Message from Matt & Sarah:“Baby Daniel was born last night, weighing in at 6.4lbs. Both baby and mother are a little tired but doing fine. Thanks to everyone who has wished us well.
Love Matt, Sarah and Baby Daniel.”
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Announcement: A New Edition
Message from Matt & Sarah:“Baby Daniel was born last night, weighing in at 6.4lbs. Both baby and mother are a little tired but doing fine. Thanks to everyone who has wished us well.
Love Matt, Sarah and Baby Daniel.”
Friday, April 24, 2009
A First Edition Favourite
Nope, I’m not referring to “No.1 son” or “No.1 daughter” – that still hasn’t happened yet (true to form, our first child is a late one), I’m referring to the recent bit of writing news that has come my way. The Favourite – a short story I penned earlier this year – is to be published in the newsstand magazine, First Edition.
For those not in the know, First Edition was born in January this year, appearing on the shelves of WHSmiths seemingly out of nowhere. I’ve been buying the magazine from issue one, and it’s seen some changes over the first three issues already as the editorial staff get used to format, advertising and content. No doubt there’ll be more changes over the first year of its life, but this is one publication I think new writers should get behind as it is, let’s face it, one of the few newsstand publications left that publishes short fiction. Other than Borders and sometimes Waterstones, you’ll be hard pressed to find many newsagents or booksellers that sell copies of say Interzone or the Magazine of Fantasy or Science Fiction. And I’ve never seen an issue of Granta anywhere other than Borders. Writing Magazine and Writer’s Forum hold regular competitions, but they’re devoted to writing rather than being a showcase for fiction.
To publish a new magazine focused purely on short fiction – and not just for a specific genre but all kinds of beasts – is a big gamble in this financial climate and takes a lot of courage. Even if I wasn’t being published within their pages, I would still be buying every issue as it hits the stands – they’re more deserving of support than perhaps other newsstand magazines I could speak of.
As for my story, well this is a big deal for me. It’s the first short story of mine to be published, and while it won’t have as much impact as say The Secret War or The Hoard of Mhorrer, it’s a red-letter moment. After all, it was the short form that attracted me to writing in the first place, with anthologies such as Stephen King’s Nightshift, the tales of HP Lovecraft and Barker’s The Books of Blood. I’ve tinkered on occasion with writing short stories, but other than a short-lived foray into the small presses while I was at university, I haven’t seriously submitted anything for publication before.
The Favourite is a small slice of menace – which is perhaps the best description on what is a slow-burning narrative crammed into a few thousand words. It leans on the apocalypse genre a little, but it’s more a character piece and it’s quite different to either Secret War or Hoard.
I’m certain that once I see The Favourite in print, I’ll be eager to polish off the other three or four short pieces I’ve been writing this year, submitting them to various publications around the UK, and perhaps abroad too, though probably under the pseudonym of Frank Wallace, so The Favourite might be the first and last MFW Curran headed short story to see print. We’ll see.
Until then, check out First Edition now. The Favourite will appear in issue 4, out 7th May…
For those not in the know, First Edition was born in January this year, appearing on the shelves of WHSmiths seemingly out of nowhere. I’ve been buying the magazine from issue one, and it’s seen some changes over the first three issues already as the editorial staff get used to format, advertising and content. No doubt there’ll be more changes over the first year of its life, but this is one publication I think new writers should get behind as it is, let’s face it, one of the few newsstand publications left that publishes short fiction. Other than Borders and sometimes Waterstones, you’ll be hard pressed to find many newsagents or booksellers that sell copies of say Interzone or the Magazine of Fantasy or Science Fiction. And I’ve never seen an issue of Granta anywhere other than Borders. Writing Magazine and Writer’s Forum hold regular competitions, but they’re devoted to writing rather than being a showcase for fiction.To publish a new magazine focused purely on short fiction – and not just for a specific genre but all kinds of beasts – is a big gamble in this financial climate and takes a lot of courage. Even if I wasn’t being published within their pages, I would still be buying every issue as it hits the stands – they’re more deserving of support than perhaps other newsstand magazines I could speak of.
As for my story, well this is a big deal for me. It’s the first short story of mine to be published, and while it won’t have as much impact as say The Secret War or The Hoard of Mhorrer, it’s a red-letter moment. After all, it was the short form that attracted me to writing in the first place, with anthologies such as Stephen King’s Nightshift, the tales of HP Lovecraft and Barker’s The Books of Blood. I’ve tinkered on occasion with writing short stories, but other than a short-lived foray into the small presses while I was at university, I haven’t seriously submitted anything for publication before.
The Favourite is a small slice of menace – which is perhaps the best description on what is a slow-burning narrative crammed into a few thousand words. It leans on the apocalypse genre a little, but it’s more a character piece and it’s quite different to either Secret War or Hoard.
I’m certain that once I see The Favourite in print, I’ll be eager to polish off the other three or four short pieces I’ve been writing this year, submitting them to various publications around the UK, and perhaps abroad too, though probably under the pseudonym of Frank Wallace, so The Favourite might be the first and last MFW Curran headed short story to see print. We’ll see.
Until then, check out First Edition now. The Favourite will appear in issue 4, out 7th May…
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Baby Steps
Curran Jnr hasn’t arrived yet, but he/she is in the post (or “in transit” if you believe in that whole stork/baby thing), so I’m posting a pre-fatherhood blog entry on where I am with the writing.
This week I started Chapter One of The Fortress of Black Glass. I’m glad to report that the first two thousand words were a dream to write and I’ve suffered no ill-effects of writing a non-Secret War novel in between, nor has pre-baby stress affected the prose. As it stands, it’s been the easiest start to a Secret War novel yet, and is certainly the most gothic start to any of the books. It opens in the city of Arhus, Denmark, following a funeral cortège no less, and pretty much goes down hill from there – with my usual pyrotechnics and angelic intervention. It’s an explosive opening to the book – or will be once I’ve completed the chapter… because I’ve halted mid paragraph until September, regardless of how long it takes for the baby to arrive.
“Why would you do that?” I hear you ask. After all, shouldn’t I be making the most of the time I have without dirty nappies and midnight feeds, to write down as much of the novel as I can? Well, yes, I suppose.
And no.
You see, it’s all about baby steps. That and not losing my head. At the end of September, Macmillan will be expecting the first chapter, the synopsis to the book, and a synopsis to a new trilogy I have planned called “The Last”. The synopses to both Fortress and The Last are done, and they’re not bad at all. However, based on what I send them, Macmillan may offer me a substantial long term contract. Which is great news, right?
But what if I can’t deliver what I’ve promised? What if personal circumstances mean that whatever advance I get I can’t fulfil?
What if the quality of my writing weakens through mental and physical weariness once the baby arrives?
Despite Brian McGilloway and Aliya Whiteley’s assurances that having a baby isn’t the end of writing, it certainly will be disruptive. Every baby experience is different, and I am not counting on having a dream baby who sleeps all night and hardly wants attention. Nor am I counting on just Sarah to bring up our child – I need to be there too. I want to be heavily involved.
I also have a day-job that has become increasingly pressured and something, somewhere, must give – the flesh and the spirit can be battered. (I wouldn’t be the first writer to stop writing because of a baby, nor would I be the last.)
So in September I’ll begin writing again and I’ll begin writing with four months of sleepless nights behind me. I’ll be conditioned. I’ll know then whether or not I can carry off this challenge – whether or not I can write four drafts of a 140,000 word novel in 18 months, with a baby to look after and a day-job to go to. If I can complete the first chapter in September (that has had the best of starts) then – for me – that will be proof enough that I can deliver what Macmillan wants from me. I’ll know if –mentally - I’m up for it, and I can send Macmillan the first chapter and two synopses with confidence.
And who knows, maybe if everything goes well, I’ll be writing before then.
So for now it’s baby steps – tentative ones to get the book going, and in the right direction. That and perhaps a blog entry.
Or two.
This week I started Chapter One of The Fortress of Black Glass. I’m glad to report that the first two thousand words were a dream to write and I’ve suffered no ill-effects of writing a non-Secret War novel in between, nor has pre-baby stress affected the prose. As it stands, it’s been the easiest start to a Secret War novel yet, and is certainly the most gothic start to any of the books. It opens in the city of Arhus, Denmark, following a funeral cortège no less, and pretty much goes down hill from there – with my usual pyrotechnics and angelic intervention. It’s an explosive opening to the book – or will be once I’ve completed the chapter… because I’ve halted mid paragraph until September, regardless of how long it takes for the baby to arrive.
“Why would you do that?” I hear you ask. After all, shouldn’t I be making the most of the time I have without dirty nappies and midnight feeds, to write down as much of the novel as I can? Well, yes, I suppose.
And no.
You see, it’s all about baby steps. That and not losing my head. At the end of September, Macmillan will be expecting the first chapter, the synopsis to the book, and a synopsis to a new trilogy I have planned called “The Last”. The synopses to both Fortress and The Last are done, and they’re not bad at all. However, based on what I send them, Macmillan may offer me a substantial long term contract. Which is great news, right?
But what if I can’t deliver what I’ve promised? What if personal circumstances mean that whatever advance I get I can’t fulfil?
What if the quality of my writing weakens through mental and physical weariness once the baby arrives?
Despite Brian McGilloway and Aliya Whiteley’s assurances that having a baby isn’t the end of writing, it certainly will be disruptive. Every baby experience is different, and I am not counting on having a dream baby who sleeps all night and hardly wants attention. Nor am I counting on just Sarah to bring up our child – I need to be there too. I want to be heavily involved.
I also have a day-job that has become increasingly pressured and something, somewhere, must give – the flesh and the spirit can be battered. (I wouldn’t be the first writer to stop writing because of a baby, nor would I be the last.)
So in September I’ll begin writing again and I’ll begin writing with four months of sleepless nights behind me. I’ll be conditioned. I’ll know then whether or not I can carry off this challenge – whether or not I can write four drafts of a 140,000 word novel in 18 months, with a baby to look after and a day-job to go to. If I can complete the first chapter in September (that has had the best of starts) then – for me – that will be proof enough that I can deliver what Macmillan wants from me. I’ll know if –mentally - I’m up for it, and I can send Macmillan the first chapter and two synopses with confidence.
And who knows, maybe if everything goes well, I’ll be writing before then.
So for now it’s baby steps – tentative ones to get the book going, and in the right direction. That and perhaps a blog entry.
Or two.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Thrice for twice
I’m a bit miffed about missing out on Sci-Fi London; it looks like a fantastic event, and being invited personally to something of this calibre (and with a host of pretty cool films on show) having to make my apologies was one of the hardest decisions of the last 12 months. But it was the prudent decision to take in case either the baby was late or I was reduced to a brain-dead civil servant from sleep deprivation after the baby arrived.
Still, despite not attending, I’m all too eager to pimp the event, so click here to have a look at the line-up (I promise I won’t be too envious if you go along).
And while we’re on all things Sci-Fi London, Tor has kindly arranged discounts on a selection of their Sci-Fi/Fantasy releases to celebrate their presence at the weekend’s event. For a limited time only, you can get a number of great books direct from the Macmillan on a 3 for 2 promotion, including hardback and e-books, as well as the paperback releases. Without too much shameless promotion, the paperback of The Secret War and the hardback of The Hoard of Mhorrer are amongst the discounted titles so there’s no better place to go for a copy of either. Or both!
(Personally, I would go for Mieville’s Perdido Street Station or The Scar, along with Charles Stross' The Clan Corporate, and perhaps the paperback of The Secret War; or if you want hardback titles, how about Mieville’s The City and the City, The Hoard of Mhorrer and Neal Asher's The Gabble and Other Stories?
Anyway, I’ll leave that up to you...)
Still, despite not attending, I’m all too eager to pimp the event, so click here to have a look at the line-up (I promise I won’t be too envious if you go along).
And while we’re on all things Sci-Fi London, Tor has kindly arranged discounts on a selection of their Sci-Fi/Fantasy releases to celebrate their presence at the weekend’s event. For a limited time only, you can get a number of great books direct from the Macmillan on a 3 for 2 promotion, including hardback and e-books, as well as the paperback releases. Without too much shameless promotion, the paperback of The Secret War and the hardback of The Hoard of Mhorrer are amongst the discounted titles so there’s no better place to go for a copy of either. Or both!(Personally, I would go for Mieville’s Perdido Street Station or The Scar, along with Charles Stross' The Clan Corporate, and perhaps the paperback of The Secret War; or if you want hardback titles, how about Mieville’s The City and the City, The Hoard of Mhorrer and Neal Asher's The Gabble and Other Stories?
Anyway, I’ll leave that up to you...)
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The Future ain’t just Orange, it’s New…
Over on the Macmillan New Writer’s blog we’re popping corks. The Macmillan New Writers are pretty much a family, so when one of us has success, we pretty much all join in to celebrate. And celebrate we will. After all, April marks the third year of Macmillan New Writing, and it looks like we’ll be celebrating in style…
…As yet there hasn’t been a bestselling a writer amongst us – though a couple of us have come close (Eliza Graham has sold 100,000 copies of her first book in Germany alone and Brian McGilloway’s fan base is escalating) – but I get the feeling that this is about to change.
Last year, Ann Weisgarber’s Personal History of Rachel DuPree became the 30th book to be published Macmillan New Writing, and now it has been short-listed for the Orange New Writers prize, along with Francesca Kay and Nami Mun.
But that’s not all. The Personal History of Rachel DuPree has also been long-listed for the main Orange prize too, and over on the blog, we’ve got everything crossed that Ann’s book will get the main prizes. Just being listed is awesome, but here’s hoping that there are great things ahead for her, the book, and I guess the imprint too. (I’ll try to restrain myself by saying that Robert McCrum ‘can eat my shorts’ for the comments he made in 2006 about the very idea of Macmillan New Writing).
…As yet there hasn’t been a bestselling a writer amongst us – though a couple of us have come close (Eliza Graham has sold 100,000 copies of her first book in Germany alone and Brian McGilloway’s fan base is escalating) – but I get the feeling that this is about to change.
Last year, Ann Weisgarber’s Personal History of Rachel DuPree became the 30th book to be published Macmillan New Writing, and now it has been short-listed for the Orange New Writers prize, along with Francesca Kay and Nami Mun.But that’s not all. The Personal History of Rachel DuPree has also been long-listed for the main Orange prize too, and over on the blog, we’ve got everything crossed that Ann’s book will get the main prizes. Just being listed is awesome, but here’s hoping that there are great things ahead for her, the book, and I guess the imprint too. (I’ll try to restrain myself by saying that Robert McCrum ‘can eat my shorts’ for the comments he made in 2006 about the very idea of Macmillan New Writing).
Sunday, April 05, 2009
A good reason to learn another language
Being a slightly superstitious person (who, me?) I decided that, should there be a horse in the Grand National with a name that was loosely connected with parenthood or babies, I would place a £5 bet on it. After all, it’s happened before where a horse bearing a zeitgeist-moniker has won the National (such as Party Politics way back in 1992). I was a little dismayed to discover there wasn’t such a horse in the race, so I decided not to play.
Oh, if only I had learnt French at school. English (and probably some American) people are perhaps the worst in the world when it comes to learning another language. And I'm one of them. I know perhaps a smattering of German words, and while I do try when I go abroad, I don't try hard enough, and I always feel just a little ignorant.
Out of sheer curiosity I babel-fished “Mon Mome” after the Grand National had run its course, and would you bloody believe it, it translates as “my kid”. Gutted? Too fucking right I was! For the sake of learning another language when I was a “kid” we might have been £500 better off.
I guess I would have been none the wiser if curiosity hadn’t gotten the better of me, but while they say ignorance is bliss, I reckon it also makes you poorer…
Oh, if only I had learnt French at school. English (and probably some American) people are perhaps the worst in the world when it comes to learning another language. And I'm one of them. I know perhaps a smattering of German words, and while I do try when I go abroad, I don't try hard enough, and I always feel just a little ignorant.
Out of sheer curiosity I babel-fished “Mon Mome” after the Grand National had run its course, and would you bloody believe it, it translates as “my kid”. Gutted? Too fucking right I was! For the sake of learning another language when I was a “kid” we might have been £500 better off.
I guess I would have been none the wiser if curiosity hadn’t gotten the better of me, but while they say ignorance is bliss, I reckon it also makes you poorer…
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Shenanigans
At the moment, the only calls I expect are from people asking when the baby is due, or that terrifying call from Sarah to say she’s gone into labour. So it was quite surprising to get a call from someone on Friday alerting me to certain shenanigans going on at Amazon UK – specifically with the details of The Secret War.
Three years ago, I had a passionate discussion – okay, an argument – with someone on a since deleted forum about the value of consumer opinion. My argument was, that as a music critic many moons ago, my opinion was no more or less valid than the average consumer so why shouldn’t there be a place where consumers can place their reviews of a product, i.e. Amazon. The argument against was that none of the reviews could be regulated and that unlike professional critics they weren’t as informed. To me that was a nonsense, and I argued my corner strongly. I can’t say I won the argument, but I reckon it was a draw at the very least. In my opinion, someone who has just bought the latest U2 album has as much right to review it publicly as someone who has been given it to review as an assignment.
But there are abuses. And it appears that I’ve been a little naïve.
It seems as though The Secret War has suffered certain shenanigans over on Amazon. Over the last three months there has been about three new reviews of the book ranging from great to not so great (not a problem – as I said, everyone should have an opinion). In terms of voting for these reviews, it’s been just as slow with only a handful of votes either way, if that. And then, in the space of 24 hours, not only is there a new review, but instantly there are 6 votes for it – oddly, 3 for and 3 against. The caller confessed they were one of the three against (having thoroughly enjoyed the book, they agreed with some of the review, but not all of it), but the other two are a mystery. Now while I love the fact there are people out there who will defend the book, the reviewer has the right to feel a little bullied. I’ve read the review myself, and some of the criticisms are fair, so my first reaction was that perhaps it was unfair to suddenly turn on the review so quickly.
But then something else struck me as odd.
You see, it wasn’t only this review that got votes. But the other reviews below it. And even odder, they were all negative votes, ranging from three to four negative votes on each review – and here’s the strangest thing – even when the reviews concurred with the new one. In fact, it seems the only review to get any positive votes at all, was the new one. Three positive votes in less than three hours or so.
Amazon’s review system is such that only the most helpful reviews make it to the top of the pile, i.e. the first page. The more helpful votes a review gets the better chance it has at staying on top and accruing more votes. So I did some digging on the internet and discovered that it isn’t uncommon for reviews to suddenly get helpful votes within minutes of being posted, either from friends of the reviewer or from the reviewer themselves with multiple accounts.
So I tried this myself. I opened two new accounts on Amazon using my website e-mail address, and low and behold I was able to vote more than once for a review, in this case the Sony Camera I bought last year which is bloody marvellous and worth the votes. If I were to write reviews on Amazon, it would be quite easy for me to vote for myself and bump myself up the ladder.
And the rewards for getting to the top are apparently worth the shenanigans, as Top 50 reviewers apparently get sent copies of movies and books and CDs to review in advance of publication, becoming part of Amazon’s Vine select reviewers.
I’ve since trawled a few posts around the web and there are other examples of Amazon review abuse, from artists and companies to reviewers, where reviews have been “negatived” out of existence, and where there have been malicious campaigns to discredit Top 100 reviewers by rivals.
I suppose there’s nothing new here – something like this was always going to be open to abuse – but it’s disappointing, because it detracts from the whole point of people out there having an opinion.
I still stand by my argument, that there is a place for consumer reviews, but I don’t think the Amazon system works. There are too many agendas involved, too many problems with it, and as such I’ve decided to distance myself and this blog from it (and soon the website), removing the links to Amazon. Please feel free to use Amazon to buy the books (I still use it to buy things I can't get elswhere), but I guess I would go elsewhere for objectivity when it comes to the reviews and how they are voted for and against.
Three years ago, I had a passionate discussion – okay, an argument – with someone on a since deleted forum about the value of consumer opinion. My argument was, that as a music critic many moons ago, my opinion was no more or less valid than the average consumer so why shouldn’t there be a place where consumers can place their reviews of a product, i.e. Amazon. The argument against was that none of the reviews could be regulated and that unlike professional critics they weren’t as informed. To me that was a nonsense, and I argued my corner strongly. I can’t say I won the argument, but I reckon it was a draw at the very least. In my opinion, someone who has just bought the latest U2 album has as much right to review it publicly as someone who has been given it to review as an assignment.
But there are abuses. And it appears that I’ve been a little naïve.
It seems as though The Secret War has suffered certain shenanigans over on Amazon. Over the last three months there has been about three new reviews of the book ranging from great to not so great (not a problem – as I said, everyone should have an opinion). In terms of voting for these reviews, it’s been just as slow with only a handful of votes either way, if that. And then, in the space of 24 hours, not only is there a new review, but instantly there are 6 votes for it – oddly, 3 for and 3 against. The caller confessed they were one of the three against (having thoroughly enjoyed the book, they agreed with some of the review, but not all of it), but the other two are a mystery. Now while I love the fact there are people out there who will defend the book, the reviewer has the right to feel a little bullied. I’ve read the review myself, and some of the criticisms are fair, so my first reaction was that perhaps it was unfair to suddenly turn on the review so quickly.
But then something else struck me as odd.
You see, it wasn’t only this review that got votes. But the other reviews below it. And even odder, they were all negative votes, ranging from three to four negative votes on each review – and here’s the strangest thing – even when the reviews concurred with the new one. In fact, it seems the only review to get any positive votes at all, was the new one. Three positive votes in less than three hours or so.
Amazon’s review system is such that only the most helpful reviews make it to the top of the pile, i.e. the first page. The more helpful votes a review gets the better chance it has at staying on top and accruing more votes. So I did some digging on the internet and discovered that it isn’t uncommon for reviews to suddenly get helpful votes within minutes of being posted, either from friends of the reviewer or from the reviewer themselves with multiple accounts.
So I tried this myself. I opened two new accounts on Amazon using my website e-mail address, and low and behold I was able to vote more than once for a review, in this case the Sony Camera I bought last year which is bloody marvellous and worth the votes. If I were to write reviews on Amazon, it would be quite easy for me to vote for myself and bump myself up the ladder.
And the rewards for getting to the top are apparently worth the shenanigans, as Top 50 reviewers apparently get sent copies of movies and books and CDs to review in advance of publication, becoming part of Amazon’s Vine select reviewers.
I’ve since trawled a few posts around the web and there are other examples of Amazon review abuse, from artists and companies to reviewers, where reviews have been “negatived” out of existence, and where there have been malicious campaigns to discredit Top 100 reviewers by rivals.
I suppose there’s nothing new here – something like this was always going to be open to abuse – but it’s disappointing, because it detracts from the whole point of people out there having an opinion.
I still stand by my argument, that there is a place for consumer reviews, but I don’t think the Amazon system works. There are too many agendas involved, too many problems with it, and as such I’ve decided to distance myself and this blog from it (and soon the website), removing the links to Amazon. Please feel free to use Amazon to buy the books (I still use it to buy things I can't get elswhere), but I guess I would go elsewhere for objectivity when it comes to the reviews and how they are voted for and against.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Fruits of the Weekend, and further branding
On Saturday I was interviewed in the flesh by the lovely Adele for Un:Bound, the fruits of which are now on her blog-site. Click here to view.
On a special note, it was a fun interview, which isn’t bad considering it lasted 2 hours (and I was suffering from an objectionable evening the night before). The fact Adele managed to draw out anything worth writing about in those two hours of ramblings is a down to her skill as a good interviewer – but be the judge yourself by checking it out.
Also, the branding debate has transferred itself from this blog to the Macmillan New Writer’s blog, with Suroopa Mukherjee (of the wonderful, Across the Mystic Shore) raising the whole question of whether branding is necessary and what it does to the writer. I’ve thrown my two pennies into the discussion at the end, but it’s worth reading if you want other points of view on the whole debate.
And while we’re talking fruits… If this blog suddenly falls quiet, unless you’re told otherwise, I’m not dead, just encumbered by a “bundle of joy”. Fatherhood is getting closer now, and babies rarely arrive on time – unlike royalty statements from Macmillan (which you can set your watch by) and by striking coincidence, one happened to arrive this very morning.
That should buy some nappies, then…
On a special note, it was a fun interview, which isn’t bad considering it lasted 2 hours (and I was suffering from an objectionable evening the night before). The fact Adele managed to draw out anything worth writing about in those two hours of ramblings is a down to her skill as a good interviewer – but be the judge yourself by checking it out.
Also, the branding debate has transferred itself from this blog to the Macmillan New Writer’s blog, with Suroopa Mukherjee (of the wonderful, Across the Mystic Shore) raising the whole question of whether branding is necessary and what it does to the writer. I’ve thrown my two pennies into the discussion at the end, but it’s worth reading if you want other points of view on the whole debate.
And while we’re talking fruits… If this blog suddenly falls quiet, unless you’re told otherwise, I’m not dead, just encumbered by a “bundle of joy”. Fatherhood is getting closer now, and babies rarely arrive on time – unlike royalty statements from Macmillan (which you can set your watch by) and by striking coincidence, one happened to arrive this very morning.
That should buy some nappies, then…
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