@realdeville1963 Thank you. I've come to suspect that most systems don't need villains to become interesting. They just need enough committees, good intentions, and nobody quite sure who's responsible.
Visited @BurgerKingUK#Didcot
Teenagers sitting inside eating KFC, feet on tables, while staff do nothing. Genuine question: if the business doesn’t care about basic standards of cleanliness and customer environment, why should customers care where they spend their money?
Small acts of antisocial behaviour aren’t really the problem.
The problem is that we’ve collectively decided it’s impolite to challenge them.
So standards drift, one ignored incident at a time, while everyone stares at their phone and pretends not to notice.
Pretty sure I’ve reached Peak Grumpy Old Man.
Just found myself in Burger King telling a teenage lad to get his feet off the table.
The worst part wasn’t saying it.
It was realising I was absolutely certain I was right.
Breaking into writing is difficult because most of us are doing it around a Monday-to-Friday job. The challenge isn’t finding inspiration; it’s finding the time.
#waswriting I’m answering a succession of questions from my son, each one arriving before I’ve quite finished the last answer. As a method for understanding how people think, it’s probably more useful than most formal enquiries. Useful research all the same.
#AmWriting#DadLife
Not writing tonight.
I’m in the pub with my son. Me: a pint of beer. Him: a pint of pineapple juice.
Ten years from now he’ll be 18, and with any luck he’ll be buying me a pint.
Time moves faster than you’d like.
#DadLife#PubLife
Most political thrillers start with a murder.
Mine starts with a committee.
I suspect @RoryStewartUK and @RestIsPolitics may bear some responsibility for this.
#StoneTheCrows
@ezekielwriters Officially: political/institutional thriller.
Unofficially: what happens when a perfectly ordinary man becomes useful to a system that no-one quite owns.
Some authors spend months researching weapons, espionage, and organised crime.
I've just spent twenty minutes looking at local authority governance structures.
#amwriting#LocalGovernment
Most thrillers involve assassins, spies, or international conspiracies.
Mine involves a consultation document that has been circulated for comment.
#amwriting