Pep Talk

Hello dear readers!

So how are we? I mean that not just as a way of opening this weeks offering, but as an actual, honest to whatever you want to be honest to, question. One you can answer in the comments if you like. How are you? Really?

You see, as I'm sure you're already more than aware, these are crazy days. Days where, if the deadly disease rampaging unchecked and uncheckable through our all too human world doesn't get you, the isolation just might.

It's a world which seems to be spiralling down, fragmenting, as we drift further, and further away from each other. Do we have to though? Well perhaps not. Let's see.

The Isolation Game

Hello dear readers!

Isn't it funny how the passage of time can pass by us in such a strange manner? I'm not talking about the way it tends to fly when you're having fun, or the way age lends us a fresh perspective which makes the 6 endless weeks of the school holidays pass by in an all-grown-up blur.

No, I'm talking about the way you can look back at something that seems like it was an age ago, and realise it was an age which lasted only a few weeks. I'm talking about how the orderly, plodding progress of such weeks can erupt into an ever-changing rush of current events.

I'm talking, of course, of the Coronavirus pandemic.

First Site

Hello dear readers!


You join me tonight on the eve of a brave new era, a time of opportunity and hope in these days of panic buying and disease.

I am, of course, speaking from a completely personal point of view but personally I'm excited. and if you would be so kind as to read on, I'll tell you why.

Panic Stations

Hello dear readers!

The last few posts have been a little inward looking, dealing as they did with my nervous start to querying my book, and myself and my wife, Tina's break away to the lovely city of Durham.

I guess it's kind of a pre-requisite of a personal blog to be, well, personal. This week, however, I would like to spread my net a little wider. Actually, I'd like to spread it a lot wider. Globally, in fact. Because the time has come to tackle the thorny issue of Coronavirus.

Escape To The County

Hello dear readers!

Today you join a refreshed and renewed blogger. A man rejuvenated, and very possibly a little heavier than when I last sat down to put fingers to keyboard.

Of course there is a particular reason for my relaxed, revitalised, and probably a lot of other words begging with 're' state of mind, and of course that reason may just be the subject of today's post.

So, shall we?

The Waiting Game

Hello dear readers!

I only went and did it!

Not as many times as I would have liked, but I did it, and you know what? It felt pretty good too. This week I'm going to do it again, and I think when I do, it will feel even better, because it won't be my first time. Next time I'll be more prepared Next time I'll know what I'm doing. Next time I'll be better at it.

I am, of course, talking about the process of querying my book (get your mind out of the gutter!). It's something I talked about last week, and this week... Well read on.

Query And Be Damned

Hello dear readers!

Every now and then we reach a crossroad in our lives. There comes a time when a decision needs to be made, one which might, perhaps, leave us feeling a little less secure, and a little more vulnerable to the vagaries of fate, and the opinions of others.

Of course, being a crossroads, this decision doesn't necessarily have to be made. It can be left for the future. Put off to tomorrow, or tomorrow's tomorrow, or maybe the day after that. A left turn can be made, and a detour taken that will delay such uncomfortable scrutiny. To stretch the analogy well beyond breaking point, two lefts, a sharp right, and six trips around a roundabout can be taken.

At some point, however, in order to move forward, one must... move forward. A route must be plotted straight through the intersection, to the land of the less sure.

This week, I'm headed straight there.