I wrote some poetry last night, my first writing of any form for almost two weeks. It wasn’t great stuff but at least it was writing, as in, the pen transferring my thoughts onto the page.

It was a start. It felt familiar. It felt like sitting on a steam train that had scraped enough coal together to coax it into forward motion.

I look at my in-progress manuscript of BACCARA BURNING and often wonder if I only want to write it because I love the characters more than the story. Could it be that although the story is in front of me, it’s struggling to flow simply because deep down all I wanted to do was something with Stella and Randolph again?

Then I sit back and think, “no it’s not!” The story flows from book one, the characters have been developed, and if it were a standalone, the central plot would hold up any book. It’s tough. Maybe Devon is right when she said the other day that the second book (or sequel) in any series is a really hard thing to do. I have to admit to having gone in blindly to this and not realising just how hard it might be.

A record label contacted me the other day about a possible review of an album being launched this weekend. A SORT OF HOMECOMING contains a lot of new and fresh music from Scotland and contains a track from the band Vertis, who I reviewed in August for NotW. The album arrived today and I’m going to review it for the SDR. The press release also uses my review and there’s an offer for press tickets for the launch in Glasgow in Sunday night. It’s a possible…

Diane – Yes, I can’t see me doing NaNo this year. I think I’ll be in a better position next year to do it once I get all my WIPs complete and polished. Last year I realised I wasn’t getting anything out of it and it was pulling me from other things, but I’ve since re-organised things and just want to tick the boxes of unfinished work.

Devon, about the list of Madness gigs I published yesterday: 10 years ago I used to follow Madness around the country when they were on tour. Halcyon days but tough on the liver!

Finally, here’s a video of what Glasgow used to be, and still is, best at!

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