Getting published is an honour and a thrill - I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

Over the weekend I received two copies of Cinnamon Press's latest anthology, Reaching Out - a book of poetry and short stories which contains one of my poems, Home Movie. It felt good handling these rather smart paperbacks and it got me into the mood for next month when my novel, Stephen Dearsley's Summer Of Love comes out in paperback too as well as on Kindle. I don't want to get over-excited or rise above my station but, if I can't enjoy the satisfaction of having my work published now then I don't really deserve to be excited about anything. It's a long journey from boyhood dreams to adult fulfillment. I intend to savour the moment.


I'm proud to appear within the pages of one of distinguished publisher, Cinnamon Press's books. If you're interested, not just in my work  but in reading a collection of work by what Cinnamon describes as "new and emerging voices in short story and poetry" then you can buy it directly from the publishers on the link below:

http://www.cinnamonpress.com/reaching-out/ 

...or from Book Depository:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Reaching-Out-Rowan-B-Fortune/9781907090882

...or from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Reaching+Out+Rowan+B+Fortune&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AReaching+Out+Rowan+B+Fortune

Another anthology that my work (my poem, Crushed) appeared in this year is Genius Floored: Uncurtained Window edited by poet Ruth O'Callaghan published by Soaring Penguin Press. This neat little poetry book raises money for Cold Weather Shelter For The Homeless, the charity that offers night shelter to the homeless  in London during the coldest months of the year. It's a great little book with some interesting poetry from many of my fellow poets from the Camden Lumen Poetry http://camdenlumen.wordpress.com/about/ along with work by Ruth O'Callaghan and the distinguished poet, Anne Stevenson. I was proud to be in their number. I also enjoy my regular trips to read at Camden Lumen Poetry events every month where, yet again, all the proceeds go to this highly effective and worthwhile charity.

The publisher, Soaring Penguin Press is about to put it up on its website where you can order it direct:

http://www.soaringpenguinpress.com/

Meanwhile, I'm getting into gear for the imminent publication (31st October 2013)  of my novel, Stephen Dearsley's Summer Of Love, the story of a young fogey living in Brighton in 1967 who has a lot to learn when the flowering hippie counter culture changes him and the world around him.

You can already pre-order the book from the publishers, Ward Wood Publishing:

http://wardwoodpublishing.co.uk/titles-fiction-colin-bell-stephen-dearsleys-summer-of-love.htm 

...or from Book Depository:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Stephen-Dearsleys-Summer-Love-Colin-Bell/9781908742070

...or from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Stephen%20Dearsley's%20Summer%20Of%20love