A Highly Trained Author Writes

Added on 04 March 2009

Listening to the World Service yesterday when they were reporting the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, the reporter on the scene was heard to say something along the lines of: The attackers adopted the pose of commandos, showing that they were trained professionals... A man, a paid reporter, a...

That's Mistake And I Want It*

Added on 03 March 2009

(*A bad Groucho Marx joke, from A Night in Casablanca) Working my way through the re-write of The Cutting Edge of Barney Thomson, soon to become The Barber Surgeon's Hairshirt. Not surprisingly, have already fallen behind schedule. The original plan was to finish it by the end of February. That has ...

The Shower Gel Bottle Promised It Would Delight My Senses, But In The End It Just Cleaned My Armpits

Added on 02 March 2009

A sick day today. That is, Two of Two is home sick from school. One of those tricky he-was-bad-yesterday-and-not-great-in-the-night-but-he's-not-too-bad-this-morning-but-I-should-probably-keep-him-off-just-in-case kind of decisions. So I've been trying not to make it too much fun, although it will i...

A School Show & More Covers

Added on 27 February 2009

Newly escaped from Two of Two's once-a-term concert. Forty minutes of kids singing and playing a variety of musical instruments. Parent Hell. There's a sign on the door as you enter which reads: This is what you get for deciding to have children. Either my expectations had slipped or it wasn't as aw...

Never Judge A Book... etc etc

Added on 26 February 2009

A couple of years ago I was talking to someone from the Scottish Publishers Association at the Frankfurt Book Fair. I was hoping she'd give me advice on how to sell millions of books, but she seemed inclined to think that I was going to get Absolutely Nowhere self-publishing and was much keener on g...