A Mumsnet thread about a book about a Mumsnet thread “Under the Duvet of Darkness” written by the women of Mumsnet

[Boiledbeetle]

For once we can do a thread about a new book where all the writers are actually on this very board!

Some of you know what I have been up to recently, when I can tear myself away from posting twaddle, gifs and sweary words in bigly letters on here, but for the rest of you…

Over Christmas and New Year after the passing of the GRR (Scotland) Bill a thread was started by TerfranosaurusVagina on the Mumsnet FWR board with a poem about Nicola Sturgeon. Eventually on that thread (and a couple of other threads) over 80 poems were written.

Ramblingnamechanger suggested we do something with them to raise funds to help the women of Scotland and whilst Dodecaheidyin was tempted to write to Poetry Please on Radio 4, and ask them to do an extended special for Hogmanay about our poems, in the end it was decided to make the thread into a book.

After much procrastination by me “Under the Duvet of Darkness: Poems written by angry women for angry women because WOMEN WON’T WHEESHT” went live on Amazon on 31st March

https://amzn.eu/d/98aEnJy

If searching on the site you need to:

Select BOOKS as the department and UNDER THE DUVET OF DARKNESS in the search box.

Currently it doesn’t show up in the main all departments search (I don’t know why or if it will, it takes a while for everything to work properly according to Amazon).

Theres also a QR code below which should take you right there (hopefully the attached works)

MONEY FROM SALES:

In honour of Magdalen Berns, who co-founded the Scottish campaign group For Women Scotland, 100% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to For Women Scotland.*

*Please note that whilst the profit will be donated to For Women Scotland they are not involved, nor are they responsible in any way for the themes, contents or publication of this book.

“It’s not hate to defend your rights, and it’s not hate to speak the truth.”

Magdalen Berns (1983 – 2019)

My wife speakertoanimals posted on fwr boards a lot. She died last August. I bought this book to honour the work done for women by you all and in memory of the times we had discussing the issues raised. I was on the Brexit boards so always had lots to discuss and catch up with each other. Bless you all for your hard work.

@GaspodeWonderCat

To you both. In her honour 🥂

May your memories be happy and your tears few. 🌻

Just five minutes I thought many hours ago. I'll just lie down for five minutes.

Yawns stretches checks dashboard.

10 sold today

Thank you Gasp. I hope when you read it, it helps bring some happy half remembered memories to the fore.

🌹

Thank you

@GaspodeWonderCat I'm sorry for your loss and thank you for remembering your DW in such a lovely, positive way

So sorry for your loss, Gaspode. I love your wife's name - I haven't thought about the Ringworld books for a while.

Gaspode, I'm so sorry for your loss.

In case the buyer is here rather than Twitter

I would just like to apologise to the buyer who was disappointed that it wasn't a book of uplifting poetry but poems filled with vitriol and rancour.

I thought the subtitle by angry women for angry women because Women Won't Wheesht would be enough of a clue.

You are right though it was totally a vanity project! But thank you for being gracious enough to give us three stars. They are much appreciated. Especially as they knocked Lolas off the top critical spot.

So to future buyers:

We swear a lot! We shout a lot! We take the piss. But we are angry so there are no rainbows and happy ever after to be found in poetry written in a very bleak period of history for women.

Yes it is a vanity project. That's because I'm a raging narcissist. I'm glad to see recognition of that! But still the profit will be going in its entirety to For Women Scotland.

Minr is ordered. It had better have double swearing and vanity in it. Thanks for your hard work, this feels very exciting

I don't imagine it's going to change in the next half hour and after a hard days sleeping in shattered.

So 14 today. Which gives a total of 231 processed orders and over £575.

@stealtheatingtunnocks Oh it has. It's not award winning poetry by any means! It is what it is! A book made up entirely of mumsnet posts and comments!

Right bed for me. Just as soon as I've spent ten minutes with the front door open whilst Mister Fluff decides if he's coming up to get his night time treat or if he's staying out to catch mice.

I have had a tiny swear on mine. You are safe enough tunnocks. 😏

That is brilliant! Most self-published books don't hope to sell over 230 copies and make that kind of profit. It shows the strength of feeling among women! FWS must be so chuffed!

I'm proud of us all, but especially you, Beetz

I think considering it is a self publish and I had no Twitter presence until last Sunday afternoon the fact that so many people have bought it is stunning.

I'm also well aware of the fact that had the profit not been going to FWS we would literally have sold this to the writers that are in it!

Award winning or not I do think it marks a very important time in history for women.

There will be children and grandchildren who read the poems in years to come and realise, hopefully, how close they came to losing it all.

And if the worse happens and it's totally 1984, then maybe a copy or two will be found lurking in the odd bricabrac shop here or there. But be careful the walls have ears!

Morning Boiled. I've put my idea on ice for a little while as Ive got some life issues going on at the moment. I will definitely do it when things are a bit more stable though.

This having to multi task lark is doing my head in!

https://twitter.com/TheBoiledbeetle/status/1645001202646622208?s=19

@DialSquare 🍫As like when on airplanes deal with you first before anything else!

The book's not going to disappear (hopefully). It will be there when life is back on an even keel again!

I think what you've done is utterly brilliant Boiled, utterly utterly brilliant. Such a lot of work but great awareness-raising, fund-raising and recording of a really important moment in time.

It is awesome boiled exactly what christina said

Boiledbeetle · Today 09:46

Mr. Charrington would have been a secret TRA agent, I'm sure!

@ChristinaXYZ @RufustheSpeculatingreindeer Thank you for the lovely compliments. I mean I wasn't fishing but they do help massage the ego on a damp and dismal Sunday!

ALERT: call out for some poems I'm actually sat at the laptop about to start on the bonus chapter. (honestly Fairy Kindlemother I am! just as soon as I've made a cup of tea!)

I'm about to look through this thread so any already on here I'm snaffling them.

Any others feeling brave? if you don't want to put your name to it you can PM me and I'll publish it under @UsernameWithheld which conveniently happens to be one of my spare ones with no posting history!

Otherwise you will be subjected to my somewhat suspect more recent works to make up the numbers!!

I know right! can you imagine when they do a version of it in the future using this period of time! It's going to be horrifying!

As I'm reading back through the thread looking for poems I hadn't realised how many comments I'd missed (it was rather stressful and busy those first couple of days whilst I tended to a new Twitter account as well) so can I just say to all those that bought a copy that I missed...

THANK YOU 💐💜

For the historical angle bonus chapter what's notable that's happened since end feb?
need to do a couple of paragraphs so..

Scottish
humza and stats of votes
he and hobbies spring clean and garden partyas
???
other
KJK and New Zealand
????
if anyone fancies finding the stars and the dates it would save me an hour of faffing....

March even