Keep on running and writing.

RUNNING

Well a month ago I participated in the JCB Mud Run. While I had great fun, and the event raised over £30,000 for the NSPCC, I ended up spraining my ankle. #*%$ So the accompanying picture is not an elephants foot, but mine the day after.

This put me out of action for a couple of weeks, but I’m back to training again now, albeit slowly as the ankle still hurts and it's slightly swollen four weeks later. I need to continue training though as I’m entered for another couple of races next year, Hell in the Middle in February:  http://www.hellrunner.co.uk/hell-in-the-middle/and Wild Warrior in March: http://xrunner.co.uk/events/wild-warrior-obstacle-course-race/ I never imagined myself taking part in obstacle/trail races like these, but I have to say they are great fun and I’d recommend anyone who fancies it that they train for it and then enter one to give it a go, but just make sure you tread carefully, otherwise that might be your foot too!

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Signs and advertising hoardings, they can be found everywhere, but they don’t always stand the test of time, as shown by these old ones I came across. The first one makes me think that there must have been a mad rush to train as a boot maker, and the second one is either a serial killer advertisement or the next fad in food!

WRITING

I’ve just finished the first draft of a crime novella called The Heist. I haven’t done as much writing this year as I would have liked, but I hope to remedy that next year, and The Heist will be my first release of 2013. Further details will follow in the New Year.

BOOKS

Finally, here's a couple of books that I'd like to recommend. The first one is a short story collection by David Riley called, His Own Mad Demons. This collection of five stories has a central theme of devil worship, but the stories go much deeper and are well worth reading.

Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Next up is Tim Lebbon's Coldbrook, where a group of scientists lift the lid on a Pandora's box when they open a gateway to a parallel universe, but what comes through is not what they are expecting.

Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com