Thursday 28 June 2012

I am creeping back to this blog hoping that you will not notice how long I have been gone.  But the blink of an eye, I hope you will say. Yes, I say, and now I have news for you and want to make an announcement.

I am soon to have a new website.  This website will be for all the work that I do, it will include the A Graceful Death work and the Soul Midwife work.  From this new website I will write a new blog which will combine the other blog - A Graceful Death - that I write, with this one, making a new and utterly shiny new all singing all dancing blog.  It will include the talks, the events, the workshops that I do, for A Graceful Death and the Soul Midwife work. It will include the other work I do, for example I have just finished illustrating a book on the life of Jesus, due to be published next month (July).  This illustration work is utterly different from the AGD work, but just as exciting.  I am about to begin a portrait for a friend, of her son.  It will be a celebration of a young man and his music. It will give you sneak previews of the paintings that I am doing, it will tell you of the books and films that in my heart, I want to write, make, do.  I will write in this new blog which you will be able to access from my new website when it is up and running, all of the exciting things that stagger in and out of my life, and of all the people that inspire me .  Like, for instance, my dear friend and novelist Oliva Fane, who came yesterday in a bright blue skirt and rainbow socks, and told me amongst other things, of her thought crimes.  They were pretty juicy.  She then practiced her speech on me for a literary festival she was going to speak at next month to promote her new book, and I offered to be her minion on the spot - I have to see how this speech goes down, Olivia has very few boundaries and quite right too.  She is extraordinary.

And of all the people I wish to forget, like the furious old man, who bumped into me yesterday in Bognor High Street in order to complain that I was on my phone in a public place.  I think he spotted me a good while off, and made a beeline for me knowing that as I was on my phone, I was unlikely to move or to notice him.  So he could shuffle towards me with menace, all the injustices in his life focused on mobile phones and their users.  In this case, me.  He launched himself at me at 0.5 miles an hour and yelled "It's only a phone!" and carried on with the momentum he had built up into the shop next to me.  I expect he tried to make it look like he wanted to do that.  Horrid old man I thought and decided to check all my emails then and there to show him who was boss.

I am very excited about the new website, and very excited that you all may follow me from there.  Bear with me, I will post a link as soon as possible and all will begin again.  Thank you, all of you, for reading this.  See you soon.  Antonia