Oh Me of Little Faith...

In the world of me, I have received two more rejection slips, one for the aforementioned short story and another about the perils of bacon butties with mustard. But Sunday, I went to a writing workshop by the Poet Laureate of Lansdowne (the town next to mine), Dan Simpson (no relation). Dan is blind and needs a guide dog. (So, what's YOUR excuse, Rena???) This is the second workshop I've attended led by Dan. The first one kept me in the habit of trying to write nearly every day--this one generated a lot of story ideas! I was also congratulated for the three rejection slips.

In one exercise, we drew a small weird object out of a baggie and had to write a story on that. Objects included a pack of tissues, a bandanna, and a broken radio. Mine was a wedding photo. Everyone--even the shy folks--did very well. As Dan was congratulating us, the room was suddenly rocked by a thunderous

SNORE!

Chandler, Dan's guide dog, was snoozing under the tables. I said, "Everyone's a critic."

This is not the only time I took a workshop from a town's official poet. In 2004 and 2005, I enjoyed workshops by Kevan Manwaring, the Bard of Bath. I see he got that book published! Well done, Kevan. I'd love to see Dan and Kevan in a room together. No snoozing then.