Found a "slush" pile

                `    Luath Press don't want submissions by email. They want three chapters in hard copy. This is the first publisher I've found like that. Anyway, I got a print out of the book and posted three chapters yesterday. It says on their website that if you don't hear from them in a year ....

                    In  the days when you might approach a publisher without an agent in tow, you could send stuff to the slush pile. This is probably a complete waste of time. When I was trying to sell two books (In The Land Of The Demon Masters and Bugtown) for ten to fourteen year olds, I couldn't find a publisher who'd ever published anything from a slush pile. 

                    Just by having a slush pile, these publishers have cheered me up. I've been sending an email to London agents about every odd week, and have as yet to receive a reply. Sometimes I think it was some kind of miracle that I got two novels published. 

                    I managed to get my New Years resolutions together, just three months late, when I gave up the beer about nine days ago. What a difference! You think three or four beers a night doesn't matter, but with the meditations it matters a lot. I'm feeling quite warm just sitting here. The meditations are far stronger than they were last week. Every week they've been developing, but the foot is on the accelerator now.

                    I got my Irish passport last Friday. I'll be going to Beaumont with Lama Rinchen after the Samye Ling Monlam in May. I'll have to book a return flight or I'll never come back!

                    This winter just passed has been even worse than usual. The only two enjoyable events have been wakes! Someone is hitting this blog almost daily from Mijdrecht in Holland. Well, hello to you!