The Local Competition

Woo! I just noticed I'm at 500 followers -- very timely, as my overdue September contest will be ending on Monday. Thank you so much, everyone! And thanks to all who've signed up to my December 1 Take On Amazon Web Splash. I'm now up to 366 people! Bloggers rock.

I'd love to say that people in my hood are awed -- or even interested -- in the fact that I'm a writer. The truth is, where I live, we're a dime a dozen. There's no way I can compete with my neighbourly literary greats... even if they are way past their prime (i.e., dead!).

Down the street from me is the former home of Agatha Christie. Metres away is James Joyce's old residence. Cross a few more streets, and you'll hit Ezra Pound and TS Eliot, not to mention William Thackeray. Everywhere I go, I run across a Blue Plaque proclaiming a past great. It has a way of bringing me back down to Earth with a thud, if ever I exhibited any hint of ego inflation!

Still, I wouldn't change my hood for the world. Let's just hope some of that greatness rubs off!

Any famous people in your neck of the woods?