Fiona Pitt-Kethley

Since 2002, I have been living in Spain with my husband, the chess grandmaster and former British champion, James Plaskett and our son, Alexander.

I am the author of more than twenty books of poetry and prose. Most are available on Kindle and one or two are still in print. My Amazon page is here:

http://www.amazon.com/Fiona-Pitt-Kethley/e/B001K7VT4S

I recently finished  a book on mineral hunting in the Sierra Minera, Washing Amethysts in the Bidet, and am looking for a publisher. It is a mix of history and anecdotes and is absolutely unique as there are no other books on this area in English.  I also have a large new poetry collection drawn from more than 10 years of writing. It is called Around the World in Eighty Lays. It gave birth to a smaller collection devoted to mines, minerals and mining, In Search of San Valentin. My agent, Giles Gordon, died some years back, RIP. I would like to acquire another, especially to submit the new poetry collection to Picador which will not look at agentless books. Anyone out there?

I am currently preparing new ebooks including one on the Fortifications of Cartagena. These are spread across 50 kms or so and have therefore required a substantial amount of hill-walking. Hope to have this finished in a few months. Some more routes to be walked first. I will also be producing some short pamphlets  on other topics. Some of these will be free. My current ebooks for Kindle are all full length collections, novels or travel books, apart from a short guide to the Minerals of the Sierra Minera.
My most recent pamphlet is from Rack Press and is available from them:
http://rackpress.blogspot.com.es/
Link to my reading of on of the poems:
http://www.nicholasmurray.co.uk/www.nicholasmurray.co.uk/Rack_Press_Sound_and_Image.html

Future work will include more poems and novels. I am at the start of a picaresque novel, a form I have enjoyed reading. Spain contributed many novellas to this genre.

I am also available to give readings provided the fee and expenses are adequate. No freebies given. Travel from Spain is probably quicker and cheaper than from Scotland or Wales to London. I live within half an hour of Murcia airport. I would also like more judging work for either prose or poetry. Current judging experience includes Glastonbury and the Commonwealth prize, the latter for short stories, and the Forward Young Responses prize, a sideline from their main awards.  Also happy to do anonymous pre-judging.

 Would love to get a prize for my writing. Anyone in power who likes my work please nominate me for those where I cannot nominate myself.

Contact me for professional matters only on livinginspain@hotmail.com
Most of my life is taken up with writing and research related to it. I occasionally also sell minerals I have found and jewellery I have made in artesan fairs. At some stage I will post photos of pieces. I don´t do much trading of them outside Spain because postage is expensive. Might work for several items rather than one though.  I also paint alien cats.

My husband, James Plaskett, does many chess tournaments in Spain. He has co-written Bad Show with Bob Woffinden. He is available for chess lessons on sites such as ICC, Skype, etc. Contact him on haroldplaskett@yahoo.co.uk if you are interested. He has coached David Howell amongst others.

Earlier versions of this blog were loaded with photos of life in Spain. I now have a great many more pictures on Facebook and Pinterest so I am making the blog into something much simpler. The earlier version should still be archived here if you want to see the photos.

In the 14 years or so since my agent, Giles Gordon, died I have tried sporadically for another. Many agents do not reply. Others already have enough clients and sometimes suggest a new recruit to their office. Sadly, these new agents are generally so young they were born after my famous period, 1986 to 1994 or so. I have a good track record of publishers, you can see this by Googling my name or looking on Amazon, but I am still finding it difficult to find someone to represent me. One of the agents who came nearest said that Washing Amethysts in the Bidet would probably appeal to Picador but was not commercial enough for him. Sadly, Picador will not look at either that or the poetry books as I have no agent. Will let you all know when I get one!