Monday, February 29, 2016

#freefromplastic

Have finally got round to submitting to two more agents novels 2 and 3. I've posted before on the complexity of submitting with agents having different requirements so I won't bore you with that again. And I'm ruling out those who say they will only reply if they're interested: that's just not polite!

Also ruling out agents who want hard copies submitted. Waste of time, money and bad for the environment. Then take out those who've already said no and the list gets shorter by the minute.

Hey ho.

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I looked up from my keyboard yesterday to see a spotted woodpecker (of the greater variety) on the peanuts outside the study window. Out of the fourteen photos I took only one captured his head. Thank goodness for digital cameras!
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On an afternoon stroll along the beach - yes, okay, on our way to the ice cream shop - Nuora and I commented on the amount of plastic debris washed up. I said, 'If we were creative we could make something arty out of that.'
'Mm, yes,' Nuora replied dubiously.


On the way back from the shop - where we sat outside because of George and froze - I felt led to pick up a discarded laundry basket, which, truth be told, was better than mine, and proceeded to fill it with plastic bottles, lids, gloves and assorted plastic goods. Then we stopped and made Mr. Octojollypus.

There is a serious point to this: plastic not only looks horrid when it's washed up, it can lead to poisoned water, death and disease in marine creatures. Which in turn affects not only our environment but also our well-being.

Last week we walked on Whitford Beach and in a just a couple of minutes collected this pile of plastic.


Younger Son and Nuora feel very strongly about this and have started a #freefromplastic campaign. As part of it - and to help fund Blue Temple Conservation, their environmental project in the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia - they're selling sturdy 100% cotton tote bags as well as stainless steel and bamboo water bottles.

If you'd like to do your bit for the environment and order one, please email me liz dot hinds at btinternet dot com.







2 comments:

Steve Hayes said...

I submitted things to agents a few years ago, but found none interested. Eventually I self-published through Smashwords.

Liz Hinds said...

Yes, Steve, I self-published my first novel eventually and no doubt will go that way again!