Freedom From The Mundane

Image: Mopsy 7 ½ Weeks Old

I really need to do something to cheer this blog up so I’ll begin with a short review of my recent trip away to Fuengirola in Spain. I went away with the determination to refresh myself and let my hair down and for the most part I achieved it.
I drank [...]

November 9th, 2009 | Tags: Animals, bunnies, death, fireworks, friends, Fuengirola, GDR's, pets, Rabbits, Reading, Scruffy Dog Review, Spain, The Diners, Travel, Writing | Category: Animals, Books, Film & TV, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Reading, Travel, Writing | Comments (4)

Image: Digital Stores

I was shattered going into work yesterday. And I was in a bad mood because of it. Missing my bus didn’t help either. Fucking Lothian left early. Three coffees in the office didn’t really help move things along either, and I spent most of the day with a sore frontal lobe [...]

September 15th, 2009 | Tags: Biblio Paradise, cancer, cooking, Day Job, death, Family, Fiction, Lothian Buses, Marzetti, Patrick Swayze, short story, sleepy, spine-tinger, tired, Writing | Category: Day Job, Family, Fiction, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Writing | Comments (1)

Image: Tim Pearce

I remember it like yesterday. It was a normal working day until an email from a friend on a day off, arrived in my inbox: “A plane just hit the World Trade Centre.”
Most of us thought it was a stupid email joke until the phones starting ringing, several more emails arrived, and the [...]

September 11th, 2009 | Tags: 9/11, Animals, bunnies, death, editorial, Family, Fiction, mass murder, mourning, Rabbits, remembrance, terrorism, Twin Towers, websites, World Trade Centre, Writing | Category: Animals, Day Job, Editorial Comment, Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Internet, Poetry, Writing, Writing Process | Comments (3)

Image: Jesse Bikman

As the title says, I’m back but not for long. I think I’m just about ready for a break.
My weekend away turned into a bit of a nightmare. Just as things had started off so well after travelling down to Newcastle on Thursday evening, when we arrived in Blackpool, the weekend was turned [...]

July 2nd, 2009 | Tags: alcohol, Blackpool, celebration, death, dehydration, Family, funeral, GDR's, heat stroke, ill, primary school, vomiting | Category: Family, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Travel | Comments (2)

Image: popsci.com

Many thanks to Diane Parkin for having me over at her blog yesterday. If you missed it, head on over for what was an in-depth look at the development of STELLA.
Today I am feeling rather polarised. On one hand I am excited about my impending trip to Blackpool with my best mate, a trip [...]

June 24th, 2009 | Tags: blog tour, Blogging, bookings, Books, death, Diane Parkin, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Family, gardening, hot, Interview, marketing, promotion, Rabbits, Reading, Weather, Writing | Category: Animals, Books, Day Job, Edinburgh: the City & the Festivals, Family, Interviews, Publishing and Marketing, Writing | Comments (2)

Image: Superlube

I’ve spent the last few days thinking about Marc Palombo, my friend who died suddenly on Friday 5th June. I’ve tried to think of ways to sum him up, what he meant to me, the things I liked about him, the memories he was part of – kind of a hard thing to do [...]

June 11th, 2009 | Tags: death, Family, friends, funeral, life, Mark Palombo, Obituary | Category: Editorial Comment | Comments (3)

Image: laffy4k

Long day yesterday.
The alarm on my new phone isn’t shrill enough to yank me out of my sleep, and so invariably I find myself flopping back and lying for longer as I wait for another, stronger spur to get out of bed. Yesterday morning it was the sound of my wife’s alarm clock, indicating [...]

June 10th, 2009 | Tags: alarm clock, blog tour, Blogging, Books, Day Job, death, Freelance, friends, funeral, GNHosting, Internet, living, marketing, Obituary, promotion, Reading, Website, world tour, Writing | Category: Books, Day Job, Fiction, Freelance, Internet, Interviews, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Writing | Comments (1)

Image: Eternal Press

OFFICIAL NOTICE: STELLA is now an officially released book!!
Wayhey! It’s been a few years in the coming but at last, finally, I have another major fiction publication to add to my literary C.V. Here’s hoping STELLA sells well and leads me onto bigger and better things. When I think how this book [...]

June 7th, 2009 | Tags: 5k run, book, book launch, book now available, buy Stella, Cancer Research, CDs, death, e-book, Eternal Press, friends, funeral, Glasgow Green, launch party, marketing, Music, new ideas, promotion, published, Stella | Category: Books, Music, Publishing and Marketing, Reading, Writing Process | Comments (1)

Image: Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic

I had a great time over at Lori Widmer’s blog, Words on the Page, yesterday. Lori hosted the first stop of my STELLA Blog Tour, and it was a whole lot of fun! Why not pop back and have a read if you missed it?
One downside to immersing myself in the promotion cycle [...]

June 6th, 2009 | Tags: beer, blog tour, Books, Clark's Bar, Day Job, death, e-book, family and friends, Fiction, Lori Widmer, marketing, promotion, Publishing and Marketing, Words on the Page, Writing | Category: Books, Day Job, Editorial Comment, Family, Fiction, Food, Drink, and Bevvy, Publishing and Marketing, Writing Process | Comments (1)