I felt that the information contained in one particular email (from a reader in Australia) deserved wider publicity. I quote without further comment:

I like your book! I wasn't sure whether to believe all stories in there as…

You'll note that the image of Bob is aged in a feeble attempt to fool readers into thinking it's really an old photo of me.

Is it not enough to bring out naked baby photos at his 21st? He's going to go through life looking at people reading books and…

Thank you both for your very kind words on the book.

Jason:

Cuba will be delighted to hear that your favourite piece is the one about her. She is a keen writer herself, and has plans to follow in her scribbling uncle's footsteps (although hopefully not…

I do hope so for…

Really enjoyed the book.

There is something quite delicious about having an actual book in ones hand. I was delighted with my copy which arrived very promptly.

A mark of great writing is that even though I have read many of the stories online they were all still…

a sadistic typesetter

So you've met one before, too? That's kind of reassuring..

With the extra few cents we're going to buy some rags to wrap around our feet

Is that your way of complaining about a slow uptake? I'm getting flashbacks of "Buy This Magazine or We'll Kill the Dog".

There is an economic crisis for the rest of us too, you…

I've never really known what they meant by roots (tubers, I expect), but I suppose I'll find…

I'll start a social networking site where people with mental pain in their lives can sell that pain to sadomasochists who are looking for ways to totally take it to a new level, though the use of the brain as…

No," confesses his mother. "I'm afraid we can only afford a bowl of sand for Christmas dinner."

"Will it be piping-hot sand?" asks Bob eagerly.

"No, the sand will be completely uncooked, I'm afraid."

Bob-the-baby draws the thin blanket closer to his body

Sam said

, I have my copy of…

Cheers,
David

I don't quite understand the context of those last 2 comments...but perhaps it was a case of subliminal blog commenting.

I believe there's a RHM festival on in Hawera this weekend, and Paul was expressing his horror that Ronnie's house got bowled to make way for KFC. So not thread-related…

Nyaaah!

Ronnie Hugh Morrieson's house that he wrote many of his books in- and I think of the scene of the painting and the fire from The Scarecrow- is now a KFC.

Nyaaahhh!

To the general acclaim of Hawera's residents, who had been less than impressed over the years with…

Ronnie Hugh Morrieson's house that he wrote many of his books in- and I think of the scene of the painting and the fire from The Scarecrow- is now a KFC.

Nyaaahhh!

right kind of wrongness

It's all about Supply and Demand.

Maybe we should start a support group for frustrated LaTeX users....

I can just see that drawing entirely the right kind of wrongness. :)

I know your pain...

Maybe we should start a support group for frustrated LaTeX users....

Wow that's inspirational...I've been looking for a good idea for a web-start-up for a while and Judi you're the apple that has fallen on newton's head.

I'll start a social networking site where people with…

Maybe we should start a support group for frustrated LaTeX users....

Perhaps. I know the guy next door is in a similar position. Although he mostly uses open office for collaboration.

Yes. Unfortunately, it's not so great for collaboration. Ironically the guy in the office next door is a command line/linux/latex type of guy, but we don't write stuff together.
What I really miss is Bibtex. Endnote really blows. Or at least it is bloated and cumbersome, and really crap at…

and I was wished me "better luck next time"

of course means "and wished me better luck next time".

I have a question for you based on a dream that I had last night and as you're one of the…

Ha! I sense a fellow traveller.

Yes. Unfortunately, it's not so great for collaboration. Ironically the guy in the office next door is a command line/linux/latex type of guy, but we don't write stuff together.
What I really miss is Bibtex. Endnote really blows. Or at least it is bloated…

Are you holding the Alan Bollard posts back for a special edition or am I misreading the TOC?

Moira Goldie wrote:

Hey David – have just received your book... I very much enjoyed it. When are we going to get a book on Mr Bollard?

Moira (your…

Quote from her: "I just know I'm going to be into hot 18-year-olds when I'm forty"

So there. [See also Jolisa's reply].

See also my current discussion thread, I guess!

giovanni tiso wrote:

That said, I demand to know how the first impression got sold out before you even told _us_. Is there another blogging community you see on those…

All the gays say so.

Darling, when I say "scruffy" that's not code for ""I dream about running an afro pick through your back hair after I've braided your armpits".

And this is sooooo not happening in this, or any other life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0AbrbD00pg

(WARNING: CLIP CONTAINS BRIEF MILDLY NSFW LANGUAGE)…

There is something rather bearish about our Russell,

All the gays say so.

as for that kid – too damn cute to be true, clearly Photoshopped.

Au contraire – if anything, they toned him down a bit. He's knuckle-bitingly gorgeous in person.

Rupert Brown...

For some reason I'm picturing Russell wearing checked trousers and a red shirt surrounded by friends called Bill the…

And as for that kid – too damn cute to be true, clearly Photoshopped by some graphic designer getting in practice for election posters.

Same guy that did Helen Clark, I hear.

That'd be the 2 Euro shop and das Lager where David is , please tell me there's no such thing

I remember seeing a 99c Shop in Toledo, Ohio last year.

so I've placed an order

Me too. I plan to give it to my father for Christmas. Pre-read, of course, in fine family tradition.

local businesses like the Warehouse and the $2 Shop

That'd be the 2 Euro shop and das Lager where David is , please tell me there's no such thing.

It seems to happen every year!

I think they just reprint the story, it's like with the reruns of It's a Wonderful Life.

Actually, I've seen that in the paper several times, so clearly it works for someone.

It seems to happen every year! I'm sure that there are people who genuinely are robbed in the lead-up to Christmas, and I can imagine how tempting a stack of presents must be to would-be…

If the Simpsons have taught us nothing else, is that those scams tend to backfire.

Actually, I've seen that in the paper several times, so clearly it works for someone.

The first person that gets caught and outed as doing it as a scam. Man, everyone is going to hate…

I was reading the preview selection, when I came to the description of Boston's finest: "If you have ever paid to see a fat person at a circus, then you will be kicking yourself-". It suddenly ended,…

Rupert Brown

Genius! You're wasted in PR, Mr Brislen.

I am also about to return to the deep(ish) south so keep reminding me about the cold. I wonder if my accent will come back?

I have sent an ailing David off to bed, so he asked me to post apologies for his absence

Oh, poor soul. Seems to have sharpened his emotional blackmail powers, but.

Unless, of course, there is some fatal flaw in his plan that means everything will go horribly wrong.

Not something you would rule out in David's case. But, hey, at least we'll get a funny blog post out of that...

Are you holding the Alan Bollard posts back for a…

Pop over and check out the site. And consider buying a copy of 'My First Stabbing' for yourself and everyone you know (and all their relatives). The Haywood family could be eating sand for Christmas dinner otherwise.

Whatever. When I was a baby, I had to walk in the snow,…

Works for me.

(Haydn: ROFL! Especially having met the mini murderer myself. I thought he had a twinkle in his…

Among other things, he wrote the software to migrate our PA blogs to Latex for print-on-demand, created a house style for the books and set up the payments system,. He'd send me emails detailing his progress and I'd go "yup", "cool" and "wow!".

I knew all that time spent on…

And I can't make it stop!

Should I come round and stop it for you?

I have sent an ailing David off to bed, so he asked me to post…

For some reason I'm picturing Russell wearing checked trousers and a red shirt surrounded by friends called Bill the Badger and the like.

And I can't make it stop!

Pop over and check out the site. And consider buying a copy of 'My First Stabbing' for yourself and everyone you know (and all their relatives). The Haywood family could be eating sand for Christmas dinner otherwise.

You're really not hitting the Scrooge demographic with that pitch. Now, that cover…

self-printing!? where are all the remaindered books going to be!!

the book has been designed with soft puppy-like pages — making it ideal for reading in the lavatory

If we accept that link, wouldn't an actual puppy be better?

The book is the very first release from Public Address Books (www.publicaddressbooks.com) — another division of Russell 'Rupert Murdoch' Brown's ever-expanding multimedia empire.

Don't believe, it folks. This is David's baby (literally, in the case of the cover).

Among other things, he wrote the software to migrate our PA blogs…

Witness? Perhaps it's.... commit!

David Haywood does Richard Matheson? Sign me up for five copies.

That said, I demand to know how the first impression got sold out before you even told _us_. Is there another blogging community you see on those mysterious "late nights" at work, David?

He's yet to witness a stabbing, one hopes!?

Witness? Perhaps it's.... commit! (crash of thunder, lights flicker, ba ba baaaaaaaaa!)