A Full Cup

an empty tank

Hello Friends,

June was — ooft — a month!

The biggest highlight was Q-Lit’s Festival (surprise surprise!)

If I’m being honest, I had been incredibly anxious about it rapidly approaching as I was worried it might not be a success, what if everything goes wrong, what if they don’t like me? You know, all the rational thoughts…

I’m pleased to say it was a resounding success! There were lovely crowds of engaged people at every single event, and all the feedback I was getting was of genuine appreciation of how well it all came together. The vibe was right each time and even though there were some minor hiccups and learnings for next time, there was nothing that derailed any of the events at all.

Here’s a photo of me smiling wide as I enjoyed the ride of the Opening Night Gala:

Photo by Teague Leigh

I strongly recommend that you (yes, you!) become a member of Q-Lit! It’s free to join, you’ll be able to keep up to date with our events and activities, near and far, and your being a member will help with our funding applications and all the things!

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Meanwhile, *life* has been piling it on in all facets of my life, all at once.

The week of the festival saw me moving mountains (figuratively, but also closer the literally than I would have liked) at very short notice — and with the help of some incredible friends who dropped what they were doing to help. I’ll be able to be less obfuscating soon, I hope, and fill you in on perhaps some of the biggest news of my life. Just need a couple more things to be official, paperwork wise before I get carried away.

But on top of that, this past week has seen:

• My memoir receive rejections from three publishers it was on submission with;

• A publisher who had read the first three chapters of my memoir say they were hooked and ask me for the full manuscript;

• I received an invitation to write for a junior fiction series that is VERY exciting. (more on that when I’ve signed the things);

• I got a lovely little payment from the Copyright Agency;

• A book by Jackie Morris and Tamsin Abbott I bought from a kickstarter-esque publisher last year sometime finally arrived! (It’s SOOOO Pretty!);

• And more things than I could possibly put into one email.

It has genuinely been the most hectically overloaded week with as many stressful things as joyful things.

I’m very pleased that July is looking to be a lot calmer on the calendar and stress-inducing events front… But who knows! 👀

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For the cost of buying me a cuppa a month ($5) you could continue reading these start-of-the-month posts which go on to include a Writing Sample, Book Recommendations and a curated playlist, as well as heartfelt appreciation of your support.

But either way, thank you for reading this far!

x Michael