LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND
I watched you in the sand
Drawing shapes with your left hand
Shapes that seemed to show
The face of a long-haired man
Then the tide rolled gently in
And his face was quickly gone
But from the fleeting glimpse I got
I swear I was that man.
buy my latest poetry collection ’67’ @ http://www.tinhuttalespublishers.co.uk/product/67-2/
HAMPSTEAD GIRLS
A better class of person
Adorns the Hampstead
Red-bricks and glass
Whether lounging in the chic-lit bars
Or just lolling in the grass
Hampstead ladies in particular
Ride their bikes with elegance
And sip their foamy cappuccinos
With practised nonchalance.
On the pavements and in the cafes
There are no sightings
Of the culturally bereft
Even down-and-outs
Lean quite boldly to the left.
John Betjeman could not complain
Or call on Hampstead Heath
For bombs to rain
Nor suffer scorn like poor old Slough
Who he had deemed
Not fit for any humans now
Those air-conditioned bright canteens
In Hampstead’s glades will not be seen
And there’s plenty grass to graze his cow
Hampstead Heath’s as green as Ireland now!
my latest poetry collection – 67 – is now available @ http://www.tinhuttalespublishers.co.uk/67/
James M Cain, author of the best-seller THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE said the book was so-called because when his postman was returning his rejected manuscripts he always rang twice
A few years ago, Samuel Moffie submitted The Perfect Martini to 100 literary agents. Actually, he submitted the first twenty pages of Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions disguised as The Perfect Martini. Only one agent responded positively, but that’s because the agent recognized the original author. 99 agents declined.
Which just goes to show, what the fuck do agents know! Or care.
Agents are concerned with commercial viability, first and foremost. Literary quality is a secondary bonus. Now, if Vonnegut wrote a novel where a dominant vampire becomes master to a naive, submissive, shape-shifting werewolf, I’m sure he would have fared better.
Why spend months, or even years, writing and submitting queries to agents who are clearly looking the other way? If they passed on Kurt Vonnegut, what chance do you have?
Brian Marggraf writes in his blog; I queried over 300 agents, followed all their silly and varied submission requirements, I know, no attachments, got it, waited to hear back for weeks sometimes, other times, didn’t hear back at all, even with partial or full manuscript requests, read all their canned responses, I’m not taking on new authors at this time, the work doesn’t fit with my list. Blah, blah, blah. My tip – don’t send any more. Take your work straight to the reader.Within one month, I built a platform, designed my cover, formatted my ebook, published, promoted, marketed, and advertised. Made sales.
He has got a point. And my postman? Yeah, the fucker always rings twice.
My Writing Life 