The Spoons That Are My Ears!

A very interesting year, all in all. People, places, things... I left Wales and arrived in Malaga on June 24, which means I spent most of 2007 in Spain. After that too much happened to summarise easily. My chief impressions of Spain? Rosa, obviously. Walking in the Alpujarras and sleeping in the mountains and meeting a wild boar. Living in the Valle de Sensaciones, hippy style, with tree houses and fires and music. The real hardcore hippies of Orgiva and the strongest marijuana I’ve ever encountered. The Buddhist temple at Osel Ling. The Madrid street parties. Albarracín, perhaps the prettiest village in Spain. My British Council trip to Lisbon. My Hispacon trip to Sevilla. The mighty Picos de Europa. The mists of Galicia. The ancient city of Sanabria and the strange village of Rio Onor on the border with Portugal. Two trips to Toledo and Segovia. Many other memories...

My novella The Crystal Cosmos has just been released by PS Publishing, which means I had no fewer than 5 books published during 2007. It was originally supposed to be 8 books, but I’m not complaining! The others will hopefully follow next year. I wrote exactly 40 short stories, my second highest total for any year, although many were very short. So my ultimate total now stands at 440 stories, 44% of my projected life’s work in the field of fiction... I didn’t do my bicycle tour: I regret that. Maybe I’ll do it next year. Big hugs to the people who were a big part of my life in the first part of 2007: Stuart, Monica, Adele, Hannah... Other hugs also to Filiz, Isabel, Huw, Manuela, Sarita, Safaa, etc...

What have a I got planned for 2008? If I can raise the required money I hope the begin the year with a trip to Africa with Rosa, probably to Senegal and Gambia. More writing, of course! But other work too, satisfying and useful work, work done not just for money but because it makes some sort of valid contribution to the world... Anyway, we can but see. Happy New Year to all!