Highlander's Book Reviews have just reviewed "Conjure". And quite liked it, which is always nice.

Read the review here!

Woo hoo!

A couple more reviews for “Conjure” this week, from paying customers - and both of them, I’m very happy to say, are positive. Firstly, Jamie - my fan from Tasmania - emailed me and wrote:

"The book's a fine achievement, Mark. It moves along at a crisp pace, has characters the reader can care about, and a nice climax."

That was very nice - then Kim kiminorkey wrote me a lovely long email that included the phrase “Good job, I enjoyed it”. She also posted the first review at Goodreads, which was very nice of her.

Kim’s review at Goodreads.com

And in life, here’s Matthew doing the Monster Mash:

My appearance, in the Kettering Evening Telegraph, 30/9/09

Last weekend was FantasyCon and I went up to Nottingham for the Saturday only - one year, I’m going to do the whole weekend, I keep promising myself. Due to heavy traffic, I didn’t arrive until 11.30 but met up with Stuart Young straight away and we found a table and caught up. David Price joined us and conversation ranged wildly from what length we’re writing to at the moment (I’m definitely heading for novella/novel) to which era of Robert B Parker’s ‘Spenser’ novels is the best (perhaps unique to Stu & I, that gambit). I then went to Joel Lane’s reading, which went well and whilst there, Ally Bird bought a copy of “Conjure”, as did Gary Cole-Wilkin (and I bought a copy of his CD single).

After lunch, I bumped into Paul Meloy - who was impressed with all of the “Conjure” stuff - and Simon Bestwick and he & I went outside, so that he could have a smoke before his reading. Michael Marshall Smith also went out, but I still daren’t talk to him (one day, I keep telling myself, I’ll pluck up the courage to introduce myself) and then Gary Greenwood and Martin Roberts joined us. Gary & I caught up and had a good laugh and he bought a copy of “Conjure” too - all good stuff. Simon’s reading was poorly attended (it clashed with the launch of “Best New Horror 20” downstairs) but he carried it off well and we we stayed in the room (and were joined by more) for the John Probert/Gary McMahon double-act - both very entertaining, in very different ways.

Back in the bar, I chatted with David Price, Andrew Hook (who I’d met briefly the previous year, but we’d never really spoken), Steve Mosby (who I’d just re-connected with on Facebook, from back in the Terror Tales days) and Allen Ashley. With all of the other launches going on, the Abaddon one almost passed me by, but I picked up Gary McMahon and Paul Kane’s new books (and Gary and Simon both bought copies of “Conjure”). I went to check out the dealer room (there were less people around than last year and I feel guilty, doing all that looking and none of that buying!), then met Rob Rowntree and had a chat with him, catching up on his news and talking with members of his Crit-group, including Sharon Kae Reamer.

The day had whizzed by quickly and it was time for the curry, organised by Soozy and Gary Cole-Wilkin, from the Ramsey Campbell message board (to which I’d invited Jay Eales and Selena Locke - it was good to see them again, after Leicester and they bought a copy of “Conjure” too). Our merry band - including Stu Young, Adriana, Pam, Mick & Deb Curtis, John & Kate Probert, Gary & Emily McMahon, Terry Grimwood, John Travis, Simon Bestwick (and chum from Dark Smile), Joel Lane, Gary Fry and Simon Unsworth - trooped off, took over most of Chutneys, but still got our food quickly (and very nice it was too). Back at the hotel, I finally caught up with Paul Finch, who bemoaned the fact that we hadn’t had a chance to speak or that I wouldn’t be able to join him at the bar later.

Then it was the Awards ceremony (I had high hopes for “We Fade To Grey”, but it lost out to “Best New Horror 19”) and it was great to see Ally Bird win for collection and Tim Lebbon’s moving speech for “The Reach Of Children” brought a lump to my throat. After the ceremony, I headed off, saying goodbyes along the way. I’d had a great day and really enjoyed myself, meeting up with old friends and putting faces to previously-only-online-known names. It was great fun and I was filled with a drive to write too, which isn’t to be sniffed at. Roll on next year.
- - -
On Sunday night, back down to earth, I was watching “Top Gear” with Matthew and Clarkson was wheel-spinning in a Ferrari.

“Why’s it smoking?” asked Dude.

“It’s called burning rubber,” I said.

He nodded gravely, then looked at Alison and said “When me and Daddy go out for a drive, we burn rubber.”

This is the final cover art image for "Conjure". The pier is at Great Yarmouth, which acted as the model for Heyton, so I thought there was a nice symmetry to that.



The original picture was by Darren Martin (thanks for letting me use it), which is located at his Flickr account - http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrenmartin1967/2797583824/

I was in Germany, Thursday and Friday, on work business but I picked up an email from John B Ford - the proof is on it's way to me! Woo hoo! I don't know when the completed books will be ready (fingers crossed for FantasyCon), but they will be here very soon. Which is great!

So, another teaser image I think...



I don't have all the details yet, but the book will cost £8.99 and be available direct from the publisher, from the regular online sites and I'll have a few copies for sale too.

More info as and when.

www.markwest.org.uk

I've just heard from John B Ford, head honcho at Rainfall Books, that "Conjure" is just about to go to the printers. Woo hoo!

Newly pregnant, stuck in a job she doesn’t like and mourning the death of her cousin, Beth Hammond’s life isn’t working out the way she thought it would. So when her boyfriend wins a weekend away, at the east coast seaside resort of Heyton, Beth thinks this could be just what they need - some time to themselves, to get away and relax and make their plans for the future.

Unfortunately, as they begin their weekend, there's an accident at the beach and a centuries old memorial is damaged. Something escapes - a presence that was buried beneath the memorial, sealed in a stone tomb, that now wants desperately to get its revenge on the residents of Heyton.


"...a powerful and convincing piece of horror fiction."
- Gary McMahon, writer of "Rain Dogs" and "How To Make Monsters"

“Mark West is a talent to watch.”
- Peter Tennant, Black Static




www.markwest.org.uk

After spending the best part of six weeks working on it, I have just sent off the revamped version of “In The Rain With The Dead” to a well-known mass market publisher.

To be honest, I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while but one thing or another has always seemed to get in the way (most especially, my block before I wrote “The Mill”). But for some reason, at the start of June, I decided to take the bull by the horns (probably because I was halfway through “The Day It Rained” and you don’t get much better at procrastinating than actually working on a completely different project) and get cracking.

The original “In The Rain With The Dead”, as published by Pendragon Press in 2005, was 102.7k words long. The publisher stipulates no more than 90k, so I had some serious cutting to do. Some of it was fine - I finally adhered to my critiquing partner Sue Moorcroft’s wishes and cut a lot of “he got up and walked to the door” pieces - and some of it wasn’t (I had to lose a murder set-piece).

But as a process I enjoyed it and it was nice to read the novel again, even if it was with an eye to trimming it down.

Now I just have to wait. I feel nervous but, hey, that’s the name of the game.

Onwards and ever upwards.

For more details on the book, you can follow these links:

The Pendragon Press page

The dedicated ‘mini-site’ on my website

I am currently working on a novella called “The Day It Rained”, which has been sometime in the making - I have notes on the piece dating back to 2002. It has been “my next project” on a lot of occasions, always usurped by something else, but the story kept nagging at me. I make no fight about being a great artist (though I always do my very best), but I always knew that this was a good idea and that if I did it right, it could be quite a powerful piece. Maybe, in fact, that knowledge has always been what’s scared me away in the past - that it could be good but I’d screw it up somehow.

I saw a post, on the Net, from a publishing house that I like and an editor that I respect, looking for projects. Realising, in some dim and distant part of my brain, that this could be it, I wrote a teaser synopsis of the plot and sent it away and got a nibble back.

Great, now I just have to write the thing.

I didn’t refer back to the 18,000 words of notes that I’d already made, because most of the pertinent points were burned in already. As I began work, I remembered how far the gap is sometimes between what you plan and what actually comes out in the writing, but the characters were working, the situations were working and I was over-writing like mad (it’s a novella, to be about 30k words or so and I’m almost at 20k now and they haven’t even reached the smithy, where the bulk of the action takes place!).

I hadn’t realised it in the planning, but as I was writing, I could see that I needed another character. I’d already had a strong image of how this person would die, but for some reason, the words weren’t coming. I tried it from one angle, then another and I haven’t written anything since Thursday on it. But this morning, it came to me that the injuries this person receives, whilst extremely life-threatening and potentially fatal, wouldn’t mean instant death. Which would mean this character would survive for a while, in tremendous pain - what would that do to the psyche of the other siege-sufferers (is that how you say it? Or should it be siege-ees)? And that gave me the opening, for the antagonist who is already worried about his wife - this new characters cries and screams would unnerve anyone.

And so I’m off again, but this is yet another valuable lesson that I’ll doubtless forget very quickly: sometimes, if the words don’t come easily, it’s because you haven’t figured out the story turns yet. I should have learned it with “Conjure” (coming this August, just in case you’d forgotten!) - Steve, the JCB driver, just had a cameo in the notes but ended up being the third lead in the finished book.

I now have an author page at Good Reads.  Why not pop along and say hello?

www.goodreads.com/author/show/640719.Mark_West

I got an email from the very nice Stephen Bacon, regarding my collection, Strange Tales, which was published by Rainfall Books in 2003. With his kind permission, here are some of the things he had to say about the stories:

“Just wanted to let you know I really enjoyed the collection”

'Infantophobia' gets the whole thing off to a disturbing start [with] a lot of imagery…that has stayed with me for a long time.
The tone of 'Empty Souls, Drowning' really struck a chord with me, as did the feeling of sadness in 'Together Forever'.
'Dead Skin' is one of the sickest things I have ever read (I mean that as a compliment!), and 'Up For Anything' is almost as grotesque.
I loved both 'Speckles' and 'The City in the Rain', [their] detached sense of alienation and 'otherness', [of] urban desolation and disjointedness.
[There was] a dark playfulness in both 'Dreaming of a Black Christmas' and 'The Darkest Hour', reminding me of the short fiction of Robert Bloch.
Overall, my favourite tale is 'Beach', a beautifully poetic story, full of haunting language and evocative emotion [that] in my opinion…is alone worth the price of admission.

How cool is that, eh?

If you’re at all interested, Strange Tales is still available from a few on-line booksellers and, as Mr Bacon quite rightly points out, is well worth a read.

As my novel “Conjure” rolls ever closer to publication, I’ve put together a little website for it, which can be found here.

At the moment, there’s a partial essay/afterword on how the book came about (which will be fleshed out on publication, as it will contain a few spoilers), some information on the illustrations and a breakdown of how I created the composite photograph of the memorial.

More material will be added as time goes on, including all of the teaser ads and purchasing details as they become available. Once the book is published, of course, I’ll include reviews.

I hope you get a chance to look around.

Welcome to the “Conjure” website

The “Conjure” site can also be accessed from my main website

Conjure is coming!

www.markwest.org.uk

The last Terror Scribes gathering I attended was held in Hinkley, in 2004, to coincide with the launch of Sue Philips’ book “The Waldorf Street Paradox” (where I heard just how much John Ford loved what he’d so far read of “Conjure”). Since then, a lot of water has passed under the bridge and a lot of things have changed but this year, Sue decided to get the TS back on track and so organised a gathering in the heart of Leicester.

I drove over, feeling more trepidation the closer I got - I’ve seen a lot of the old Terror Scribes at various FantasyCon’s, but for some people, it’d be the first time we’d seen one another in five years. I felt new again, as nervous as I did on my first gathering, in Sheffield back in 2000. I shouldn’t have worried though. I found the pub quickly, wandered into the reserved area Sue had arranged and it was like I’d never been away.

Rob Rowntree, Ally Bird & I discussed the parlous state of small press publishing and our hopes and dreams for our writing future, then Rob took me to one side to pass on some news that - quite rightly - has him chuffed to bits. I’m equally pleased for him and hope it all comes off. Back in our area, I sat, on a very low pouf that was difficult to get off of without resorting to a tuck-and-roll, with Jay Eales and Selina Locke, across from John B. Ford, Des Knight (who I haven’t seen since 2003) and David Price. It was quickly time for the readings - Joseph Freeman read from his collection “This Is My Blood”, Ally Bird from her “Bull Running For Girls” collection and I read the prologue from “In The Rain With The Dead”, before putting said copy into the raffle. Derek read a wonderful memoir, of he and a gang of mates getting in to see the Christopher Lee version of “Dracula” and then David Price took the floor, reading a short from his collection. To say it was a very theatrical delivery would, unfairly, be selling the experience short and when he pulled out a tissue, to mime covering a slashed throat that the character had just suffered, I was genuinely concerned that tomato ketchup would be involved!

Then it was time for the raffle, in aid of the NSPCC and I think everyone who took part won something. I was very lucky, winning four times and picking up a set of “Girly Comic”s that Selina and Jay produce. It was chatting time then, but as Jay & I had managed to get decent seats, we stayed put and discussed plenty of things to do with films and writing.

At 6.30, we headed for the curry house (a long standing tradition of TS gatherings) and Jay & Selina had picked a fine establishment though, once again, the more authentic cooking and spices were perhaps just a bit too much for my palete. As was the hot dip that John B Ford was downing as if it were cool yoghurt - we warned Des not to have any but did he listen? The meal was very nice, the company better, the conversation wonderful - old times, old friends, plans for the future both in terms of writing and gatherings. By the time the evening started to break up, towards 9pm, I was content and pleased to have come along. John, Des and Dave were billeted in a bizarre sounding hotel that entailed them walking by my car, so we hit the A6 hill together, pausing only to check out a blue plaque that proclaimed the building was where Tanky Smith, Leicester’s first Private Detective (died 1888) had plied his trade. A master of disguise, the plaque proclaimed, clearly illustrated by the multitude of busts that decorated the building. All of which showed a heavily bearded man wearing a variety of hats. Of course, this struck us as ridiculous and we made fun of poor old Tanky all the way up the hill. As we separated, shaking hands and promising that we’d meet up soon, John & I had a quick word about “Conjure” - Rainfall are going to publish it this year, which makes a nice symmetry.

It was good to see everyone again, it was good to get back into that creative spirit (I always come away from gatherings feeling really jazzed and ‘ready to go’ with my writing) and I hope we get to meet up again soon. Before, one hopes, John, Des, Dave & I confirm our deal to produce a novel-ised biography of a certain Tanky Smith!

Well done, Sue!

( Pics behind here )

We had a nice, quiet New Years Eve - Matthew went to spend the night with his Gran & Grampy (hard to tell which of the three was most excited) and Alison & I went for an Indian, then a brisk walk and saw 2009 in with the Hootenany.
- - -
I’m getting more used to the laptop (and trying to avoid Spider Solitaire at all costs) and I’ve manage to arrange the bulk of the files and photographs on it. I keep bumping into things, with Vista, that don’t work as I want them to but it doesn’t appear as bad - yet - as people keep saying. Though downloading to DVD through the Media Player is a bad, bad, bad idea.
- - -
We had a busy Saturday, which wasn’t planned. Mike, Melanie & Alesha Pateman called over in the afternoon and it was good to see them - we exchanged gifts, had a laugh and Matthew and Alesha got along really well.

We’d hoped that the Pateman’s would still be at ours when David ericgnome, Julia and the girls arrived, but the latter were delayed (very unusual for the punctual Roberts, who usually turn up ahead of whatever time you arrange!) and so it wasn’t to be. But it was good to see everyone and whilst Dude was playing with the girls, David put some software on the laptop for me and sorted out a couple of things that had been puzzling me.

Busy, but fun.
- - -
On Sunday, we went to Irchester Country Park, which was almost deserted (it was close to freezing) and so we had the run of the place. Strange thing though, we kept finding decapitated rabbit heads all over the place.
- - -
Also on Sunday, I realise it’s a bit early in the year to make this declaration, but I think we saw the Best and Worst films of 2009.

Alison is a fan of ‘spoof’ movies and we saw one late last year, called “Superhero Movie”, that wasn’t too bad. Dude & I went to Blockbuster and I picked up “Disaster Movie”, which mentioned ‘Superhero’ on the blurb, thinking that if it was as good, it wouldn’t be a bad rental. It was worse - far, far, worse. Turns out it wasn’t linked with ‘Superhero’ at all, but “Epic Movie”, which I hated. And I hated this one even more. It was so rubbish, in fact, that I can only muster giving it 1 out of 10 because one joke made me smile and the leading actress was quite attractive. And that’s me scratching for compliments. It’s a dreadful, dreadful waste of time (yours) and expense (yours and the people that funded it and could have better spent the money on dozens of indie films). Whatever you do, do NOT rent “Disaster Movie”.

Thankfully, my other choice was “The Dark Knight” which I’ve wanted to see for ages and events have conspired against that, but I sat enraptured for the 2.5 hour plus running time. I loved it. By turns beautiful, stately, gritty and brutal, this is what cinema should be. An absolutely cracking film (and Heath Ledger’s portrayal was as exceptional as I’d been led to believe) that was only let down by the bizarre choice of making Batman speak like he was air escaping from a balloon. Otherwise, 9 out of 10 for this - exceptional.
- - -
And on the subject of films, I’m pleased to say that I’m now on the VideoVista Review Crew! Tony Lee, head honcho of VV, saw my comments on “Wanted” on here and asked me to submit something else, so I put forward a review of “Deathproof” and it’s hit this months edition - it’s online here if you’re interested. I’m quite looking forward to seeing what films come my way!

I saw two reviews for We Fade To Grey last week, both of which were very pleasing. One came from Stephen Bacon, a fellow writer, who said of “The Mill” - “[it’s] a haunting stab of exposed tragedy. I honestly can't remember reading anything with as much honesty, in the manner it deals with grief and the consequences of loss…The ending was subtle and heartbreaking."

Peter Tennant also reviewed the story in Black Static and seemed to enjoy it, which is nice. The weird thing is, reading what he had to say about the story reminded me of the sensation I got when he wrote about my story “The City In The Rain” - that he’d seen things in the text that I wasn’t aware of, but which made me - as the writer - sound much smarter than I think I am. Very nice.

If you’re a regular reader of this LJ and haven’t read “The Mill”, all of these snippets and reviews and comments must make it sound like a grim, bleak story. It is - after all, it deals with bereavement and loss and the kind of grief that seems to pull at your soul - but I also think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written and the fact that people are pulled in, once they start, is really pleasing to me. There are a couple of funny bits in it, but it’s perhaps best not to read it if you’re after a belly-laugh!
- - -

Next project for me? Well I’m leaning more and more towards “The Day It Rained” (nasty stuff in the rain, I think it’s cool) and I’m getting a lot more ideas and images towards it (the latest is the survivors, holed up in the Smithy, pulling in a victim of the rain who is suddenly missing his legs!).

When I initially started work on the idea, way back in 2004, I assumed it was going to be a long-form short story (what I now know, thanks to “The Mill” and Gary McMahon, is called a novelette) and that slowly morphed into a novella (up to approx. 45k words). Now, with the market as it currently stands (see previous posts and pretty much any writers blog over the past few months), I seriously think that a novel is the best way to go (and yes, I am aware of how long it takes me to write anything - In The Rain With The Dead was started on December 29th 2000, the third draft was completed February 18th 2002 and the book saw publication in October 2005). I’m not suggesting that it's an easier market (it’s harder, if anything), but the story is spreading and I had a lot of fun writing In The Rain With The Dead and what do I have to lose? After all, if a novella market opens up, “Drive” is still looking for a home.

Anyway, reading Sarah Pinborough’s wonderful “Breeding Ground” gave me an idea of how to open the story out and, in my head, it works a treat. What slowed me down in the past was trying to visualise how the siege was going to run, since that would have been the bulk of the story. Now, with my new idea, the siege is literally part two of a three part story. I can keep elements of the grim ending that I originally had (which will now be the end of part two, obviously) and ramp up the unpleasantness for part three. Which’ll be nice.

Wish me luck!
- - -

We’ve had some success with DVD rentals recently and, feeling cocky and armed with a free rental ticket, Matthew & I nipped to Blockbuster last night and I picked up “Wanted”. I won’t be linking to it as it’s one of the worst films I’ve seen this year. It’s terrible.

I like James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie is easy on the eye, I like slam-bang thrillers and this seemed to have it all. But it doesn’t. McAvoy plays a whining, snivelling little shit for too long of the running time, with a spot-on but “why bother” American accent and you have to hope that Ms Jolie wasn’t paid by the word. With stupid pretentiousness (a loom? It all comes from a loom?), action sequences where the CGI looks like it was created by Matthew’s nursery school class, editing by hummingbirds and slow-mo that is so unflattering as to be insulting, this was just a mess from start to finish. And it takes ages - both for anything to happen and for it to stop.

Right at the end, one of the characters says “What have you done recently with your life?” My reply? “Just wasted two hours of it watching this shit, so thanks for that”.

There are two extras on the rental disc, one’s rubbish but the other, about the Viper chase, is quite interesting. What I don’t understand, though, is the bus crash part. They crashed and rolled a bus in Chicago. A stuntwoman did a couple of leaps in a Viper body-shell. There were bits and pieces all over the place, it was obviously a big stunt and a lot of preparation time went into it. So what happens in the film? It’s all been through the CGI mill (because it forms the basis of one of the silliest stunts ever, beyond the one where McAvoy assassinates a bloke in a limo which has to be seen to be groaned at) and so none of it looks real. Which has to beg the question - why take all the time, talent and expense to roll a real bus and then jiggle it about with a fake car until the whole thing looks fake? Why not do it on the computer in the first place? As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’m not a big fan of CGI (unless it’s pretty much pitch perfect).

Do not rent this film, it is dreadful!
- - -

And finally, I’d just like to wish the faithful readers of this Journal a very Happy Christmas and all my very best wishes to you and yours for 2009.

Take care!

He’s back! He’s alive!

Haven’t posted for a while, variety of reasons, none of them all that interesting, but a couple of people have pointed it out to me and so I thought I’d make amends. So, what’s been happening?

( In life - with a picture )

( Friends )

( Films )

( Books )

( Writing )

So that’s me. Hopefully I’ll post beforehand but, if I don’t get to, I hope that every reader of this little journal - and their families - has a wonderful, happy and hearty Christmas period and my very best wishes to you all for 2009.

Oh and bye bye, Woolies, it was nice knowing you…

A Question, if you don’t mind:

Let’s just say that you have a short novel you wrote a couple of years back, that you designed the cover and seven interior illustrations for, a complete package that you’re really quite proud of. Let’s just say that a publisher you respected wanted to publish it but, due to dreadful personal problems, was pretty much out of contact at the moment and - in the grand scheme of things - the path to publication (or not) of your book wasn’t a priority (and might never happen).

Would it be awful to start thinking about shopping the short novel (cover and illustrations intact) elsewhere? I have to admit, I’ve considered setting up a little imprint of my own, simply to publish a hardcover version of this (limited to, say, 50 copies) which wouldn’t tread on anyone’s toes. But I don’t know.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received
- - -

In my exceptionally slow, completely non-prolific fashion, I think the time has come to start working on my next project. For a few heady days, I thought about doing something for Abaddon, a zombie novel that would be thrilling and exciting and personal and brutal and… Well, then I suddenly realised that it takes me bloody ages to write a novel, that I’ve done a couple of zombie things as shorts and it always revolves around loved ones and also, watching “Dead Set”, I realised that my knowledge of zombie lore is not that all-encompassing but I did recognise the Rhodes-ripped-apart homage.

So I went back to a couple of ideas that have been brewing in my head for a while (several years, in one case) - I’m assuming they’d come in at novella length.

Idea one - a couple go away for a weekend to Wales, to try and repair some stress cracks in their marriage. On a trip out, they end up at a Smithy. Then it starts to rain. But there’s something in the rain that really isn’t very nice at all.

Idea two - it’s set at an English seaside resort (modelled after Hunstanton, to give you an idea of the bleakness!), out of season and involves gangsters, amateur porn, vicious beatings, a couple of very unpleasant murders and snuff movies. All good clean fun, in other words.

Two very different ideas, which appeal to either side of my ‘writing about graphic stuff’ spectrum. And I can’t decide which way to go. Any thoughts?
- - -

Congratulations to Barack Obama and the folks of America, for making what appears to be the best choice (I have to say, the thought of Sarah Palin getting anywhere near the button for WMDs, filled me with terror).

The other great thing is that, hopefully, we can now get 15 minutes of each news broadcast back. I know America is important, but did I really need to start thinking of the BBC flagship as the Quarter-Past-Ten News? Seriously, next time - I’ll just throw this idea out there, see how it floats, you know - how about the campaigns start six months to a year before the off?

Well, another week has whizzed by. It’s half term, so both Alison and Dude have been at home and it’s been a real struggle to leave them in the mornings (plus the very cold weather hasn’t helped).
- - -
The get-together (not quite a re-union), held last Saturday (25/10), was a rousing success. I got to the venue just after 7.30, to find one other attendee (my old friend Chris Perry, who I met on the first day, sitting next to him in the mobiles for Maths - all of 28 years ago). People started to roll in after that and, at its peak, I reckon we had probably 30-35 people - the Rothwell House Hotel’s takings must have trebled! The reaction to the event was very favourable and we’re hoping to arrange something else, either late this year or early the next.

I had a lovely time, it was nice to see all those old faces and reminisce and it dispelled my worry completely that I was the odd one out, being nostalgic for those long-ago times. Another attendee, Paul Barnes (also met in first year - I remember that he pulled a face on his school photo and had to re-sit for it, so he borrowed my blazer for it), came along with a 1st year photo that I don’t remember ever seeing before.

Good times.
- - -
Last Sunday, we decided that we were going to have family-viewing-time. We scanned our DVD shelves for something suitable and gave Matthew the option of “Shrek”, an array of “Pixar”, “Over The Hedge” or “Wallace & Gromit”. He tried “The Wrong Trousers” and sort of enjoyed it, but it didn’t really work for him. Out of desperation, I suggested “Trumpton”. Yes, that British institution which, according to the copyright information was produced two years before I was born. The show that I remember fondly, the clock and the fire engine and Chippy Minton and “Pugh, Pugh, Barney Macgrew, Cuthbert, Dibble & Grub” - we sat down with our three year old son and I pressed “Play” and hoped for the best.

He loved it. We watched four episodes straight off, he wanted to watch more after tea and we finally finished the run on Tuesday night. Emboldened, I picked up “Chigley” and “Camberwick Green”, though they haven’t had quite the same impact thus far - he tried an episode of each, then asked for more “Trumpton” and now calls out the firemen’s names before Captain Flack does.
- - -
On the writing front, I’ve got quite excited about a concept - it’d be apocalyptic, I’d need to start work on it soon, but it might work with a publisher. Might. However, the more I think about it, the more I keep going back to the brutal snuff-movie idea that’s set in Hunstanton.

Oh, dilemma, dilemma.
- - -
Have a good weekend, one and all
- - -
( Some pictures, behind here )