So, that’s Christmas over with and we are in that week that ends with a new year. The week where you don’t have a clue what day it is and even the dog’s sick of the sight of turkey.

Personal tip here, turkey sandwiches are OK for a couple of days but after that, put it in a pie and bung it in the freezer. Chuck in a few left-over vegetables to use them up and there’s always some cranberry sauce left in the jar so that goes in too. Out of sight, out of mind. Anyway, the new year.

It seems to me the New Year as a celebration is a bit like Marmite, which for anyone not familiar with the product, means you either love it or hate it. Personally, I hate it, which is also pretty much how I feel about Marmite. All that false bonhomie isn’t for me, thank you very much. Why anyone would feel the need to kiss people, they don’t even like just because it’s the turning of the year is beyond me. If it’s your thing, I hope you have a wonderful time. Me? I’ll be at home sharing a bottle of Chianti with Mr Mc while we watch a couple of films (my choice this year and I have a classic combination planned) followed by night caps all round at midnight before I throw someone out of the door so they can ‘first foot.’ It used to be one of our sons, but usually it’s Mr Mc now. That said, it wouldn’t be the first time that the dog has done the honours. After that, a bit of Hootananny and off to bed.

However, while I’m not a fan of New Year celebrations, I am a fan of a new year. The new year is like a clean sheet of paper. There’s nothing written yet and anything is possible.

The first (and possibly only) thing that I’m putting on my clean sheet of paper is that before April (my birthday month so not as random as it might appear) I will republish An Uncomplicated Man (aka the book that no-one’s read) on kindle. No, to be fair, a few people have read it, but I bet they don’t run into double figures. It’s a long story that I won’t bore you with. It is still available in paperback if Headline has any copies left, but you haven’t been able to download a copy on kindle for a couple of years. All that will change in the early part of next year.

Who knows? Maybe there’ll even be something completely new, though I’m not ready to commit that to my clean piece of paper yet.

Happy New Year everyone.

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