Books · brain chat · DISCUSS. · Internet · Social Media

Breaking Down How Different Forms of Support Help Indie Creators (and why it’s all genuinely helpful)

FrancescaLeave a comment

Hello!

I’ve been tidying up my Patreon page, because Patreon’s done that thing where they’ve redesigned the website and now the page looks different and I thought I’d better check it’s still easy for people to find information. It got me thinking about how Patreon factors into my working life, and how grateful I am that during a cost of living crisis, people are continually happy to financially support my work. I thought, I wonder if the wider universe is aware of how independent creators use, rely and thrive on direct support from their audience? I can’t speak for other creators, but I’m very cognisant of the fact that entertainment is often the first expense to trim when we’re budgeting, even though entertainment and feeling part of wider culture are crucial for our mental health.

So today I want to talk about all the different ways my readers support my work. A little because I don’t want anyone to think ‘If I’m not supporting her on Patreon then I’m not supporting her at all,’ and a little because different types of support have different impacts, which I think is worth talking about. If you’re new here: I’m an author. While I suspect that a lot of what I’ll discuss is relevant to other types of creator and applicable to visual art, music, etc, it might not be – and anyway, the only career I’m familiar with on a molecular level is my own.

One-Off Forms of Support & How They Are Excellent

Book Sales

Book sales (streams and sales of songs or art for non-writers, I assume) are always helpful. Partly because three-twelve months after the sale, the author will earn a pound or two. Money for living costs? Great stuff. But buying a book provides opportunities for long term impact: the reader can leave a review at the retailer, increasing the chances of someone else buying the title. They can review using Storygraph or Goodreads or social media, thus recommending it to their friends. If they adore the book they might press it into the hands of a loved one saying ‘you must read this novel.’ Current fans are the most passionate and successful adverts for independent creators, especially if they have a copy of a book they can loan out to mates. Speaking of loans, there’s a way to advocate for an author without buying their work…

Library Requests

Library requests are the bomb. They don’t just help an author, although it’s nice for us (it’s complicated, but authors do earn money from library borrows and of course more people reading our work is gratifying). More importantly, and bear with me as I establish that the Pope is Catholic: libraries let people read for free. I know a few people who don’t know this and think the best path to a free book is an illegal download. Why go to the faff of stealing someone’s work when you could spend ten minutes getting set up at your local library? If you’re in school or university, you already have access to your institution’s resources. Libraries let you read hundreds, if not thousands, of books for free, forever. Or until you graduate. Truly I am bemused that people would rather steal. Morally I think book piracy is wrong (well, I would) but logistically I think it makes you look stupid when you could just use a library your taxes are already paying for. Don’t have access to a state library? Start a book swap. Start a mini library in a box on the street. Ask publishers and authors to donate copies to your project. They will, I promise.

I am getting side tracked. Libraries give generations of people – especially vulnerable or poorer people, like those without digital skills or home access to the internet – the chance to access ideas and resources and stories. Requesting an author’s book to a library is a gift to whomever else may see it on the shelf… and that person otherwise might not have the chance to find or read it. Remember that wider culture we all want to be a part of? Libraries are a keystone of that. Look I just love them, even the shit ones that close early and have bad toilets.

One-Off Financial Support

Contributions on sites Ko-Fi or PayPal, both of which I use, might not seem like they do much. But I’d earn more from one Ko-Fi ‘coffee’ than I do book sales (royalties on the UK paperback of The Princess and the Dragon recently went from £2.11 on a paperback to £1.96 because of printing costs, and ebook royalties are in the same ballpark). If this is the first time you’re realising that paying £7.99 for a book doesn’t mean the author immediately receives £7.99 in their bank: hello, welcome, most people don’t realise how many steps there are in making a book and bringing it to sale. It’s fine, now you know. Anyway, a £3 contribution can bring in £2-£2.50 depending on the platform’s commission, so yeah – money in the bank for me, great stuff.

Like Patreon, which I will get to, one-off support indicates confidence in someone’s work and their chosen industry. ‘I enjoy books,’ your support says, ‘and I want to express my appreciation for yours in particular.’ That it’s a small amount or singular contribution doesn’t devalue the appreciation. So if you’re thinking, ‘I’d like to support a person but can’t afford to join a monthly Patreon or afford a copy of their work… I could send them £2 via their website widget but that’s a bit shit.’ It isn’t shit. It’s practical, tangible support and it provides a confidence boost to the creator. Speaking of confidence…

Continuous Support & How It Is Excellent

Okay, so here’s what long term, continuous support on a site like Patreon can do for a creator. Again, I can’t speak for anyone else’s approach, but I split my income from Patreon, which I call the No. 1 Readers’ Club, 80:20, with 80% going to my personal expenses and savings, and the rest going towards things like website domain names and member perks. So Patreon pays for ongoing costs of being an internet creator and my personal bills. This leads to:

Peace of Mind

For me, this is the most valuable outcome of having a Patreon. I have two conditions (one physical, one neurological) that make me tired easily. I’m also doing a degree and balancing several jobs, which make me more more tired. I don’t mind – I chose to go back to education in the middle of a pandemic and a cost of living crisis while also working on my career; I don’t get to pull a surprised face at having to spin many plates. If a plate falls on my head, it’s on me.

That said, it’s taken until relatively recently to understand that while I love to do lots of things, my health can’t always keep up. Readers’ support through Patreon allows me to work fewer hours at my conventional jobs and, instead of showing up to X place at Y time in Z uniform, I can snuggle down and write, study or rest. It’s not sexy, doing stretches or researching essays or just sitting quietly when I need to recharge, but I can spend time doing that because of the No. 1 Readers’ Club, and I’m more grateful for that than I can articulate.

Long term confidence in my work

Back to the C word. Other people showing confidence in my work gives me confidence in my work. AI is already taking over a job I used to do – copywriting – and it won’t be long before AI books are on shelves I have just learnt that AI books are already on Amazon, because of course they are. The No. 1 Readers’ Club is showing confidence in a real human, and more specifically this real human’s bizarre blend of magicky, social commentary-infused contemporary-ish storytelling. Because of the No. 1 Readers’ Club, I can give myself a talking to when I’m having a crisis of confidence, and remind myself that I’m a professional writer and that other people think I’m competent even if I’m not sure. A bonus to this is that I can write what interests me, exploring strange or difficult topics without worrying about a board of directors’ opinions on my appeal to a teenage demographic. I get to write what I love, which I will never look upon lightly (aside: cursenovel is so weird, you guys, I cannot wait until I can share it).

Thinking about confidence is relevant when I consider the wider book industry too, because the success of many authors on Patreon proves there are people who love books and storytelling and are willing to pay for it. The day jobs of my colleagues, many of whom you’ll never hear of because their job is ‘rights assistant’ or ‘copy editor,’ all of whom are dedicated to stories and literacy and the importance of books to our culture, rely on readers wanting to keep reading. Supporting indie writers financially might not sound like a way to boost the entire publishing industry, but I think it does – because you’re choosing to spend your money on someone who exists in the orbit of publishing. You’re fuelling voices that might not be all that common in mainstream publishing, and proving that they have an audience. It’s invaluable that an indie writer can go to a publisher or agent and say ‘I have X paying members to my community, and I suspect at least 80% of them will preorder the book I want you to publish for me.’ Guaranteed interest? In a distinctive new voice? Without needing to rely on a social media campaign no one will see? I don’t know why big publishers don’t just trawl the ‘writer’ section of Patreon to find their next big signing. I think this can probably applied to other creative arts too.

Alice curtsying

And that’s my dose of literature-inspired consumer-y philosophy for the week. My most recent two posts have been bookish. COULD THAT MEAN SOMETHING? Yes, it means I’ve got more time to read now the university is on a break. If you have any other suggestions for ways readers support authors’ work, or if you’ve had your own experience supporting a creator – or being one – let me know in the comments. By the way, speaking of the success of word of mouth: I’ve officially launched/am experimenting with a street team. Let me know if you’re interested!

Look after yourselves,

Francesca

PS Behold, what follows? A link to my various support channels? Lo what a surprise.

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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Books · Read If You Like

Read, If You Like: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

FrancescaLeave a comment

A few weeks ago a friend and I swapped books for the summer. I leant them my favourite series, they leant me theirs. We solemnly swore to never, ever mention it if we disliked the other’s. It’s a risky business, loaning someone a book you adore. If the other person hates it, will your friendship fizzle out? Are you incompatible on a molecular level? Is this the friendship equivalent of one of you wanting children and the other not? (Yes.)

It turns out we both have excellent taste in books. This is useful both because I was on holiday recently and very ready to do nothing but inhale food and a new series, and because we can stop making references to a plotline or writing style and saying ‘oh it’s from that series, you can only understand half of the point I’m making.’ Now we can make the references and the other person gets it, which adds approximately thirty eight percent more fun to everyday conversations. I’m aware that sounds like most of our conversations revolve around plotlines and writing style. They don’t not. Look, we both work in a library. Anyway, since I did a review when I first read The Raven Boys, because of course The Raven Cycle is what I loaned my friend, I thought I’d do one for the first novel in the Locked Tomb series.

Read Gideon The Ninth (Tamsyn Muir, 2019) if you like:

  • Blood. This isn’t me being all My Chemical Romance fan, it is quite a grisly story (thus I start with both a recommendation and a content warning)
  • Weird-as magic systems. You know the type. Unusual. Requiring a small amount of patience to understand. Extremely well thought out. Trust-the-author systems. The technical term for this is weird-as.
  • Sex jokes
  • Face paint. Lots. So much face paint. There are whole characters whose face skin you never see.
  • If you don’t mind the phrase ‘face skin,’ you’ll probably enjoy this book
  • Complex and ever-evolving relationships between characters (complex and ever-evolving characters, in fact)
  • Ensemble casts
  • Books featuring teenage girls that aren’t about being a teenage girl
  • The more I think about it, the more I think that if you are a My Chemical Romance fan, you’ll like Gideon. It sort of feels like The Black Parade had a baby with the fantasy and sci fi genres.
  • Skeletons

I can also highly recommend the two sequels, Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth, which are both just as weird in slightly different ways, although their skeleton count varies. Ish.

hand holding up a battered paperback of 'Gideon the Ninth' by Tamsyn Muir
Told you. Bones.

I’m off to listen to MCR and work on projects I won’t have time for when uni starts again. If you’re into activism, the Do Something Directory wants to hear from you about how we can make engaging in activism better. If you’re into my brand of weird-as storytelling, keep an eye on my Patreon in the coming weeks. There’s a new story incoming, and depending on when you read this, I’m putting out calls for an official street team. Say hi to Gideon if you decide to read her adventures!

Look after yourselves,

Francesca

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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brain chat

Friday evening soup thoughts

Francesca2 Comments

Hello lovely humans,

It has been so long since I’ve written here that WordPress just tried to give me a tour of the post-builder. Bit personal, that. Anyway I find myself with zero desire to think about anything academic or worsky, but very little desire to just scroll Am I The Asshole, so I thought popping in here is a good compromise because you all, unlike the folks of AITA, are top notch.

It’s a bit awkward that I didn’t prepare anything to actually write, though. I’m mulling over a longish post about Work Life Balance and/or Society’s Expectations of Young People Today but it can wait. All I can really tell you with enthusiasm is that if you’re into my fiction work, you’re going to see new material in July! Probably the end of July, but that is soon. Soonish. Before Christmas. I can also tell you that if you like online community and/or internet activism, you might like this new article on the Do Something Directory. I didn’t write it, which is why I can tell you with no pretension whatsoever that it is GREAT. You should definitely check out Clare Seal’s work (I did talk about her book Real Life Money on here a while ago).

Otherwise, I want to hear from you. How is hayfever season treating you? Mine has been so much better than last year but I have been taking antihistamines like sweets. I also think I might be more allergic to flower pollen than tree or grass pollen, because I recently won a couple of uni-related awards and was gifted flowers – so fancy! – and I have been sneezing violently. Worth it though.

I am off to think about soup (instant soup, sadly, not stand-a-spoon-in-it fresh soup). If you are having soup this weekend, I wish you the spoon kind, not the instant kind.

Metaphor? Maybe.

Look after yourselves,
Francesca

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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Money

Summoning you all a calm and fruitful new financial year, because that is something we should all wish each other if we can’t kill capitalism before our rent is due.

FrancescaLeave a comment

Happy new financial year! Do you have any plans? Maybe make a money jar and say a prayer to the gods of the stock market?

I’m kidding. I’d never make a spiritual offering to the forces guiding free market capitalism. The money jar is tempting though, as despite Karl Marx’s best efforts we are still relying on money to access goods and services. And I wish for you all to have a stress-free, fruitful financial year! If we’re stuck relying on hard cash and good credit for the foreseeable, I want you all to have enough to live in pleasant circumstances. It’d have to be a small money jar, with a couple of 2p coins and very little else, but. Good vibes etc.

I do genuinely think the new financial year is a good time to reflect on one’s Money Situation. Maybe because it coincides with spring really springing and despite my better instincts I’m actually in quite a good mood this time of year. Lambs are arriving, birds are nesting, one can risk a walk without a big coat… hope is in the air. Until you think about commercial agriculture and birds losing habitats and the inevitable collapse of the climate system.

Where was I? Oh yeah, hope. Financial year. I have genuinely taken stock of the last year’s FINANCIAL SITUATION and reflected on how to make it less depressing. Remember those quarterly income roundups I used to do? I’ve been reluctant to do them since I went to uni because student loans make them look quite skewed. Mature students don’t get means tested, so I get the amount of loan I ask for. On paper it’s a lot, but in practice I study in quite a pricy city and I’ve got a lot of funds earmarked for looong summer months in which my term time jobs stop and my rent goes up. Maybe I will do another one in the summer. Or a Week in the Life. I think the last time I did one of those I was finishing my diploma, so it was ages ago. Might be quite fun to compare and contrast how much coffee I consume. (Spoiler alert: I consume better coffee now.)

child throwing money out of a window
Take my money, growers of delicious coffee. YOU DESERVE IT ALL.

I do think something I’d like to improve over the next year is telling people what I do for a living. A nice thing about uni is I say ‘oh I study XYZ’ to people I’ve been stuck with at an extended family function and most people don’t ask a follow up question, because they don’t expect students to do anything for work aside from a little weekend or evening job. (Although, while I’m here: a lot of my peers are missing classes to go to work because they can’t afford not to. People don’t work around a degree anymore, they do their degree around their work. On the off chance you’re a government minister… do more, please.) In actual fact I do have a couple of things I do for work that have been bubbling away nicely while I get on with being an undergrad. I’ve always been appalling at saying ‘I’m an author’ or ‘I run a nonprofit’ even though a) both things are true and b) I’m quite good at them? So I’d like to work on having the confidence to say ‘I study XYZ and also I do blah blah blah.’ I only do the extra stuff when I’ve got a free afternoon, but it counts. I mean, if people are allowed to put ‘Body Shop rep’ on their CV, I’m allowed to say I write things for the internet, I reckon.

Let me know how you’re feeling about the new year! I really should be feeling worse given that every time I check the news a bank has collapsed and another type of cost of living support has gone away – and then I spiral for half an hour wanting to know who came up with the phrase cost of living I mean oh my god – but it’s the sunshine, man. I’m almost enthusiastic and I want to know what you’re enthusiastic about too!

Look after yourselves,

Francesca

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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weather

Hello from definitely-springtime

FrancescaLeave a comment

So last I wrote I was excited for spring AND THEN IT SNOWED.

But the frost has gone for good this year I think, replaced by torrential rain that times an appearance for just as you’re putting the bins out. I am extremely excited for springtime, more than usual. Mostly because this year I know which plants on campus set off my hayfever and I’ve prepared.

from Screencrush

Also, I have two shows in my diary between now and August, plus two entire trips out of the country. One is a holiday and the other is an academicy trip I signed up for with uni thinking ‘I’ll never be accepted’ and then I was and now I have to learn Dutch. Either way, lads, it’s about to be skirt weather and I’m in an unreasonably good mood for someone averaging six hours of sleep a night. I might have to replace my Birkenstocks. That’s a lie. I will have to replace them, because pieces are falling off them. AND I DON’T MIND.

That’s what a good mood is, knowing you’re going to have to source summer shoes and therefore visit a shoe shop (which is either a fun experience or absolutely the pits of hell, there is no in between and no way to know which before you’re doing it) and you don’t mind. Those extra hours of sunlight really do make a difference, huh…

See you in April!

Look after yourselves,

Francesca

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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brain chat

Hello from almost-springtime

Francesca1 Comment

Hello!

I realised that after moaning that January lasted approximately eighteen thousand years, I blinked and it’s nearly March. Which also lasts eighteen thousand years. I blame the 2020 Covid madness which descended that March. I’ve got a March hatred hangover.

How are we all? Is anyone doing Lent? I’m not – last year I tried giving up chocolate and in retrospect I reckon I should give up things I already don’t like doing instead of depriving myself of one of the few foodstuffs I can still digest properly. So this year I’ve given up bothering with people I don’t like.

It’s going extremely well.

I wish I had cool things to share with you when I come here – but alas cursenovel is still in Word doc stages. It’s going to be a fun one though. Well, presumably it will be fun for you guys. It’s been fun to write and I think that always shows through. You can sometimes tell when an author’s tortured themselves over a book because the pages basically weep blood and resentment…

You won’t get that, I promise. Anyway. What else has been occurring? Not a lot unless you count that I hurt my back which adds an interesting element of risk to every upper body movement. Maybe the universe decided it’s been too long since I’ve seen the inside of a physiotherapist’s office, I dunno. I’ve been in a lot of meetings lately, but they are either uni-related and therefore I won’t tell the internet because a) the minutiae of my course are not interesting unless you’re on my course and b) I don’t fancy broadcasting where I study or with whom… or they’ve been for things I just can’t talk about yet.

It’s all funsies, though. Ish. Mostly. It’s nice to be busy I reckon.

Speaking of, I do have shit to be getting on with.

Look after yourselves,

Francesca

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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Books · brain chat · TV

In which it is still fkn January

FrancescaLeave a comment

Hello!

I am on a break from my assignments (aka if I look at any of the relevant documents again today I might cry because I keep working on them but they aren’t getting any closer to being finished and it’s so horrible it’s crossed back round into being funny) so I thought I’d do something I like for the rest of the day, aka read Private Eye and say hi to you all. How has January been? Here is a brief summary of mine so far:

  • Finally watched that pirate show and I get what all the fuss is about
  • Learnt what yin yoga is (if you’re one of the people I used to work for at a yoga studio, I promise I knew what yin yoga was when we worked together. Then I removed the information from my brain to make space for new stuff and had to relearn. I absolutely knew what I was talking about when I wrote your marketing copy. Absolutely.)
  • Read The Book Thief and holy shit the people who call it a classic were spot on it was devastating
  • My tax code changed so I basically got a really big bonus from my job so I spent a good three days feeling like Scrooge McDuck when he slides down all that money. Until I remembered it’s 2023 and by June one tea bag will cost £87
  • Remembered that I really like Fleetwood Mac. How have I made it to 27 without realising how much everyone should like Fleetwood Mac. Also I didn’t know Everywhere was a Fleetwood Mac song because as this list has established I have the brain of a sea snail. I don’t know who I thought wrote it. I think I have song blindness.

Otherwise it’s been a quiet one. If I ever become one of those wealthy-ish ladies with a lot of small pet dogs and a husband who died in mysterious circumstances, I think I might take the whole month of January to recline in the bath and eat Christmas cake.

Might do that anyway to be honest.

How are you coping with 2023 so far? Everyone I know is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, including the people who are normally quite together. My working theory is that it’s because the last two to three years have been week after week of varying degrees of ‘THE WORLD IS ENDING AND YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS GONE ON HOLIDAY.’ And now everyone is like taffy right before you stretch it so far it breaks.

How’s that for a metaphor. That right there is why I have almost-double figure Patreon membership! I’m going to fuck off now before I can descend into talking even more shite than normal. I hope you’re well, is what I’m saying. Cling on. It’s still light at 5pm now. We’re nearly at St Brigid’s Day and the UK has only had one prime minister all year!

Look after yourselves,
Francesca

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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brain chat

Happy new year!

FrancescaLeave a comment

Got you with that title!

Well, lads, the year is nearly over. For people observing the winter solstice as a religious/spiritual festival, we’re already into the new year. I quite like that idea, that you follow your new year’s celebrations with a couple of bank holidays. It makes January feel less daunting. There’s so much pressure on NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS NEW YEAR NEW YOU IT WILL BE THE BEST YET IF YOU BUY/DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF ALL THESE THINGS AND LET’S START IN JANUARY, THE LONGEST AND GREYIST MONTH.

I much prefer the concept of the new year starting when the days start getting longer.

How has your 2022 been? Mine’s been all right, cheers. Quite long. Quite busy. Good busy, I reckon. I’m fairly sure that 2023 will be longer and busier, but I don’t mind because if I’m busy I can’t spend too much time panicking over things I can’t change, like gas prices and our electoral system. I hope you had a good 2022, or at least not a terrible one. I am going to fuck off for a while and make eggnog and reflect on the year. I like journaling and lists (surprise! You have never noticed this) and 2022 is definitely one for list roundups. Shit I’ve learnt, shit I’ve enjoyed, shit I don’t want to keep doing. 2023 deserves the list treatment. I am slightly devastated that I don’t have 2-3 concerts to go to that were cancelled in 2019. That MCR show was in so many calendars! But I hope it will be a healthy and peaceful one for you and I, regardless of, you know, the ongoing degradation of our planet and ethical standards in public life. And however many wars are going on when you read this.

I’ll leave you with this snap of the sunrise yesterday. I observed the solstice when the Stonehenge people did, because if it’s good enough for Stonehenge then it’s good enough for me. But a lot of people observed it the day before. Something to do with sunsets, I think. I like to think of Apollo basking in the double adoration. I picked a good day for sunrises, anyway. Although that bastard gull flew away and ruined my one chance to look like someone who understands photography and lines and that.

Right. I’m going. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

misty sunrise with a gull, over Southend-on-Sea

Want to support this blog and/or enjoy exclusive access to stories and chatter from me? Join the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon! Alternatively, use the button below for one-off support of as much or as little as you’d like (if you’d prefer, you can use PayPal or Ko-fi). If you’re into fairy tales and/or want a brief respite from reality, you can also buy my book, The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes, from most ebook retailers and as a paperback from Amazon. (That link’s an affiliate. Gotta scrape every penny from Bezos, you know?)

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