Forty Years On

It is nearly forty years since I left Winchester. Last week I attended an alumni dinner to mark the occasion and meet again the people I shared my teenage years with. Being Winchester, it was a black-tie event so I dressed up for it, and was happy to find my dinner suit still fits as the photo shows.  

It was a very enjoyable event and I was able to catch up with some people I hadn’t seen for forty years. They all seemed to have prospered (some spectacularly so) and remained thoroughly sound chaps. It reminded me of how extremely fortunate I was to attend the college.

In other news, I’ve written more of the sequel to my contemporary fantasy novel and I’m attending FantasyCon next month where I will be giving a reading and moderating a panel – see you there..

September already!

It can’t be September already surely?

I’ve just bottled my first batch of apple pickle, so it must be. Where did the summer go? Actually come to think of it, I spent a fair bit of it on holiday. A week in Cornwall and three weeks in Ireland – that adds up to almost a month.The Ireland trip was great fun; we had a big reunion for my wife’s family with just over 20 cousins coming in from the US (hi guys, it was great! We’ll be over to see you) plus most of her siblings. So I had a lot of time with my nieces and nephews and a lot of late nights. Which means I haven’t written anything for a month. Did read a couple of books (see my Goodreads reviews for those). I also picked up a rejection from Baen for ‘Exile’. They did say it was better written than most of what they receive, and the reply came in 6 months rather than the 18 months I was expecting, so I should be slightly grateful.

Since I’ve nothing interesting to say about my own writing at the moment, I’ll direct those who read this for writing tips to Chuck Wendig’s blog where he lays it on the line for new writers about the faults that show you up as a beginner – good solid advice:  http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/08/26/i-smell-your-rookie-moves-new-writers/