Since the book was launched with award-winning crowd-funding publisher Unbound in December, it's received support from more than 200 would-be readers and many more behind the scenes and funding has reached an incredible 85%.
BUT it will only be published if - or rather when - the funds reach 100%. The success of the campaign depends on YOUR support! Whatever your take on the subject - as a carer or family member or as someone with Parkinson's yourself, as a health care professional or a neurologist, as a dancer or simply an interested observer - please do discover how you can become involved by following this link
https://unbound.com/books/tango/
checking out the video, synopsis & extract and pledging your support. PLEASE also spread the word by telling friends, family and colleagues about the book and sharing the link across your networks.
That link again: https://unbound.com/books/tango/
THANK YOU!
DANCE AND PARKINSON'S
The English National Ballet/Dance for Parkinson's classes continue in Ipswich, with the new term beginning later this month, though sadly without Amy and Sarah who have led the group since it began and are now moving on. I still manage to get there occasionally. Jan Green's dance classes for people with Parkinson's also continue in Harston.
Meanwhile I am delighted to be involved in new research into the benefits of dance for people with Parkinson's with Rebecca Hadley from the University of Hertfordshire.
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DANCE AND PARKINSON'S
The English National Ballet/Dance for Parkinson's classes continue in Ipswich, with the new term beginning later this month, though sadly without Amy and Sarah who have led the group since it began and are now moving on. I still manage to get there occasionally. Jan Green's dance classes for people with Parkinson's also continue in Harston.
Meanwhile I am delighted to be involved in new research into the benefits of dance for people with Parkinson's with Rebecca Hadley from the University of Hertfordshire.
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THE BOTANIC GARDEN: AUGUST INTO SEPTEMBER
"After days of wind and rain, a perfect autumn morning: sunshine, light winds, blue skies flounced with cloud. At the garden’s original entrance, tall gates now firmly shut against Trumpington Road’s traffic, the steps are edged with pots of the lovely Verbena bonariensis made to share their space with dahlias, gold and orange, poking their noses in, bobbing about in the breeze..."
LOW DOWN & DIRTY: THE SOIL SPEAKS
Welcome to my world.
Quickfire, cocksure, firm yet fleet of foot, solid or slippery, rippling but rooted, both elephantine and ethereal, sharp-toothed and silver-tongued
LISTEN!
I am not what you think
I have many voices
When the air is dry, and the breeze light, a whispering in your ear
That susurration you imagine is only the wind in the trees
That is ME!
[from Writing the Garden: September's vignette and short story]
Into September and a run of perfect days, with clear skies and warm sun. There's a chill in the air in the evenings, though, a sure sign that autumn is on its way. I haven't yet managed to reconnect with with my focus on the natural world but I have begun to get back to shorter pieces. A big thank you to Paragraph Planet for publishing 'Lorna' on 28th August - it should be available to view on their August archive soon. Thanks also to Dal and Caroline of Arts Emergency & 826LA for including my piece on writing and dancing as responses to diagnosis in their forthcoming anthology I Wrote it Anyway.
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THE STATION MASTER: THE NOVEL (still on hold...)
Photo: Veselin Malinov
More than 2 years since our trip to Bulgaria and our brief visit to Elhovo, one of the main settings for the novel, and 18 months since my full manuscript appraisal in the capable hands of Adventures in Fiction's Marion Urch. A tough taskmistress, Marion had many criticisms of my draft which, much as I feared, needed more - much more - work. Fortunately, Marion also saw the promise in what I had written and I was ultimately sufficiently encouraged by her comments to tackle a redraft. Meanwhile, author and novel are now featured on the Adventures in Fiction profiles page
Another encouragement emerged in the person of author Chris Bailey, whose book 'Railways of Bulgaria' I came upon online. As well as parting with one of his few remaining copies of the book, now sadly out of print, Chris has proved tireless in reading and providing feedback on whatever I send him, patiently correcting my mistakes - turns out he's an expert in all things Bulgarian as well as its rail networks - and coming up with creative solutions to problems in the narrative. I'm beginning to feel that every writer needs a Chris Bailey just an email away!
Not surprisingly perhaps I've had to put The Station Master on hold for the time being whilst the crowd-funding for Parkinson's & the Tango Effect runs its course but I hope to pick up the threads again soon, and my plan is to return to Bulgaria in late summer/early autumn, when I hope to revisit Elhovo, discover more about the country's railways & experience the phenomenon that is big bird migration, assisted by Dimiter Georgiev's Neophron Tours
Another encouragement emerged in the person of author Chris Bailey, whose book 'Railways of Bulgaria' I came upon online. As well as parting with one of his few remaining copies of the book, now sadly out of print, Chris has proved tireless in reading and providing feedback on whatever I send him, patiently correcting my mistakes - turns out he's an expert in all things Bulgarian as well as its rail networks - and coming up with creative solutions to problems in the narrative. I'm beginning to feel that every writer needs a Chris Bailey just an email away!
Not surprisingly perhaps I've had to put The Station Master on hold for the time being whilst the crowd-funding for Parkinson's & the Tango Effect runs its course but I hope to pick up the threads again soon, and my plan is to return to Bulgaria in late summer/early autumn, when I hope to revisit Elhovo, discover more about the country's railways & experience the phenomenon that is big bird migration, assisted by Dimiter Georgiev's Neophron Tours
