busybusy – and Santa

Current work: fiction and n0nfiction
Listening to: Yes, Going for the One
Reading: The Interpretation of Murder (am struggling to read this – I think the narrator is smug, though at the same time over-egging his humility about being not worthy to talk to Freud (which reminds me of the Bill and Ted scene with Alice Cooper). So far, I don’t like the tone, and some of the details are too gritty for my taste. I might have to give up on this one; though I feel guilty as it was a present from a good friend. Is just not my cuppa tea.)

Today am busy with books and sourcing pics. Had a quote in for two pics I want to borrow – bit steep. Will see what my publisher thinks. Would be a shame not to have them, but they’re eye-wateringly expensive. Am just glad that the other institutions I’ve approached share my view that these are stories that are part of our heritage and should be shared, so they’ve been really kind about loaning images I simply can’t get (mainly because many of my subjects died before I was born).

And I really must move the fiction from the thinking stage to the writing stage.

And I need to do my Christmas shopping.

It’s been reported in the news this week that Santas with a certain firm in Sydney have been advised not to say ‘ho ho ho’ because it’s too close to the American slang ‘ho’ and is offensive to women – for pity’s sake, Santa is for CHILDREN. (The recruitment company is backtracking hastily and saying they’ve left it up to the discretion of each Sanda.) Hmm. What’s next – the Seven Dwarfs no longer being allowed to sing ‘Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to work we go’? Political correctness gone mad. It would be so nice if our children could be allowed to be children, without this pressure to grow up so quickly, cake on make-up (for the girls) and think about their sexuality (why on earth should it matter whether Dumbledore is straight or gay? What's the big deal?).

I’m ranting. Better shut up and get back to work. For fans of Kate Walker’s Hecks, you might like to read this news story here…

Edit: and another story. Fabulous. The equivalent for me would be suddenly coming across something in an archive... (I had to have a little antiquarian book spree after this. Could be worse. I don't do maps... yet. The day will come.)