When it rains, it pours

Back so soon? Yes, I know but there you go - when it rains, it pours...


Just thought I'd update things a bit. No book deal or publishing credits to share (and I've given up on the sponsorship thing) but that's not to say things haven't been rolling along...I feel a bit like one of those steam engines building pressure and gaining traction...I may not be moving yet but once I get going it will to full steam ahead.

At the moment my dry period of ideas and inspiration (I refuse to call it a drought) while I have been reading and reasearching, has broken like a dam...or a drought..I'm mixing my metaphores a bit so I'm not sure which it is but it doesn't matter. The ideas are coming thick and fast, and while they may not all be good or even great ideas, there are some real gems. Some are longer, like Dying Civilization (working title only) and Audrey and Jane, a story my wife particularly wants to read after hearing the pitch. Then there is a selection of short stories some that are still ideas, some I have started. Amongst the ones I've started writing are Only a day away (a story with tulips but not about tulips), Reason to Live (no tulips, but I think will turn out to be a hell of a story) and All in your head (which I hope will have a sort of Twilight Zone feel)...

Anyway, for a change of pace, I will not be doing the usual 'history of Sean Greenhill as a debt collector' interlude (never fear, dear readers it shall return) but in it's place we will have a special guest segment I like to call 'My Family Tree/ I heard it through the grapevine' or 'Is it in the Genes?'

I imagine that most writers/painters/musicians have reached some point where they ask themselves 'Do I really have IT or am I just kidding myself?' I hope they do anyway, otherwise it's just me. Luckily for me, I've been able to look to my cousin, Craig Greenhill. Craig is a photographer with The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Aust and has won numerous awards, including two Walkley awards for his stunning images. (and yes, actually, I took all of the images in my photography page).

Recently, I was also able to confirm that I am related (distantly admittedly - first cousin twice removed) to Harold Greenhill, the renowned Australian painter, who won the Sulman Prize in 1950 and 1956.

One of Harold's daughters, Annette Kay - who became Annette Kay Blackwood, Baroness Dufferin and Clayeboye - is the mother of the illustrator and special effects artist, Freya Blackwood. Freya's special effects work can be seen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and she has won this years Kate Greenaway Medal for her illustrations in the children's book Harry & Hopper.

So, what does this show, apart from the fact that I can name drop too? It means that if it's in the genes, then I just might have a hope. Who knows, it might even be a head start? Of course, if you don't believe, it doesn't mean anything...but still, it helps.

Cheers