This evening I was googling the title of my new book to see whether it was on Amazon yet (it is), when I came across a link to a major poetry competition, The Margaret Reid (which is entered by thousands of poets) and into which I had entered six of the poems from my manuscript last year. To my surprise and delight, all six poems had received Commendations! They were:

Reflections on Healing

Messages in Water

Wind Voyager

Eternal Sparrow

Sonnet: Beyond, Behind, Before, Above

The Wonderful Wizard.

I feel very pleased with myself. I wish I had checked months ago. I could have been insufferably smug for soooooo much longer!

One of my clients has a son who regularly visits the States. She is ordering the book and organising him to collect it on his next trip. Friends are telling me that they are forwarding on the press release to their friends, too. I popped in to my local booksellers, Muswell Hill Books, and the lovely manager, Tim Robinson, remembered me from my last book. A Year Of Spirituality: a seasonal guide to new awareness had sold very well, he remembered, and is going to order lots of copies of Eternal Sparrow for the shop.

We are beginning to meet potential students for next year's course of Soul Therapy. Kathryn has met a gynaecologist who sounds very interested in acquiring a nationally accredited qualification in healing, which is what the course centres around. I have met a couple of jewellers and a Feng Shui Consultant who are also very interested and can see the benefit of adding healing and psychotherapy as well as a knowledge of other major subtle energy techniques (which combination defines Soul Therapy) to enrich their work. We are delighted that last year our curriculum and the standard of our tutors were accepted by UK Healers (National Professional body) as having reached the highest level (Stage 4) of national accreditation for professionally qualified spiritual healers.

Publication launch today in the USA for my book, Eternal Sparrow: poetry for love, laughter and life, ISBN 978-1-60860-535-4. What a great feeling - I have just had a message from Inez at my publishers, Strategic Books, to say that today's the day. Strategic will be setting up a website for me from which to sell it, and will be also selling it from their own site. I am a little shell shocked, I have to admit. This has all been done by email until the final Galley Proof arrived a few days ago in the post. Already two of my beautiful, generous friends, Maria Grachvogel (gorgeous designer dress shop: 162 Sloane Street London SW1X 9BS) and Vicki Sarge Beamon (fabulous fashion jewellers: Erickson Beamon, 38 Elizabeth Street, SW1W 9NZ) are wanting to sell it in their shops. I am very lucky with my friends. Another wonderful friend, the supermodel Marie Helvin, is offering to give me a UK launch party even though Eternal Sparrow is only published in the USA. I feel very blessed and very grateful. People will, of course, be able to buy it on the internet booksellers like Amazon. So now I am just praying that everyone will feel an uncontrollable urge to go and buy themselves a copy and lay in a stock to be used as Christmas, birthday or anniversary presents for their nearest and dearest - and then for their not-so-nearest and less-dear too. It is only $9.99 so bulk buying won't be painful on the pocket and will make this old lady very happy. It's kindness to old folk week, my darlings....