Explaining to someone recently how it is that over the past few days books have had to take something of a back seat as we struggle to keep up with a sudden prolonged heatwave and its consequences for the plant and animal growing season on the croft – more goslings than we ever in our wildest dreams anticipated (11, at the last count. Anyone want to buy a lovely white Roman goose or two?!), Rhode Island Red and Lavender Araucana hens’ eggs set in the incubator, sheep that need various forms of treatment, helping out with neighbours’ lambing, planting up the vegetable patch before it gets too late – they said ‘Ah, so real life is beginning to intrude at Two Ravens Press.’
Real life? Does that mean books don’t count as real life? If David was writing this post you’d no doubt get a whole philosophical treatise about what real life is or may be (but only on a Saturday if you speak English and wear spectacles – got to love philosophers) and, more particularly, what Nietzsche said about it … but since it’s just me and books have been one of the most important things in my life ever since I can remember, I’ll just say I find that an odd statement. Is the inner life any less real than the outer – getting outside and grubbing up to your armpits in sheep’s insides or topsoil or chicken shit … But what we do love about our lives here at any time of year is the contrast. The ability to get up after a long session at the computer and go and collect the eggs. Or feed the sheep. Or whatever. And we get just as excited when there’s a delivery of books as when there’s a delivery of sheep. And it’s been a bumper couple of weeks for book deliveries. We had our new anthology, Cleave, a few days ago – a collection of new writing by women in Scotland – well-known names and new authors – hotly followed by Susan Sellers’ stunning Vanessa and Virginia, about the relationship between Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf – and then Larry Butler’s new poetry collection, Butterfly Bones. Have a look at the ‘our books’ section of our website for more information.
Sharon
