Spring, not so much sunshine

I often see the question, "If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?" Never mind what I've said before or may say again, the only piece of advice that genuinely matters in terms of writing or anything else is, "Look after your back!"

You guessed it, my unreliable back has given up on me again (on day one of a ten-day break from the day-job, just to rub salt in). Truthfully it's not that bad in the grand scheme of things but it does mean I can only do short bursts at a computer, and I can only read chunky paperbacks (Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott is my current reading material) if they're on a pile of cushions on my knee - flat on the knee means bending forward to read, holding the book up puts a strain on my back. I feel like one of those historians on telly, carefully opening the ancient leatherbound tome on a stack of foam with suitable wedges.

I have been listening to podcasts a fair bit though, so for the writers among you I can recommend Lit Mag Love featuring the melodious Canadian voice of Rachel Thompson of Room magazine. She interviews the editors of litmags about what they do and don't want to see, the ethos of their magazine etc, and covers poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

I've also been catching up on Reasons to be Cheerful, which I listen to quite often but not every week. Neither Ed Miliband nor Geoff Lloyd has what I'd call a melodious voice, but they do have some interesting guests and generally come out with a thought-provoking podcast (recent topics have included university admissions, cycling, English identity, the power of protest, and innovative taxation). I suppose it helps to be reasonably left-wing if you're going to listen to it.

I'll leave you with a reminder that I have a story in this year's National Flash Fiction Day FlashFlood on June 15th, and other things you can listen to include mine and Roz's radio drama Lavender Ink, or our recent performance of stories and poems accompanied by live music (The Food of Love).