What’s a place you visited that felt like home?
The odd thing is, when I first rolled off the ferry in Lerwick in February 2006 to attend my interview I honestly felt like I had come home.
Luckily I got the job and am still here. I have lived here longer than anywhere else in the UK and it now is home. I have lived in this house for 18 years now so… Yeah home.
If you could pick any fictional animal to be your lifelong companion (like a Pokémon or fantasy pet), what would it be?
Well I must admit I have wracked my brains and pretty much drew a blank from literature. It could have been a cop out and given a stereotypical fantasy answer… Not going to say what as I don’t want to offend anyone.
So anyway literature seems to be up the Swannie (is this a family expression or more widespread?)
So I started looking at Gaming and then thought about the shoulder pets in Ark Survival Evolved and an answer just popped into my head.
This is a Shinehorn. It is a ‘Glow Pet’. This little creature has a built in light system to allow exploration in the dark. It has its own inventory so can be used as a backpack. It is rubbish in a fight and quite frankly I don’t use them any more in game. But think of the savings in Torch batteries.
How does your mindset affect your financial success?
Well this is a turn up for the books I never realised they were linked… Probably why I am skint.
What’s the most annoying trope in books or movies?
I have to say my most annoying trope in books, for me personally, is the recurring nemesis. I really can’t be bothered with it.
Notable examples are Obidiah Hakeswill from the ‘Sharpe’ series and to some extent Voldemort in Harry Potter.
Let’s think of the vampire trope…Dracula case in point. The guy actually appears more times than gas after eating too much broccoli. In folklore the stake through the heart merely pinned them down. If someone removed the stake, then they would return. But generally once down they stayed down. Chop their heads off and cremate them and voila they ain’t coming back.
Now a recurring nemesis I can actually cope with. The Mummy and the Mummy Returns with Brendan Fraser. Yep got that, makes sense. And then the third one is a different scary dude. Today I learned that the Mummy 4 is supposed to be coming out in Oct 2027 with guess who? Yep Imohtep is returning.
So the other thing that bothers me are sequels to TV shows. By this I mean things like Squid Game. Loved that, slightly traumatized me, but still loved it. Brilliant ending…. So leave it alone. But No, it made Squidillions (see what I did there) so they decided Squid Game 2, the revenge or whatever… No leave it alone.
Now I get it, I am really not the target audience for some of the books or films. So if that is your kind of thing then you go and be you.
Can you tell I am a bit bored….
My new friend is keeping me company whilst I wait to depart my hotel.
What’s the kindest thing someone has ever done for you?
Well there is quite a list, but one of the nicest things was way back in 2013. I was a head teacher (Principal) of a small school and used role playing games as a way to support/improve writing. The kids were so proud of their work,as was I, that we made a display of it. I moved on, but the display remained… The kids wouldn’t let it be taken down. Sadly the school had to close and I got a delivery… The kids wanted me to have the whole display.
I still have it in the loft.
Share a hobby you’ve picked up recently — what got you into it?
I suppose my Oil pastel scribbles would count here
Why did I start… Was away on training and on a whim bought some cheap oil pastels and a pad of black paper. Haven’t done any for a while…must carry on…
The other thing is maps…drawing them…
Each town on the large map is drawn too.
Why maps. Well during long COVID I lost my fine motor skills among other things and drawing random maps was easier than the written word.
What’s the weirdest coincidence you’ve ever experienced?
Well not sure if it is a coincidence or just a very small world. So this is me in about 1991 on my first day as a reenactor. The weird coincidence is that my future wife is sat on the slope behind me. I didn’t know her and she didn’t know me.
Found the photo after we were married and she told me then.
Here she is in Poland…the short lady in white trousers next to the big horse. She got the largest and I got the smallest 😂. Obviously we are not Romans in the second photo.
What’s a book you never finished but still think about?
To be honest there are quite a lot. Some were accidental and others deliberate.
One that I would like to reread and finish one day is ‘A Boy and his Bear’ by Harriet Graham.
Years ago as a class teacher we read this as part of our topic on the Tudors and Stewarts. For some reason we never got to finish it…
Basically set in Tudor England..Dickon lives in a cruel time when wild bears are made to fight by men for sport. He meets a recently captured bear cub, and is determined to set Nounou free. But the path to freedom is littered with danger for both the boy and his bear.
A second one was a western I got out the library as a kid and some absolute Arse had removed the last page with a scalpel or something… I can’t remember the book, but the fact the last page was gone is what reminds me.
Which fictional world would be the most fun to vacation in?
Well there are a few I could think of… What about the Wizarding World… But as I seem to be a Muggle then errrrr maybe I am already in it…
So that leaves me with Middle Earth or Diskworld…
I would be happy to visit both, but as Tolkien has a world riven by strife then off to Ankh Morpork I go….
Luckily I have my map of the city to help me avoid the Shades!
Which author would you love to have dinner with?
First off, do I have a favourite author, yes indeed, I do love my Terry Pratchett books, but would I want to have dinner with him… probably not to be honest
I would in all honesty like to have a bit of a chat with JRR Tolkien. So many questions… He would probably hate to have dinner with me.
