…while waiting for sales of my latest novella – Autumn 1066to pick up, if they ever do. I’ve decided to go ahead with the third edition of Globular Van der Graff’s Goblin Tales. A task I’ve been putting off for ages…

As you can see I already have the new cover, family portrait and revised map, all created by a good friend of mine here in Beccles, Duncan Niall Boswell, featuring Glob and his brothers Make, Mous, Neo and Byz, not forgetting Glob’s old friend Bejuss, the one eyed lisping Raven with a twisted beak. In fact I’ve had them filed away for months on this laptop with the idea of one day creating a top quality third edition.

I’m in no hurry with the task ahead. Where before I would work to a deadline, often sacrificing quality merely to get another ebook out for the hungry market…

It’s been a long time, but the kitchen is clean and dim. Beyond the screen, a chorus of tree frogs begins uncertainly in the late May humidity, and here we are. Tonight, I made Tot Surprise, which is my humorous moniker for what is apparently far more common a dish than I knew–tater tots, peppers, onions, and smoked sausage in a casserole dish covered with cheese and baked. It’s not nutritious; I get around that by steaming a bunch of broccoli to eat with it. However, it is satisfying. And now–as I stand in front of the open fridge door, looking at what remains of my casserole, and needing to feed complex emotions–I find that I am still full. I cannot bury my awkward realizations in a tidal wave of dopamine.

Self Avoidance Is An Art

I haven’t written consistently in my journal for years. However, recently, I took to…