My First Blog Post Ever!

For years I’ve resisted writing a Blog.

That is, until today.

So here goes...

Now, what should I Blog about? What do people usually Blog about? Everything, I suppose, but from my experience they seem to mainly bang on about their holidays, work, and their general thoughts on life, the universe, and everything else.

So I’ll start with my holiday in Cornwall. Kernow is a great place for inspiring a writer of grim fiction. They do things differently there. I went to take in a punk rock festival. The festival was somewhat dogged by petty-minded protests from locals and over-rigid directives from the council, reminiscent of the sort of moral panic and fusty idiocy that greeted punk the first time round. I’m sure we’re all far too old and sensible to offer much of a threat these days...most of us wouldn’t throw a brick for fear of recurring back trouble. Still, the curfew didn’t spoil our fun, and we boogied, took in some of the scenery, and indulged in very silly games - I won the Sumo! Wait a minute, didn't I say we were scared of back trouble? What’s more, my kids thoroughly enjoyed the mosh pit.

And, as much as I detest parochialism, there is something to be said for a place where everyone knows each other (folk advertise their names and what job they do, outside their cottages), and where pasties are plentiful (and they’re proper pasties, not just a square of rock-hard pastry filled with a squirt of cloying sauce. On first moving to the North of England, I suffered a nasty bout of “proper pasty” withdrawal, from which I’ve never truly recovered).

Workwise, what with the holidays, it’s been rather quiet. I’m currently working on a couple of new novels - a sequel to The Alchemist’s Revenge, and a sequel to The Morecambe Medium. The Morecambe Medium will be out later this year. It’s a cosy/quirky Victorian murder mystery set in Morecambe, a northern seaside resort. I’m also on with a new tabletop roleplaying game, Pirates & Dragons. The Kickstarter for Pirates & Dragons has been struggling a bit, so we’ve been looking at revising and relaunching it. It would be a shame for it to not see the light of day, it’s a cracking game.

One nice thing about being on holiday is that I’ve also had some time to do some reading. I was in danger of becoming like Garth Marenghi (the only man to write more books than he has read). I read “The Yard”, by Alex Grecian, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and another murder mystery that I didn’t enjoy (but I’m too polite to name names). I also read a couple more books on World War One, a pet subject of mine. As usual, the WW1 books left me feeling a little depressed, and didn’t really add to my knowledge of the topic.

As for my thoughts on life, the universe, and everything else... maybe next time... (or maybe never!).

Ooh, and I’ve been listening to Burning, by Dirt Box Disco, over and over again. In fact, I’m going to sign off, so I can listen to it again, while cooking a boring tea (that’s the other problem with holidays. The necessary post-holiday diet. Boo!).