27 October 2010

Bits of me started going wrong in the summer. This meant seven visits to my marvellous dentist in Bloomsbury, Dr Cline, who plays me Simple Minds and gangsta rap. But the real bummer was tearing my stomach muscles (‘hernia’ lacks romance, so I’ve dispensed with the word). Weird spasms in my leg alerted me to it. I went straight to my GP. He referred me to the surgeon, which led to multiple trips to Newham University Hospital where they prodded me, sucked my blood and decided to operate. Read more »

3 October 2010

Next came the ritual of showing.

Because The Jolly Pilgrim is an around-the-world true story, lots of other true stories intertwine with it.  I met well over 1,000 people, from six continents, through the period it records.  That breadth and diversity of world views is one of the things which facilitates the book’s thesis.  The names of nearly 200 real people appear in the manuscript.  So – for the sake of good form and to minimise the chances of someone trying to sue me – I had to try and track them down.  It was a major job.  Thank God for Facebook. Read more »