Every so often I write a blog post about having nothing to say. It looks like that time of year again. But it feels different this time. Rightly or wrongly I perceive blogging as an activity that is being buried by shorter forms of social media and I don’t have the drive to blog anymore.

The seventh book of the TotenUniverse (yes I’m still writing it) is a demanding child, but if there’s writing to do I’d rather write fiction than a blog rant about the CIA infiltrating traffic light sequences to stop me getting to work on time, which does happen by the way. Honest.

Two more to write and I can have my life back/die of boredom…

With all that in mind I could write a post about watching the entire Vikings series in reverse order, or my own version of Desert Island Discs, the absolute pointlessness of Nectar points (£13.38 after collecting them for nearly a year – my plan was to use them at Christmas and ended up shopping at the Food Warehouse which doesn’t accept them as payment.)

I used to make lists of blog post ideas and then tick them off when they were written. Now I prefer to lecture myself; it saves me the hassle of searching for creative commons license images. Apparently a blog post without images will not be read, but until someone invents an app that finds them for me and inserts them into the post without me having to do anything, the hassle will continue.

And have you noticed how no one ever designs an app that actually has a useful function? You can point your phone at a piece of steak to check if it’s cooked through, but it won’t eat the steak for you to help you keep your weight down.

So, with all that in mind I’ll say this instead:

BUY THIS BOOK

The Anti-Austerity Anthology was created to raise money for UK food bank charities. I don’t need to remind you that the fifth largest economy in the world isn’t enough to stop people in work from relying on food banks and benefits to survive, but that’s the wicked truth. Please buy a copy.

I also have a vested interest in pushing this book on you: I designed the cover. And wrote one of the short stories, The Bet. (It’s a good one too.)

The Anti-Austerity Anthology at Amazon.co.uk

Good luck whatever you’re planning for 2019. A word of advice though, don’t meddle with the fashion industry!