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)

I refuse to sit and weigh up the merits of poem A versus poem B. As far as I'm concerned we all are equal. You write it. It goes in!

Might even let @SinnerBoy play with the girls this time! Go on Sinner you know you want to!

Oh it already is! And in a rather nice coincidence the first poem was 28 th Dec. The last poem originally was 28th Feb and this time, although it won't get a poem number the last poem is 28th May!

Spooky

It's the rules! I needed 20 poems. You answered the call!😁

Is that .....no.....is that cousin Trevor?

And 💐to all you poem writers

Equality and Human Rights,

A bunch of civil servants said,
Off with our leaders head,
She’s far too gender critical,
She’s making us feel quite small,
Let us prepare a dossier on her,
So, yes they did just so,
The civil service, women’s foe.

(This is about the attack on Baroness Faulkner, head of the EHRC)

A misogynist's wet dream

Men,
Who masked for such a short while as 'good guys'
Now have free rein.

Unleashed, they say all they wanted to but couldn't.
Bitch, witch, ugly, old, bigot, terf, frigid, cold.

Sheer orgasmic pleasure at 'telling those bitches'
While society cheers them on.

'Decapitate terfs' above a smirk.
Screaming 'witch' from above.
Forced smiles on a podium.

It was always there. Under the surface.
Seething but contained.

But now? They can say, self righteously,
'Burn the witch!'

It's as it ever was.

At this rate the ebook will come out this week and book 2 by the end of June!

I'm so looking forward to the chapter entitled POCKETS. It's going to be epic!

Boiledbeetle · Yesterday 21:40

Is that .....no.....is that cousin Trevor?

Perhaps, but my girl was sad and gave him a nice funeral.

EHRC.

60 bottles of piss standing on the wall,
60 bottles of piss standing on the wall,
and if one piss bottle should accidentally fall,
There’d be 59 bottles of piss standing on the wall.

Etc.

@SinnerBoy you're raising her right!. Bows head to fallen comrade. So long Trevor, your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9 nope! No clue as to what that poem refers to 😣😐😖 blghhh!

https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgpj5y/pissed-off-trannies-ehrc-protest

A group of protesters staged a piss in at EHRC to complain about EHRC stating that women’s spaces are for women. There are lots of articles about this if you Google and want different views. Vice just came up in the search second after Daily Mail.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9 shudders!

AND NOW WE WAIT...

Thanks to the amazing job @FairyKindleMother has done on sorting my original file and adding all the extra stuff and putting up with my many nit picky changes I am finally able to report that...

I have pressed publish on the e-book!

It can take usually up to 72 hours to appear and populate all the info etc on the various sites, and there is always the chance they knock it back for some reason. But I've done all I can do at this point.

We just have to wait and see who spots it on sale first!

As I've only been able to view it in the main on a knackered laptop I'm looking forward to seeing what it properly looks like as an actual e-book!

And if it isn't right then I will 100% pass all the blame onto @FairyKindleMother . I'm nice like that.

God I'm knackered!

Thanks for all your efforts Boiled and FairyKindleMother!

@Boiledbeetle and @FairyKindleMother

Just looked on Amazon - apparently I last bought this item on 1 April and it is frequently bought with Victoria Smith's Hags, so it's in excellent company. (I'm about halfway through Hags at the moment - some brilliant writing although not the cheeriest read...)

Seconded. I hope you can both take a well earned rest now.

@ArcaneWireless I wish Gifs had a pause button. I'm afraid Kermit's head may fall off if he keeps that up!

@TheBiologyStupid can't think why it appears with our book at all???

I don't think she's going to let me!

I don't think she's going to let me!

No rest for the wicked then!

Someone may have done this one. It’s based on the famous poem by Martin Niemoller. About the silencing of German intellectuals and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

Having only been aware and gender critical less than a year I may have got the order wrong. And I feel the need to preface with I didn’t speak out because I was unaware not because I wasn’t one of the groups. But I think the parallels with history need highlighting and there is something in this poem:

First they came for the LGB, and I did not speak out—
 Because I was not LGB.
Then they came for the universities and I did not speak out—
 Because I was not at university.
Then they came for the children, and I did not speak out—
 Because I was not a child.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Im working my way through hags now. It's very good. It's a shame by the time women read it they are likely to be into the hag category. I think if younger readers read it it would have a real impact and change the issues it raises about younger feminists. I've not finished it yet but so far it's like a lament for not understanding sooner

God we are a load of old hags reading Hags!

Someone should start a campaign. We're all buying and reading her book she should buy and read ours!

Now I appreciate this hasn't been discussed but as editor I can overrule anyone by just changing what words go in the book anyway! I'm assuming everyone is happy to continue supporting FWS.

I can't help but think of the amount of money Magdalen would have helped them raise. She's no longer here and as the first one was in her honour I think it would be nice to continue this in her memory.

We can say the stuff she's no longer here to say.