I used to do this occasionally, I don’t do it so much now. So here we go for a bit of a round-up of things that don’t fit anywhere else.

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Firstly, and interestingly, I have discovered that I am enjoying writing again. I didn’t for a while, mainly when I didn’t have much free time due to a Demanding Baby, and it became a bit of a ‘thing that I felt I ought to do’ rather than a ‘thing that I loved doing’. Plus, when your job involves writing for money, sometimes it is not quite so easy to write for fun.

If anybody would like me to do some writing for them, for money, then do get in touch.

(If anybody would like to offer me money to STOP writing then I will consider that as well).

I’m trying to work out at the moment if I should write a bit more on here, and do it in different styles, and not worry about whether it’s much good or not… or whether I should stick to the particular approach that everybody knows and is used to. The chicken guide thing was very popular, for instance, but I don’t know if it was out of place and should have gone in a separate ‘chicken’ section. Should I have a different blog for different things, for example? Or put things on different pages, or on a different RSS feed? I do not know. I would be interested in your comments in the comments box, if they are sensible and do not basically say ‘give up, your shit.’

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I met one of my Twitter followers the other day (the pie lady). It was disconcerting, as I hadn’t expected to, despite the circumstances (I was at her pie stall). Plus I had a hangover and was thinking that I might be sick, which I thought would not be great publicity for her, and all I could really think of to say was ‘I am a fan of your work’ which even though it is true was a bit weak and possibly made me sound like a bit of a dick. Anyway, I didn’t realise it, but she mail-orders her pies, so if you want to share in the top-notch pie experience then I would heartily recommend it. Here is her pork pie website.

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A commercial break for two more friends and readers of Private Secret Diary:

I have never read a chick-lit book before, so French Kissing by Catherine Sanderson, who is mainly famous for not blogging any more – worried me a bit, as it has a pink cover. Plus I had to use pliers to uncurl my toes after reading the advert the publisher had put at the back for their ‘fiction for women’ promotion (‘And of course we realise that even when she’s reading, every girl wants to look her best, so we have heaps of beauty goodies…’).

But blimey!!! It is a real page-turner – I can see why people like this sort of thing – genuinely. I ended up annoying the LTLP by exclaiming things like ‘OMG! OMG! She’s going to shag the bloke in the other apartment!!!’ I hope it does well, as Cath’s a good friend and far from being a publicity-hungry velociraptor, she will be a bit embarrassed that I have written about it. Buy it for a female companion, then sneak a read yourself under the duvet.

Neil Forsyth’s Let Them Come Through is gripping – big time. I’ll stick my neck out and say that I think he’s been slightly ill-served by the publishers. The cover doesn’t match the content, the quote on the front doesn’t really say anything and the whole package seems to want to give the impression of some Ben Elton take on spiritualism.

Whereas actually it’s seriously well researched, and hits you with a pacy and plausible world of small-time crookery, casual corruption, cruel lies and general seediness. Neil’s background is in crime journalism (as I recall) and it shows – he pulls off the difficult trick of making you root for an unsympathetic character, and the end leaves you wanting to spend more time in his world, which is always a good sign. It’s his first novel – I hope he’ll write more. Buy it for a male companion, then sneak a read yourself under the duvet.

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Commercial break and round-up over. I shall be going on holiday in a week or so. Remind me to turn the comments off before then, as there are a lot of Evil Spammers around at the moment.