25 things...

I am not, in the usual run of things, a meme/list person. I mean, have you seen The Guardian's feeble attempt at 1000 books we should all read? Pathetic. How can you have a list of must-read crime books without a mention of Margery Allingham? And that's not just because I like her books. She has long been acknowledge as one of the four queens of crime fiction and was certainly the most inventive of them. Anyway, before I go off on a rant about lists and lazy journalism/TV programming, I did this one as it is entirely subjective (it's 25 random things about me), endlesslessly fascinating (remember the 'about me' bit?), and it gave me something to do instead of taking a 9lb lump hammer to my intransigent computer.

Also, I'm supposed to tag 25 people, get them to do the same. Well, I'm not. If you want to do this, fine, but I'm not tagging you otherwise the whole universe will soon be listing 25 things about itself and we'll never get anything else done.

Graeme…
1 – rarely goes a day without listening to some Hawkwind.
2 – is to computers what icebergs are to Olympic class passenger liners.
3 – used to have waist length hair (man).
4 – loves Barbara (yes, Catkin, and you as well; and Tilly).
5 – was a horse in Equus and thus one of the few people in Birmingham not to see Jane Wymark remove her clothes on stage.
6 – venerates the hare.
7 – wishes Boudicca had won (it was close).
8 – prefers, on the whole, the company of women.
9 – did inhale (man).
10 – believes that writers are magicians.
11 – recognizes his success as a writer, but would not refuse more.
12 – is blessed with all the friends who live in his computer.
13 – has myalgic encephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia.
14 – likes green and silver (and is partial to Green & Blacks).
15 – is vegetarian.
16 – dislikes politicians.
17 – still remembers his first proper bike with great fondness (cheers, Alan).
18 – was approached, when 17, by a band who wanted him to be their manager.
19 – underwent the first stages of recruitment to MI5, but withdrew.
20 – would like to be slim enough to wear waistcoats again without looking avuncular.
21 – has lived on a farm.
22 – used to do tapestry until polyarthralgia made it painful to hold the needle.
23 – is a Druid.
24 – will be coming back.
25 – wrote this listening to Live Chronicles (it was Hendrix live at the Fillmore East when I originally wrote the list).

Passing through

What with everything (to which can be added a chest infection and a touch of food poisoning), I haven't felt much like posting, writing, or doing very much at all except vegging in front of the TV with some DVDs and reading.

So, nothing really exciting to write about.

Thin Reflections has picked up a few rejections (so nothing unexpected there) and I'm getting my strength up to package a few more submissions. Given the current climate, caused by all those useless wankers (sorry, bankers... no, I got it right first time) who wouldn't know a book if I smacked them round the back of the head with one, I doubt anything other than the usual, sure-fire garbage is going to be picked up by the 'big-players'. You know the ones; all those corporate suits wondering why the market for z-list celeb, ghost-written shite has dried up and moaning that nobody writes any decent (that is, money-spinning) books any more. I will not be sorry if they crash, burn, smoulder, and blow away on the wind. They will have caused their own demise. My only sympathy, really, is with mid list authors and all of us who aspire to that exalted position. But maybe, just maybe, all those hardworking independent publishers and book shops will come back into their own and we will see a book market that puts a great deal more emphasis on the product than on the profit margin, bonuses, and shareholders dividends.

You can tell I'm feeling better - back to biting the hand that might (well, probably never will) feed me.

Here's hoping you all get that book finished, snapped up, and in print this year.