April 2010

April 2010

Life and literature with a fuzzy brain.

Friday 30th April

Worst thing about trying to write when the M.E. flares up?

Not tiredness. Sure it's harder to be motivated when I feel like I'm dragging a bag of bricks around, but really it means that I can only write in short bursts. Frustrating, but not unbeatable.

Not pain. There are...

Fartlegging

Thursday 29th April

What with caring for and then losing my beloved dog, then becoming seriously ill (ongoing ...), I haven't done much writing since around Christmas. I've tried but I just haven't been able to focus until this week. So now I'm easing back into it but I'm writing incredibly slowly. I don't seem...

Walking on Chopsticks

Wednesday 28th April

Don’t get me wrong – I’m grateful for the miraculous operation that has taken my restricting and painful arthritic hip away, and left a marvel of modern medical technology in its place. I knew there was going to be a difficult recovery period – I just didn’t realise in what way it was going to...

4/27/10 Writing and Publishing News

Tuesday 27th April

Which classic is still banned in many countries? Epic fail for Everybody Draw Muhammad Day. Why you shouldn’t fall asleep with your e-reader. Don’t self-publish until you find out this major downside. These and other stories are in this week’s...

A (Short) Tale of Two Cities

Monday 26th April

Moving to Manhattan from South Carolina was sort of like my first trip to a gay bar: total culture shock, a few awkward steps, and then I fell in love with the place. New York City really is like no other place on Earth.

Case in point, I submit a recent experience I...

Lingo

Monday 26th April

Decision made, property purchased, company sold. What was next on the emigration to-do list?

Norwegian

The UK/US tax treaty UK writers contracted with US publishers might want to know about

Monday 26th April

It seems the only way I can avoid paying a 30% tax on my royalties to the United States IRS as well as paying UK tax on them, is to turn up in person at the US Embassy in London, present my passport, and obtain an ITIN number to include on some forms I must download and submit to the IRS....

A Stranger in a Strange Land - Part Two

Saturday 24th April

In 1993, Tony Walker and his wife Vannessa, known to him (but no one else) as the Amazon Queen, migrated to Phoenix, Arizona, from England. They have just landed in the USA, rented a car, and Tony found to his disgust that tea in the USA was served with ice.

After spending the...

House-hunting

Saturday 24th April

My partner's house has just sold so our plan is to keep my house as a townhouse and buy a second house out in the (commutable) sticks somewhere. We've been looking online at properties for a while but yesterday we went to visit a couple of places.

Latest Stickman

Friday 23rd April

For the latest Stickman comic, you can find it at http://www.littlesarbonn.com/Stickman/Stickman.htm. See Stickman's adventure as a new pet enters the house, and Bob has to...