I’d like to begin this post with a drumroll.........

...because www.shelleyirving.com is now online!

I’m sorry you can’t all join me to celebrate at the swanky, champagne and cocktails launch party with midnight firework display, but as it’s entirely fictional, most people can’t. I’ll raise an imaginary glass to you, and I hope you’ll toast me in return. Just not in the burning sense of the word.

I’ve had mixed feelings about starting to self publish and self publicise. I’ve really enjoyed designing the website, sifting through my back catalogue and editing the content, and I’m excited to share it with everyone. But at the same time, it’s a scary venture. My writing has previously only been read by family members, close friends and my university classmates and tutors. So this is a big step, but hopefully in the right direction.

I don’t have children, but I feel like my offspring are leaving home. While it’s hard to let go of the creations I’ve spent years nurturing, I know that it’s all been to prepare for their release into the big wide world and I’m proud of them. I may be maternally biased, but I believe that they deserve only the best and brightest future.

Please visit the website, have a good look around and if you like it, tell your friends. Also tell me what you think, I’d really appreciate honest opinions and constructive criticism. Or just heaps of excessive praise and flattery, if you’re so inclined.

You can comment here, find me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shelley-Irving/227455587342847, or email: shelley@shelleyirving.com

Anyway, I need to choose an evening gown. I’ve got an imaginary party to get to...

Hi, and welcome, especially if you've ventured here from shelleyirving.com 

I'm going to start by not labelling this as a daily, weekly or fortnightly thing, because I seem to have a different perception of time and timekeeping to most other human beings, and I'm regularly late for enough things as it is. So I'll just make a pledge to write here whenever circumstances allow and whenever the mood, or the muse takes me.

In fact, I don't get along with restrictions generally, so I'm not going to give it a subject or theme either. This will be a place of freedom and spontaneity, where I might write about life, writing, reading, nature, the arts, current events, reminiscences, or it could just be an outlet for the bizarre nonsense that spawns in my brain and mutates in my imagination. It could also get all interactive and avant-garde if you'd like to suggest topics to shelley@shelleyirving.com 
So call back soon, and bring a friend. I'll have the kettle on.