In October I was thrilled to open a parcel and find a beautiful Bloomsbury anthology with one of my poems in it. The anthology is Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble: magical poems chosen by Paul Cookson. My poem is on page 97 and is called ‘Potion problems’. All the poems have a magical theme so it’s positively brimming with wizards and witches and spells and potions and dragons and more! (The perfect Christmas gift for the primary school bookworm in your life … ) The anthology was out in the UK in September 2020. It will be in bookshops in Australia from 4 December 2020.

Speaking of Christmas … This year I wrote lyrics for a Christmas carol. ‘Here is the Child’ has been set to music by amazing WA composer Joshua Adams. It will be performed as part of a Christmas concert programme by The Giovanni Consort in Perth on 11 December 2020. (Tickets are still available. Numbers are limited, due to COVID restrictions.)

And my last piece of writing news: I’ve had two short stories for adults accepted for an anthology of flash fiction, due for publication by Night Parrot Press in 2021.

In between all of that I’ve been growing loads of parsley and strawberries in my little garden, buying books at friends’ book launches and playing Irish fiddle tunes. And even playing Irish fiddle tunes alongside a cellist at a friend’s book launch. A wave of the wand and here we are at the end of November.