Things Of The Week: 1st July 2016

One of Cate's creations.

Well, the week has ground on following the EU Referendum. We're still here, but our politics has collapsed into chaos. Boris Johnson, the chief cheerleader for Brexit, has pulled out of the race for Prime Minister, and the less said about the remaining contenders for the post the better. The two front runners are Michael Gove, a poisonous, bullying incompetent with a fondness for ignoring any facts that don't suit him and whose tenure as Education Secretary made him an object of loathing to every teacher in the country; and Theresa May, who publicly stated her desire to abandon the European Convention on Human Rights and can also take credit for the 'Snooper's Charter'. Basically a choice between one of the weirder and more charmless inhabitants of Jabba the Hutt's palace and a female version of Senator Palpatine. (Servalan from Blake's 7 also springs to mind re May, but that's another story.)

Meanwhile, the Labour Party's tearing itself to pieces, with Jeremy Corbyn (the first Labour Leader

of my voting life with policies I could get behind) having received a massive no-confidence vote from his Party's MPs while still enjoying the support of the rank and file members. According to Corbyn's supporters, all those calling for his resignation are right-wing traitors, and according to the MPs, Corbyn's supporters are a fanatical cult. The truth, as always, is probably somewhere in the middle of all that.

Almost lost in the chaos in British politics was the news of a brutal suicide attack on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport; three vicious cowards with guns and explosives killed forty-four innocent people and wounded 239 more. And so it goes on, the world sliding down into cruelty and stupidity.

Today is actually the 100th anniversary of the Battle Of The Somme, the bloodiest day in the British Army's history. One of the most brutal and wasteful battles of World War One. After the slaughter was repeated a quarter-century later, we decided on working together, aiming for closer economic and political ties with our neighbours. A few moans about red tape and straight bananas seemed a pretty small price to pay. But no longer, it seems.

Okay. That's enough politics from me. I'll try to stay off it.

Anyway... life continues as before. Devil's Highway has been coming together, with close to another 40,000 words written. Good words, too, I think. For whatever it's worth among all the shit out there (and I have no idea how much that is, if any), the book is getting written. The story is being told.

Cate's begun a new venture - The Handmaiden's Tale, a shop on Etsy, wherein she sells cool handmade gifts and cards. Go thou and check it out. There are nice things there.

And it was nice to see this on Twitter - best of all, from someone I didn't already know! At least one person is looking forward to the release of The Feast Of All Souls. Many thanks to Tammy at Books Bones & Buffy. You've brightened my week.