Happy Anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (exclamation marks just for Vicky)

I'm going to jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton,

Jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day...

Yes folks, this week sees the second anniversary for the Dead Good Blog, and according to tradition that means COTTON. Though tradition states that these anniversary gift should be exclusive to marking the length of time two people, and remembering that this tradition dates back to the Roman times, made up of a man and a woman have been married.

I'm not the greatest one for tradition so I say they can be used to mark the passing of another year for anybody, and that people of the same sex can marry.

So this week we should be buying the Dead Good Bloggers gifts of Cotton. This could be t-shirts, plantations or Dot. However, in the United States things have been updated, there is a more modern, some may say relevant list. This new list includes gift like Clock, Silverware and Electrical Appliances.

This would mean that this year is the China Anniversary. Which in turn would mean more useful or wanted gifts. Taking this school of thought even further why not sell the Anniversary rights to businesses. So for the next 5 years, 10 years of marriage would be the i-Pad Anniversary or 4 years down would be the Amazon Kindle Anniversary.

This would certainly go some way to ensuring people are not disappointed by the gift their spouse has purchased to show they actually remembered.

So happy Anniversary Bloggers and Poets, here's to many more years.

Read More

A Poet's Giveaway

By Ashley Lister

Dear Reader,

Thank you. Thank you for making this blog a success. I know a lot of the credit goes to the bloggers who contribute on a daily basis – but the bloggers are all writers and I think it’s fair to say that writers don’t exist without an audience.

So thank you, dear reader, for making us exist.

The Dead Good Blog has been going from strength to strength over the past few months and we couldn’t have done it without you. It’s our intention to make the blog go even further.

Those of you who attend the live poetry events will know that the No. 5 Café is invariably packed to bursting with 50 or more audience members at a typical event. It’s an impressive turnout for an evening of poetry and the support and enthusiasm we encounter at each meeting is, frankly, overwhelming.

And, whilst those figures are impressive, I have to admit that readership of the Dead Good Blog is even more formidable. This site sees a huge amount of traffic on a daily basis. The figures for each month are even more astounding. And, whilst I know this is going to sound greedy, I’d love to see more traffic.

To encourage more visitors I’m offering bribes and incentives to entice more readers here.

I have two copies of A Poet’s Guide to Blackpool to give away.

As most of you will know, A Poet’s Guide to Blackpool is the published anthology of Dead Good poetry that was launched on Friday 2^nd March at the No.5 Café. It was edited by Lara and myself and it really is a bloody good read. We’re trying to work out how to sell copies online. As soon as we figure out that small detail you’ll be able to buy a copy.

Until then, unless you’re already the proud owner of a copy, this is the only way to get your hands on the book. And I shall be giving one copy each to two lucky commentors who make comments in the box below.

The comments can be whatever you want to say.

· If you think we’re doing something right, please tell us.

· If you think we should stop doing something, then let us know and we’ll take it under consideration.

· If you think there’s a theme we should cover, or if you want to be one of our guest bloggers for a forthcoming Sunday, let us know.

· If you simply want your name acknowledged as one of the people commenting in the hope of winning a copy of the book, then leave an empty comment (or write: ‘Ashley is great!’ which should put you in with a better chance of winning a copy).

Everyone who comments will be eligible (with the exception of the regular bloggers) and I’ll contact the chosen ones to organise postage and delivery.

If you’re not already a follower or linked through Network Blogs or RSS feeds, then please subscribe to those buttons on the right hand side of the page. It helps us to know who’s reading us, and it’s also handy for you when you’re trying to find us in the future. In addition, if you can persuade a friend to subscribe to our blog (which you have to admit is damned entertaining on a daily basis) then we’ll be grateful that you’ve helped make our audience bigger and better.

You can do additional things to help increase the blog's traffic if you wish. You could retweet the page's address, or share us through FaceBook, or do whatever you think might get more readers to notice this dead good blog.

I’m a proud member of the Dead Good Blog. It’s one of the first things I read on a morning- every morning. Writing my entry for each Saturday reminds me I’m in the company of some of the north west’s most talented writers – and that’s company I’d love to share that work with as many readers as are interested.

So, to reiterate, if you want to be entered for the draw to win a copy of A Poet’s Guide to Blackpool, simply place a comment in the box below. In one week’s time (March 17^th) I shall go through the comments and select two people at random. I shall then contact winners privately to organise mailing copies out.

I look forward to reading your comments, especially if they say: “Ashley is great!”

Read More