Spooky stories and extra clothes.

So, the dashboard is still available. I wonder how long that will last!

As it’s here I might as well keep going. Can’t break the habit of what feels like a lifetime.

Hallowe’en passed safely. No goblins at my door. Tonight Dizzy and I will hide indoors holding paws whilst the town has its bonfire and fireworks. Daughter and grandson will be shaking buckets for the Rotary who put on the display each year. It’s usually a good one and the bonfire is enormous.

The clocks have changed, the leaves have canged and my daily outfits have had an extra layer added to them. Now I’m at home more I’m wondering how to keep warm whilst economising on fuel. As I hate wearing thick woolies about the house this probably means spending more time in bed, which I can cope with. 

Recently I discovered the pleasures of writing short stories and knocked off four with a spooky theme. A short story falls somewhere between poetry and the Novel (which I do most earnestly intend to get down to properly..) It demands discipline, especially if writing for competitions that require 500 or 1000 words. No bad thing. I haven’t actually sent any off (laziness) but found the exercise interesting and useful for ensuring tight plots. The free iversity course https://iversity.org/courses/the-future-of-storytelling (set up by the uni of Potsdam) has given me grist. I’m enjoying it. It’s nice to sit taking notes and pretending to be a real student again. 

The readathon petered out. I gave up on Sebastien Faulks ‘A Possible Life’ after the first two novella (what’s the plural of novella?) Maybe I’ll go back to it but I wasn’t convinced by the format. I’d put money on him having written them at different times then strung them together, banked on the critics finding a theme, and pushed them out as a pot-boiler. Bit unfair Carol. He is undoubtedly a good writer. Perhaps I should stick with saying it didn’t grab me.

I’ve got Sophie Hannah’s ‘the orphan choir’ and Susan Hill’s ‘Dolly’ from Tesco to prolong the hallowe'en shudders and delay the return to rereading.