under another sun

Off to Hereford today, after a good deal of packing and faffing. I also sent off What's Inside to David Longhorn at Supernatural Tales. Fingers crossed (Lorraine read it in bed this morning, and liked it). A long drive for Lorriane, but she managed it okay, and we had a break at a service station once we'd gone through the M25 bit. While driving along, I got an email from Hamish Whyte, the editor at Mariscat, with a rough text of the Mariscat sampler I will be in with Marilyn Ricci and Helen Evans. A really jolly evening with Sue and John in Bromyard. I sat in the garden with John over a smoking barbecue chatting about all manner of things, including Chat GPT the ai tool. They had bought lots of meat, so we had pork steaks, and sausages and bits of aubergines and lots of salad, and we repaired indoors and ate and drank and generally caught up. They had been on lots of travels as usual, including Mauritius, that I went to many years ago. A lovely day.  Whiskey the dog on a lead...

Lorraine off to Ashford this morning, after going to Rhyme Time. I spent time working on the What's Inside story, having regained faith in it. A nice note from Diana at Mariscat Press about the sampler publication some of my poems are in, which will be published early Autumn. This afternoon I spent two hours talking with Charlotte and the other Understorians Marilyn, Emma and Linda. Soon after I'd begun this little group a few months ago, I learned that Marilyn, who I'd just met, will be published in the same Mariscat sampler.   I mooched into Brighton this evening to meet Mark and Peter in the Basketmakers. Sat there eating wasabi peanuts and shooting the breeze for quite some time. The England and Netherlands semifinal besieging other pubs, but not in Baskets. Mark and Peter both shared zero interest in the footie. Off for a decentish pizza at Franco Manca.  Could tell by the roar we could hear in pizzeria that England had won. Home on the train with Mark, and then home....