December Round-Up
Issue 3: It's the most wonderful time of the year!
GREETINGS & SALUTATIONS
In this edition:
It’s Chriiiiiiiistmaaaaaaas! Almost!
End of Year Review!
More Christmas stuff!
“So this is Christmas”, asks John Lennon repeatedly at this time of year, “and what have you done?” Alright, John, sheesh… fair question, but still…
As is customary in December, I’ve been looking back at the year: What progress was made, what didn’t quite work out. Usually, I’m left with a slightly disappointed, empty feeling of not achieving as much as I had hoped. But then I have to remind myself that my life isn’t just writing. There’s family, there’s busyness, there’s illness, home stuff, and about a billion everyday things which have to be done without thinking.
So what did I achieve? I got cracking on book 3 in earnest. I had HOPED was to have it finished AND my fourth book near completion, but as always I aim too high. There’s still a long way to go with book 3, but I have to accept it is not one of those books that writes itself. I knew it was going to be difficult going in - and it will prove to be the hardest book to write yet for me because there’s a lot going on with it.
Backstabbers was a pig to write - enjoyable, but still a complete learning experience - BS2 is coming with an entire backstory that I have to honour but take to new places. There’s a sense of wanting to draw a line under Backstabbers 2 and 3, then having a break for a few years so I can focus on various other stories. But I also know if I don’t write them now, I never will. When it comes to writing, I start from a place of “What story do I have to tell next? If I could only write ONE story, what would it be?” Backstabbers takes up a LOT of headspace, so there’s my answer!
I spent a few months mentoring a student at Anglia Ruskin University, which was an unexpected but great experience! To be able to chat and hear about the challenges students are dealing with was a privilege.
I entered a script competition - something I’ve not done for a long time (usually because most comps ask for a fee these days, which turns the whole thing into a money-making exercise: No thanks.) I’m happy with the script I entered, which is available on my website. FIND IT HERE if you want a read.
SUB-STORY
I want to thank my new subscribers and those who have recommended Short People via their own Substacks - Thank you all, it really does matter and I appreciate it.
ALSO: Last month I launched my first paywall post, and I now have paying subscribers! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
No, really: THANK YOU.
Short People is my direct link to readers: I write, I post, and hopefully, people read. To have the support of paying readers means the world - not just for the validation of others believing that what I create is worth paying for, but for recognising that this is what I do for a living. Like Bowie said, I can’t give everything away. (although I’m sure he wasn’t talking about Spotify streams or illegal downloads. Maybe he was, I dunno.)
Short People is almost entirely free to read. I rely on paying subscribers to continue doing this. If you genuinely can’t afford to pay for a subscription, message me and I will give you access.
Alternatively, if you can’t afford to pay a monthly subscription but would prefer a one-off tip, buy me a coffee. (Again, let me know and I’ll give you access.)
If you have the means, please consider supporting Short People in one of two ways:
Purchase a paid subscription through Substack. Monthly subscribers pay £3.50 per month. Annual subscribers pay £2.50 per month/£30 for a year. Please consider upgrading to paid.
Tip me at Ko-fi. For less than the price of a Costa coffee, you can show your appreciation by tipping me £3.
Help grow my skills by sending a gift from my Amazon list.
Thank you for your ongoing support!
What’s to come for 2024
More instalments of The Mutual
Redlight & Bell filmmaking diary excerpts
The January challenge: A new flash fiction EVERY DAY. FOR A MONTH!
SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATIONS
’s piece on Kenopsia really spoke to me: slams dunks the whole Whamageddon nonsense and a hilarious look back at 2023! wrote an account of when her Christmas went VERY WRONG…
… and a piece on why so many human dumpster-fires land top jobs, AND a funny list of 2023’s petty annoyances!
This month’s Short People Highlights
WRITERS’ CORNER
Stephen Graham and Hannah Walter’s Matriarch Productions are currently running a writing competition called GRASS ROUTES for working class writers. The deadline is the 8th of January, so if you want to be in it to win it, get writing!
If you’re looking for a gift for the writer in your life (especially if they’re starting out), the I recommend Joanne Harris’ Ten Things About Writing: Build Your Story, One Word at a Time. It’s full of useful advice, in easy to digest chunks. (apologies if that sounds like I’m advertising dog food or something equally grim.)
BEST OF FIVE:
As it’s Christmas, I thought I’d share my top 5 Christmas songs.
DECEMBER’S QUESTION
Are You the Same Person You Used to Be?
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
HUMBUG!
Right. I’ve got that obligatory insult out of the way because when you’re talking about Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic A Christmas Carol, that’s usually the first word that comes to mind.
It’s my all-time favourite book. The story has been re-told time and time again to different effects, but I always go back to the origin. The fact that Dickens wrote a story that not only resonates after all these years, he was just so ahead of his time. It is a tale that never gets old: Redemption. That nobody is beyond turning from their failings. That even an old miser like Ebenezer Scrooge is worth saving.
The many adaptations often skim over Scrooge’s pain and focus on his humbugginess, but the source material explains why he is dead inside. His nephew Fred visits him at the start of the story to wish him a Merry Christmas. The fact that his nephew’s mother - Scrooge’s little sister, Fan, whom he loved very much - is dead is not always given the space to sink in.
When the Spirit said she was “a delicate creature who had a large heart,” Scrooge replied, “So she had. You're right.”
The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge a vision in which Fan comes to take young Scrooge home from boarding school, explaining that their Father is much kinder than he used to be. The siblings were close, and given that Fan dies some time after giving birth to Fred, and that Fred is a reminder of Fan goes some length to explain his hostility towards his upbeat nephew.
If you don’t own a copy of the book, I recommend the following:
My personal edition of the story is illustrated by Quentin Blake…
… but I also heartily recommend this picture book version by Tony Mitton (Author), and Mike Redman (illustrator): It beautifully captures the essence of the story.
PLAYING
I seem to have a yearly tradition of a “Christmas game”: A game that I play from start to finish within the build-up to Christmas. It’s usually an old game -Medal of Honor 1 & 2 are go-to Christmas games, last year was Lego Harry Potter. This year’s winner was Power Wash Simulator. I’ve had a lot of jibes from my family about my so-called “addiction” to this game - but it’s just so satisfying!
The trailer for GTA 6 landed a couple of weeks ago - By the looks of things we are back in Vice City, and it looks amazing.
The television adaptation of Fallout is coming next year (April 2024), so here’s a look at the trailer. Speaking as a massive Fallout fan, I CANNOT WAIT. It looks spot on.
FINALLY
I just want to thank all of my subscribers for joining me this year - next year promises a bumper crop of sequels in the shape of Gladiator 2, Joker 2, Beetlejuice 2, Inside Out 2, Dune 2, third installments of Knives Out and Paddington (in Peru, no less) and part 4’s of Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda, and Beverly Hills Cop. There’s the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, and Tarantino’s final film The Movie Critic.
On television, House of the Dragon returns, the fourth season of True Detective, The Night Manager 2, Squid Games 2, Wednesday 2, Bridgerton 3, and the end of Stranger Things. There will also be new shows in the form of The Penguin, Blade Runner 2099, and Star Wars: The Acolyte.
Meantime, I’ll leave you with the soundtrack to my latest novel, The Mutual.
If you enjoyed Short People, please spread the word!
Thanks for the mention, Andrew! I’m glad the piece resonated with you.