Nicky Bond's Blog, page 24

Only a Game...

Yes, here's another outpouring on why Gareth Southgate would make the best husband/Prime Minister/God of all things. Not content with this sort of content being strewn all over the official media for weeks, I'm adding my own 10p's worth. Can the world cope with one more appreciation about all things Southgate? Who knows, but buckle up. We're going in.
Before we crack on, though, let's get real. There have been some grim downsides to the Euros 2020 tournament, most recent of which has been waking ...

I Love a Wedding, I do...

This week we're talking about one of the biggest COVID relaxations we've had so far. Not the cinema, not the pub on a table of six, not even getting to hug (do I have to?) friends and family. Nope, none of the above. Today we're looking at weddings. Hurrah, congratulatons, and many future happinesses to us all!
Weddings are great, aren't they? I mean, I'm pretty cynical about love in general but I generally love weddings. The news on 14th of June, that wedding numbers could now be bigger, was bri...

A Monday Morning Morsel...

Morning all. You find me exhausted after a social whirl of a weekend. (Shoutout and congrats to Martin and Claire, and their excellent wedding weekend!) Whilst I'm spending the day restoring my energy with strong tea and PJs, I cannot shirk my Monday morning duties without putting something, anything, out there. Imagine the disappointment if I forgot. Can you even?
So here you go. Consider it a freebie. An amuse bouche. Here's the opening of Chapter One of Assembling the Wingpeople. Want to know ...

Embracing the Scathed...

A few weeks ago, I was listening to a podcast interview* with Mona Eltahawy. Three minutes in, when describing her short, grey buzzcut, she said, 

'...I had fire red hair for eight years and I thought I don't want to emerge from this pandemic looking just like I always did, as if there's a - quote unquote - 'going back to normal'. Because there is no normal. Fuck normal... I want to come out looking scathed. Because we all have to be scathed because that's the only way that we can dismantle the f...

Pre-order My Book of the Year...

Right, let's cut to the chase, gang. Assembling the Wingpeople is pre-orderable now. Wooooohoooooooo!
I've been holding off until it's appeared on as any sites as possible, but that's taking too long and I can't wait anymore. Especially as most people will get it from the massive site that everyone knows, and it's been on there a couple of weeks.

So, pre-order my book of the year here, or here if you are in the UK. And from here if you're in the US. If you want to support independent booksellers, ...

Clearing the Brain Fog, One Task at a Time...

Defo had my fingers
crossed when I typed the
 opening lines.Hurrah for the summer! How marvellous to have such tropical weather! Isn't everything lovelier now it's warm?
Regular readers of this blog will know everything I just wrote is bollocks. I hate summer, the heat is stifling, and I long for an evening that requires a log fire and jumper rather than one needing every window open, enabling the local flies to interrupt my sleep for weeks on end. But still. This is where we're at. I'm dealing wit...

Mofo Paragraph of Joy...

At this precise moment in time - May 2021 - life feels weirdly positive. I'm perkily upbeat and full of the joys. I know. It's a shock to me too. It's impossible to attribute the source of my good humour to one event. There's no specific inciting incident to make me feel carefree and chilled out. It's simply a big old mishmash of stuff beyond my control. But in order to create a well of positivity to access during future slumps, I'll give you a whistle-stop tour of all the things that've given m...

The Publishing Snag List...

The comedown is real, folks.Let's face it, we're all knee-deep in Post-Eurovision Depression. The adrenaline-fuelled highs from Saturday night have an energy-sapping binary opposite. And that's today. It's Monday morning, the week after Eurovision season climaxed in pyrotechnic marvellousness. Time to get back to work. So from one rollercoaster ride to another - the old book publishing journey. It's less fun, I'm the driver AND the passenger, and I'm working through the next steps wearing jeans ...

Eurovision, We Missed You!...

Cast your mind back to March 2020. Look, I know it's been ages. It was such a little thing and it probably escaped your attention, but there was a global pandemic and a nationwide lockdown. Remember? Anything? No? Fair enough.
[image error] I pictured my entire lockdown like this.I bring this up now, because back then I had a plan. Starting on March 23rd, I was going to watch one Eurovision Song Contest a day, until I reached 2019. It made sense at the time. I knew I'd be spending all my waking hours alone; it...

Judge My Book By Its Cover, Part 2...

So where were we? Last week, I unburdened myself. I explained how I'd had the shock realisation that I'm not the graphic design genius I thought I was, after seeing a real graphic design genius create a cover for the next book. So let's get right down to it. Strike up the drums and get ready to scroll. 
Assembling the Wingpeople's front cover will look like this...

There! Isn't it a beauty! I haven't stopped looking at it for weeks! It grabbed my attention and I knew that if I were to see it displ...