All Said and Done – light verse anthology for #ASD Charity

Some of the autism poems from the book of this blog, First.. Then…, have been included in a UK anthology called All Said and Done.

You may have noticed that the initials of the words in the book’s title spell out the acronym A-S-D, for Autism Spectrum Disorder. All Said and Done was planned as a collection of light verse to raise money for the UK National Autistic Society. It contains both poems about ASD and other humourous poems which are applicable to ASD in some way.

I am very proud to be included – especially as one of my poems, Autistic Acrostic, opens the collection. There are some very eminent poets in the book, including the amazingly talented doyenne of light verse, Wendy Cope.

Of course, it goes without saying that I donated my poems, as did all the other authors. All Said and Done is available for sale on Amazon here and is soon to be featured on the UK National Autistic Society Facebook page.

Bearing in mind that Autism Awareness Month starts tomorrow, why not buy a copy of the book for yourself, or send a copy to a friend or relative ?

(By the way, in case you were wondering, the pic above is of a note left for me by a gorgeous and mischievous 8 yr old gentleman who also happens to have ASD)

Review of First… Then… by UK Autism Mummy Blogger

First… Then… (the book of autism poems that started out on this blog) has been reviewed by the lovely Galina Varese at her blog, Chez Maximka.

I have never met Galina in person, but if I had the chance I would like to give her a hug and thank her for her close reading and generous comments. I wrote the book for people like her and her son, and I am so glad that she has been able to connect with the poems.

And the Gold Medal for Most Viewed Poem Goes To…

It’s official : Social Stories for Neurotypical Adults #27: No Dogs Allowed has now overtaken First… Then… as the most viewed poem on this blog. I don’t know who is out there Facebooking, Tweeting or linking to it, but it has been a steady performer for many months now, and has now cracked over 2000 views. Thank you, whoever you are.

(2000 doesn’t sound that impressive, I know, but believe me, for a poetry blog, that’s a big number. Most of First… Then…’s almost 2000 views were achieved in one day, when it went totally viral in the autism community on Facebook (just over a year ago). Again, pretty unprecedented for a poetry blog. Most poetry *books* these days sell in the hundreds, unless written by Billy Collins, Wendy Cope or Les Murray. I love the internet.)

If you’re new to this blog, this is the part where I explain that both of the above poems are now in a book, also called First… Then…, which you can browse here and buy here. If you’d rather not pay shipping, why not wander into your local bookshop / bookstore and ask them to order you a copy from Ginninderra Press ?

Thanks for visiting. I am working on setting up some more readings from the book so watch this space for details (‘tour dates’). In the meantime, Keep Calm and Watch the Paralympics. And have a pleasant day.