Solipsistic Egotism

So I have written nothing here since inception of this lonely, lonely blog. How lonely my four year old self must have been on that first posting all this time.

Well the promise, as always in life, is to change.

I feel this blog could be a space for me to vent and write the odd thought (what else could it be?).

My wife and I share a blog, Gingers On The Run, which provides a narrative of our lives together so far. Since most of that time has been spent travelling it has been relatively easy to feel the urge to post on it.

This space is a little different.

As a writer, and faced every day with all forms of 'resistance' (to quote Steven Pressfield), I have at last been thrown a morsel from the bounty of the wider press.

The previous review is my first as a published fiction writer. Although unnamed, only four of the twenty seven writers are given mention, I am referred to, having contributed a piece of "solipsistic egotism".

I thank you.

Snacks After Swimming

Sun 11 Jun 2006

Books round up

James W Wood
SNACKS AFTER SWIMMING
Freight, £9.95

Garish, overwrought and pretentious, the typography and production of this book suggest it might be possible to judge a book by its cover. There are four writers worth reading among the 27 represented: these names apart, this collection will give support to those who believe creative writing programmes are self-indulgent covens for the creatively impoverished. Jennifer McCarthy confirmed the accomplishment shown in her piece by being picked up by Penguin; elsewhere, Jane Alexander, Jason Donald and Kate Orson show promise. Otherwise, it's solipsistic egotism relieved only by numb flirtations with the erotic. The poems are terrible and the turquoise typeface does not entice. Those looking for the best in new Scottish writing should look elsewhere.