Writing retreats have kicked off after a long hiatus and I have just completed the first flash fiction boot camp of the season. The satisfaction of working with three talented writers - something that is at the centre of my work as an editor and mentor. We treated ourselves to a long day in Venice which involved wandering into off-site Biennale exhibits - a balm for the senses and a way of dodging the crowds - and glorious pizza in San Polo. The intensity of the week was fruitful, with all writers producing new work and going home with a submission strategy in mind. While I return to my novel draft and watering the veggies behind the house.
The winter has been long! Always a wonder to see cherries anew on the trees and smell jasmine passing through the house. And yet, through this season of invasion and violence - with new catastrophes daily - we can only look with shock at the year’s fresh horrors. Even as I sit here writing there are gunshots and blasts just hours away, fear and pain, another day of terror.
