readin', writin', and being a silly boy

4 January

Yesterday went off OK and our first destination was Woodlands Garden Centre. That place is an ‘ouch’ and then some. Prices are sky high and it seems to keeps changing every time we go there. Jan wanted a drink so we headed for the café and she came back with two small bottles of diet coke - £2 each! Even then she had to ask to have the crown tops taken off. Later she was looking at a new bonsai tree, £30 a time, perhaps we should have taken a gold card with us. I was happy to go there simply because there’s a Works bookshop there. I had already bought four books from a charity shop, but they are second hand books, so I too opportunity to look at the new 3 for a fiver deals on offer. Six books later … Now my TBR pile beside the bed will fall over if add any more to it. But hang on a mow, there’s an almost empty shelf in the walk-in cupboard we have … … …

It’s good and well having all these books to read but I really do need to get on and get some writing done. Peter James has his own YouTube these days called Peter James TV. I’m wondering how he manages to do so much. He writes his books, he races cars, he does this YouTube thing, and he reads loads of books. How does he do it? New writers are advised to read, read and when that’s done, read some more. That all sounds fine, at least in theory, but I find it very hard to find the time to actually sit and write. Part of the problem in not having a ‘writers space’ for me to work in, my lappy is in the living room. Another problem is my slow reading speed. At time it can take me and hour to read just 20 pages in a novel, even when I’m enjoying the book. That is why I tend to read paperback novels when I’m in bed.

Another issue is the amount of time I spend on social media, the biggest draw of the lot. But so does Peter James and so many other writers, or do they? Some employ PAs to do all of those things for him. Some also pay researchers to that side of the work for them. It does take a lot of the harder background work off your hands. But what about the oblong light show that most of us addicted to these days? I might be in middle of creative session and hear the words, ‘Are we having a bit of telly now then?’ Oh dear; while telly is on I can’t concentrate on anything else. Today will be awkward anyway because me foot-butcher is due in a couple hours, and I need to get this done ready for posting. Oh how I wish I was more disciplined …

That guy the cops shot yesterday has been named, and it’s a middle east type name, and again the cops are saying it was a non-terrorist operation. It will be interesting to see the reports from the investigation into it. Even though there was a gun in the car, what was the man doing to cause cops to open fire? Was he reaching for the gun, or was he just sat there trying to do what he was told? Another question; why was he shot and none of the others? The dead man was a known villain and had been found not guilty in an earlier firearms incident, so he was far from being an innocent man caught up in the frenzy of the moment. Like I said, the results of the investigation will be interesting to read.

In a way I think the cops are in a no win situation at times. They have a known criminal in front of them with a record of suspected firearms use; do they take the chance and let get out of the car and perhaps end killing another officer, or do they take the action they took yesterday? Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. The question for me though, could have just wounded the man and then taken him into custody? If not, why not. On the face of it he must have been acting in such a way that they thought he was danger to them. These cops don’t open fire for the fun of it. If they did, they wouldn’t be in the armed response unit for very long. Another question? Did they expect any firearm use from the guys in the car? Surly they must have, that’s why have the armed cops there. It will all come out in the wash I’m sure.

Today’s photo …

Bum end of a downed tree. Not much of a root system is there?

Today’s funny …

If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.