Finally autumn is here. I'm not complaining about the long summer, but it's been slightly surreal, the heat and the bright sun. But last week had a hint of 'mists and mellow fruitfulness', one of my favourite descriptions of autumn, especially when I go out to my damp apple trees, but also a humid heat. This week things are definitely starting to move more towards autumn. Lots of rain yesterday, gold birch leaves scattered on my lawns sweaters needed in the morning.
I've been making applesauce, apple cakes, courgette/ zucchini cake, stews and fruit compotes. Autumn to me is a lot about food, obviously. But I'm also doing a tidy of the garden and my allotment, curling up in the mornings to write to the rain. My favourite season, except for the awareness of winter stomping in at the end. I just want to focus on the hazy, cool and damp moments in front of me.
I'm booking another trip to Scotland for October which I'm getting excited about. This one is just me for five days. I'm heading to Fife where I haven't spent much time. Hoping to do a lot of writing and wandering around little towns, visiting cafes and bookshops. Big plans, lol.
I have no news on publications, magazines or otherwise. I'm still submitting my Finnish collection here and there, but my Scottish collection has been delayed again. Surprise, surprise.
Even though my book publication is probably still a ways off, I'm trying to psych myself up by figuring out how to promote myself on social media. I've joined various platforms and occasionally spend some time reading, but I'm not very good at posting on them. I wonder if poets really get many sales from social media. I think online sales will have to play a big part for me as I won't be able to do the book tour thing as I did with my last book almost 20 years ago.
I was lucky that another poet who was being published by my press was a Writer-in-Residence and had the contacts to set up a poetry reading series around southern Scotland and I set up a few of my own with groups and places I knew. I'll do a reading or two here in Helsinki, but otherwise as far as I know there isn't much of an English poetry network here. If anyone knows differently, please contact me.
So I've joined Substack recently, but haven't really posted and I'm still finding people to follow. I'd like to get off Twitter, but I don't want to lose that sense of network, even if I'm a quiet member. I'm not sure where to start with being a more active poster.
I'll post this on Substack and Twitter and Bluesky, but otherwise I rarely post on social media. So many platforms that I lurk on. I don't like that they are such time-suckers, but it is what poets, artists in generally probably, need to do if they want to have a presence. It feels like you need that presence to be accepted for publication, especially when I cannot have a physical presence in the UK where I am mostly published. So I'm trying again with this . . .
My long weekend is drawing to a close. It's wet and moody out, bringing dusk earlier and earlier. The days are slowing down and I'm giving in to them. There's never enough time, there's still a sense of urgency different from what I get in the summer. To nest, to harvest, to prepare for what's coming.
I've made banana bread, apple cake and applesauce cake for home and school, two types of chicken with apples and applesauce. All trying to use up my apples from my cinnamon apple tree. I've wrangled my reluctant daughter into dinner, homework and taking out the rubbish, but not a shower. Compromise.
And writing, I've managed a little. Sent out some submissions, one already declined. I've fought with a poem that I can see but can't express. It's coming, gradually.
We'll see how it goes.
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