One of the founding principles of Belles Lettres was that it would be used to talk about books – the books of others, that is, and not to plug any wee scribbles of my own. After all, I have a whole website devoted to that sort of self-aggrandisement… Today I’m making an exception, because my first stories are slowly trickling into theworld, and I’m kind of excited about that. For those of you who don’t give a toss, stop reading this post now. For those of you who may live in the Baltimore area, I will be doing a brief reading (12 minutes!) from my first collection of short stories, Slipping the Moorings, as part of the 510 Readings at Minas Gallery in Hampden on Saturday 17th January at 5pm, and signing books at The Ivy Bookshop on Falls Road on Sunday 25th January. Some kind postings about the book have appeared on Doodlemeister (disclosure: I know the doodlemeister, so he is being over-nice), and on Books Inq. – the Epilogue. My interview with Tom Hall of Maryland Public Radio is accessible via the WYPR website, both the broadcast version, and a longer, unedited web exclusive (scroll down to Tuesday 13th January time-slot).  Copies of the book itself will shortly be available on Amazon and for sale in The Ivy Book Shop. This posting reminds me of a bumper sticker once spotted by the Doodlemeister which read: “I don’t give a f&%$@ about your blog!” Point taken – plug over….