So, yeah, anyway.  This blog.

I wanted to have a go at trying to give some sort of mission statement – more for my benefit than yours, really, just to keep me on the straight and narrow.  Here’s what I do not want: within a couple hours of mentioning on facebook that I was contemplating starting a blog, I got a message from a friend of mine telling me about a course he was giving where I could learn to maximize my blog’s something-or-other, with a view to getting the thing published as a book.  It was a thoughtful offer, but I explained that I’m already struggling with one book, which is probably enough.  So: not writing for publication, then.  Jolly good.  Next question: what am I writing for?

Here’s the thing.  I’m a lucky, lucky bastard.  Lucky beyond anything I could have ever dreamed.  I could tell you why, but since everyone reading this knows me anyway, I don’t suppose I need to.  But despite all the wonderful things that have fallen into my undeserving lap, I can’t help thinking that I could, or should, be doing better.  Don’t ask me what that “better” means, exactly – that’s one of things I’m hoping to find out as this experiment continues.

Let me try and explain what I’m muddling towards.  I know a few people who have a manifest talent for living.  They grasp life, they celebrate it, and they enjoy every moment of the time they’ve been given on this earth – even when things aren’t going so well.  These people leave me slack-jawed in mute admiration.  And I always think: I’d like a bit of that.  And that, in essence, is what I’m after.  Whether it means starting a vegetable patch, or listening to more whey-faced Norwegian jazz musicians, I’m on the hunt for small stuff that will make me feel as if I’m getting the big stuff right.

I’m also going to write about my new novel (my fifth) and will be charting its labored progress towards completion and then the fun and games of getting the damn thing sold – or not.

So, that’s the basic idea.  Self-indulgent, solipsistic nonsense?  More than likely.  But, after all, this is a blog.  What did you expect?