Stars in my eyes, ringing in my ears

On the Today programme on Monday, an item about poetry caught my attention. The representative of the Queen’s English Society was having a go at the representative of the Poetry Society about what constitutes poetry. I must admit I had a great deal of sympathy with the QES man, who said that too many pieces of work were described as poems when they had neither form, rhyme or metre. I know I am a reactionary, but I would like to see at least some of those elements included in a work, in order for me to regard it as poem.

I’ve been to the doctor this week, and she confirms that I probably have tinnitus. She’s arranged for me to have a hearing test, but once that’s done, I think the best thing I can do is to try to ignore it. It’s fine when I’m listening to the radio, but gets noisy when I’m sitting at the computer with no surrounding sound. Maybe I’ll install a radio in my office and listen to music while I’m typing and filing.

Listening to Woman’s Hour this morning, before I arrived at the computer, I heard a description of a cult. A couple of young women were talking about the abusive life they experienced when they grew up within cult families, and how they eventually made up their minds to leave. What was astonishing was that an expert, who also spoke on the subject, said that almost anyone could be brainwashed to believe what was being said to them - it would take only three or four days. Coincidentally, I’ve been reading Irene’s forthcoming novel, Darshan in which the heroine is involved in something similar. I was doubtful that someone could get so involved in a short time, but now I’m convinced. I’m only one-third through the novel, but it’s going well, and hopefully will be published by Goldenford this year.

In the meantime, I’m selling a few pre-publication copies of Tainted Tree. My gardener has bought a copy for his wife, who enjoyed A Bottle of Plonk, and the hairdresser, who I visited today, also wanted one. And of course, copies can be obtained from my website, as well as from Goldenford.

It’s quite unconnected, but I was emailed today by someone at the Evening Standard, who wanted my comment on the JK Rowling court case. I immediately got something down on paper, including the fact that I’d written a dissertation on the Harry Potter books for my degree in 2002. Hopefully, my letter may be in the paper tomorrow.

Tonight, I shall relax in front of The Apprentice. I might learn something about promoting my business or promoting my books, but the main reason is to watch the interaction of the people involved.