In the words of the great Ice Cube....

...Today was a good day.

Or rather yesterday was.
You see I meant to write this last night, but then the divine Mrs E ruined it all by inviting lovely friends round for a monkfish curry....not that I'm moaning, about the curry or the friends. Both were absolutely spot on. As was the day as a whole, as I turned thirty-six yesterday.

I think I'm enjoying birthdays more as I get older. I don't buy into feeling maudlin about nearing 40, it doesn't bother me. Maybe as it gives me an excuse for being grumpier, increasingly agrophobic and a little wider around the waist....my word, how lucky my missus is.

I got absolutely spoilt rotten. Presents included;
A digital radio
Where the Wild Things Are (DVD)
The new Paul Heaton CD
A subscription to Empire mag

and my 3 favourite gifts;

'Ostrich Boys' by Keith Gray (which I read in manuscript - more to follow on the great Mr Gray in the future) - a brilliant novel for any age group

the complete box set of one of the finest dramas ever made (forget '24' box sets, this is up there with 'Six Feet Under' and 'The Wire')

and

a couple of brilliant vintage world cup posters. The one above is just fabulous.

I was also in bed by ten o'clock...another sign of getting old, and one I don't object to either!
After all, with the baby due in two days time, who knows when the next proper kip will come.....

For goodness sake, concentrate!

Do you ever have periods when you can't concentrate on anything?

At present I seem to have absolutely no staying power whatsoever. Whether it's the impending doom, sorry did I say doom?...I mean excitement of our new arrival  (17 more days at gas mark 5), or the fact that publication date is less than three months away, I can't tell. But whatever it is, it's all a bit of a struggle.

The biggest telltale sign is that I am completely unable to finish a book at the moment. I've been reading something for about 3 weeks now, it's a book that everyone in the trade is excited about, and I can see why.
It's really strong. Everything about it says, yep I'm going to sell. But can I get to the end of it?
Can I buggery. I wouldn't mind but it's not even 300 pages long!

It's verging on the embarrassing. Especially when folk at work ask what I'm reading and I have to admit it's the same thing as last time they asked....publishing folk read fast you see, there's no time for shillyshallying around....

Book number two, however is progressing ok, although I wish I could think of a title for it.
"Being Billy" started out life as "Never Tear Us Apart", until no-one liked it.
I can see their point, I suppose it was all a bit 'INXS'...
At the moment book 2 is just "Daisy,"which of course will never do.
If book 1 does ok then perhaps "Being Daisy" will make commercial sense, but it's a big 'if'....

It feels like the content of it is going well though. I've written about 66,000 words now, which is about the length that 'Billy' ended up at, and I'm nowhere near the end.
It's round about now that I scratch my chin, shake my head and think that perhaps a chapter by chapter plan might have been a good idea.....

And finally, in news just in, I just wanted to say a big thank-you to my friend Danny Bree, a fine fellow who I've known some thirty years.
Bree has saved me the shame of seeing a proof of "Being Billy" going unsold on ebay. He paid a princely sum for it, and I hope that it's worth every penny.
Bree - I salute you. Oh and I owe you 99p plus postage...cheers buddy xx

Right...back to Daisy....bye for now