What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?
Swimming and walking.
I’m not very coordinated so I need something to do that I can do on my own. I used to be an archer, which is also a solo sport, but then I slipped on a wet concrete floor and damaged my back and hip.
These days I like to go to aqua aerobics as well as swimming lengths. I like to try different classes; since I’ve had time to myself, I’ve been to classes at different pools and with different teachers. My favourite is the one I go to on a Thursday morning. It’s at 10a.m. but it doesn’t cost a fortune to get a taxi. There’s one I tried last Friday morning that had weights, which was fun, but I have to get a bus at 10 a.m. If I have the energy, I’ll give it another try next week.
I have a bit of a cold at the moment, so I’m only doing a little bit of exercise.
My copy of this novella, a special edition from Goldsboro Books, arrived today, and it is gorgeous. It is a prequel to Days of Shattered Faith, and features Angilly as a younger person. The cover illustrations and the end papers are delightful. They match the three novels in the series.
I’m going to get the audiobook so that I don’t damage the binding or get stains on the pages. I really need to get another bookshelf, since I’m pretty much out of space.
Job for when I get back from World Fantasy Convention.
August was a busy month, with four blog tours and going to Autscape at the beginning of the month for work. I also needed to finish a crochet project for an exhibition at TT88 on 30th August, and a short story that I needed to finish and submit to Humber SFF by today.
I’ve also been reading books for the BFS Awards. I’m a judge for the Best Collection award. My fellow judges and I decided to have a deadline of 1st September, so I’ve been fitting them in around my tours. I also needed to read a book for a tour tomorrow.
The last week of August was very successful. I completed the crochet project, finished reading three books, and the short story.
I have other news, quite big news.
I work for an organisation that supports autistic adults, and have done for 5 years, but I’ve been involved with an arts organisation for several years as well. First the gallery, Turntable, hosted my Neurodivergent History project, and then my friend started Lucy’s Art Club, and it’s gone from there. I’m now a Director of a new organisation, Purple Peacock CIC, helping disadvantaged creatives in our region. At the end of the year I’m giving up my salaried job to take on self-employed work, both independently and with Purple Peacock CIC. I want to focus on my writing and creative work. I told my employer two weeks ago and it has been a weight lifted.
I feel like I’m able to access the creative part of me that was gradually locked up by my job taking all my focus.
I’ve also made contact with the editor at Spondylux Press about doing some proof reading and editing work for them. If you’re ND and want to find a publisher, I recommend Spondylux, I met the editor at Autscape and I will be reviewing two of the books I bought at a later date. Nema (the editor) is lovely.
In addition, I am going to build on the editing I’ve done with my current employer, for a couple of projects. I’ve edited short stories for authors and an anthology of art, poetry, memoir and short stories by Autistic authors. I have decided that I’m open for business self-employed as an editor and proof reader. See here for details.
Some of my projects with Purple Peacock CIC will be managing a reference library of poetry books we inherited, running a writing café, presenting writing and editing workshops for Lucy’s Art Club, and eventually, in several years, starting a small press for local disadvantaged authors.
There’s a novel I’m working on that’s only a few chapters in on the first draft. I’m planning to use up all of my annual leave in December, so I’ll have a whole, free month to write! Ahhh, it’ll be blissful!
I’ve got loads of crochet projects to do too, but they’re personal projects. However, if you want a monster crocheting, let me know and I’ll cost it for you.
Monstrous Agonies captures the late-night, weekly advice segment of the UK’s only dedicated radio station for people of the night. Each episode features two letters and their responses as listeners write in to ask for advice on all things liminal, from vampires trying to eat more ethically to ghosts whose crushes look right through them.
Winner of the 2022 British Fantasy Award for Best Audio, Monstrous Agonies was our first podcast and our first foray into getting our audience involved in the storytelling process. Listeners were able to send in their own letters and questions, shaping the universe of the show as it was being created.
Monstrous Agonies wrapped up in September 2023.
My Review
I’ve been listening to this podcast on and off for the last couple of months. Each week there are a couple of letters that the host has to answer. Each letter asks a different question, which cover all sorts of dilemmas. Over the course of the three series, there is a through line of the Hosts relationship with Mab, which goes from antagonistic to loving. There is also a sub-plot in which the station is threatened by a corporation that is trying to take over all businesses that serve the liminal community.
The letters can easily be interpreted as referring to Neurodivergent and Queer issues. Everything from imposter syndrome to being the only one in the family, to having a young family member who is being treated badly by parents who won’t listen to an adult with the same identity. And then there’s the dragon who has taken on a princess and has struggled to find a hero to rescue her. And the giant spider cursed with empathy who can’t eat the creatures lured into her webs.
The creativity and humour of this podcast kept me entertained through 111 episodes, while the advice dispensed is actually rather useful. You just have to work out the context…
Throughout the three series, Hero makes pointed criticism of capitalism, bigotry, and landlords. Landlords get hit with a metaphorical big stick. As they should. I enjoyed their social commentary.
All of the episodes are short, about 15 minutes, so you don’t have to commit huge amounts of time to get through a couple of episodes. It’s good walking to the shops or going on your break at work listening. I really enjoyed the writing, the storytelling, and Hero has a lovely voice for audio. If you enjoy urban fantasy, love folklore, and are a bit anti-capitalist, you’ll enjoy this podcast. Highly recommended.
I’ve moved on to their next podcast, Travelling Light. I shall report back once I’ve listened to all of them.
It’s that time of year again when I remind everyone that Guy Fawkes was a religious extremist and so were his co-conspirators. Guy Fawkes changed his name to Guido while fighting in the Spanish army against protestants in the Netherlands. It made him sound more Spanish and Catholic. Insert me rolling my eyes at the vanity right now.
I was going to write a review of Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes, by Rob Wilkins, but I’m still crying slightly from the ending, and it’s too hot, and I had to go to Lidl for food and now I’m overwhelmed and tired, so no review today. I am even more convinced than ever that STP was neurodivergent even before his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
There was a lady struggling with her shopping trolley trying to get home from Lidl, the wheels fell off. Loads of people passed her and didn’t stop to help. I helped her carry the loaded trolley to the river and waited while she phoned someone to come and help. It didn’t seem right to let her struggle. Her English wasn’t great, but then, this is Grimsby, most people here only speak passable English at the best of times, speaking it as a second language is quite impressive, to me at least. We managed to communicate enough to do what needed to be done.
The cat is shedding everywhere and I think I’m allergic. Well, I’m allergic to quite a lot of things, and the last lot of blood tests I had ruled out pet dander, but it could be pet hair, I suppose? I’m not giving up animals, so I’ll just stick with prescription strength antihistamines.
I’m going to read a book about Girl Guides and Girl Scouts this afternoon. I was in the Brownies and Guides, and a Young Leader. My Dad and Uncle we Scouts, my Grandad was a Scout leader. I’m still in touch with my Brownie Leader, who was also my Leader as a Young Leader. I have some stories to tell, and I’m sure if you asked, my Brownie and Guide Leaders probably have some embarrassing photos of me they’d share. My Guides were attached to our local Anglican Church, even when I stopped going to church I continued going to Guides, until the summer of 1999, when I left because I was doing my GCSEs and I slapped another Guide for calling me a ‘retard’ because I couldn’t find something.
She was a nasty little bitch.
We’d just got a new Guide leader and I hadn’t bonded well with her, so I left. A year later I was doing a historic churches fundraising walk and my former Brownie leader mentioned they’d been short staffed for a camp that summer. I asked her why she hadn’t rung me. After that I joined her Guides as a Young Leader. It was a different Guides group.
At the time, Immingham had 3 Guides groups, two attached to churches and one secular. My group was held in the church hall, and you could go from Rainbows to Guides there. I’d gone from the CofE group to the secular group. It served the less well-off girls who wanted to be Guides. You see, the local Anglicans and Methodists could be a bit up themselves and very hypocritical. Poor girls from the council estate weren’t really welcome there, and it was a trek for them to get to the church halls where those groups were held.
I’m told there’s only one Guide group left in Immingham now, and the Scouts long since shut up shop. The old church hall got sold off, as well, to the local private dentist, because the church couldn’t afford to keep it up. The old vicarage has also been sold as a private house too. We used to do a lot of outdoors stuff in the vicarage grounds, and if you believe my old Brownie leader, I was 3 when I saw a Brownies group at the summer fete and demanded to join. I had to wait until I was seven though. And I got one of the new uniforms. Which were made from incredibly uncomfortable fabric, but were much more practical that the brown dresses the other girls had to wear. I preferred trouser even then.
Did you know you can generate AI art images on WordPress? I didn’t but I wanted an image for this post, because Maria takes their investigation down to the planet of Aurox.
Hey all, I’m feeling rough and haven’t been able to go swimming for a week or so. It’s miserable! However, I have been thinking about writing an article or two for Swim magazine about being a fat swimmer or a disabled swimmer. I might just write an article and post it here.
I am a wuss, we all know this. I don’t want to ask people at the pool about their experiences, because they might get upset with me for calling them fat. I’m fine with calling myself fat, because I’ve come to see it as merely a neutral descriptor, like tall, autistic, artistic, reader. However, it’s taken me a hell of a long time to get to this point and I don’t want to assume other people have processed the bullying they went through, or the negative connotations society puts on the word ‘fat’.
Anyway, if you’re fat, a swimmer and in the UK, I’d like to hear about your experiences. Please fill in the form below to share your experiences:
I picked up issue 4 of SWIM from the newsagent last Monday whole I was browsing for a history magazine. It’s one of the things I enjoy about going into real newsagent; you never know what you’re going to find. SWIM bills itself as a lifestyle magazine for swimmers. Anyway, I enjoyed issue 4 so I ordered back issues 1 to 3.
Quality of production: high quality printing, heavy paper, full colour printing.
Quality of content: interviews with interesting people and really helpful advice on different techniques.
I found the technical information really helpful, as I’ve never had coaching and couldn’t afford it anyway (£39.99/month for adult lessons at Grimsby Leisure Centre).
The interviews gave some insight into professional swimming and the personalities involved.
I also enjoyed the articles on wild and open swimming, and the return of the lido. I found out there’s a new one being built in Hull, which I’m considering trying out once it opens. It’ll only take me a couple of hours to get there on the train and bus, and I think a swim session is £4.90. I now have a mental list of swimming pools and spots I want to visit at some point.
General opinion: Interesting content that’s highly readable and well illustrated. There was some repetition in issues 2 and 3. I found that a bit irritating. Hopefully, it’s just because it’s a new magazine and they’ll get better with time.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 