Rae of Light

Several years ago now, due to a serious lack of money round about the festive season, I decided I was no longer going to dole out Christmas gifts. Little did I know this announcement would make some of my friends and family view me as a scrooge . I forgot that people are not privy to my inner thoughts and didn't understand my internal processes. So I think it's time I set the record straight. Christmas, for me, has always been a truly joyous time of year. My childhood was full to the brim with wonderful Christmas experiences. My favourite thing of all was the never ending visiting of friends and family we got to do. And believe you me, there were lots of those. My parents had an extensive social circle and more cousins than you could shake a stick at . I've never really known what that expression means but I'm using it anyway. You see, it was never about the presents. Birthdays, in my view, are when the presents count the most...

For all you Sharp Dark Things [ SDT ] devotees, Sarah has once again been working her artistic magic. The two of us always meet in a little cafe called Gaby 's on Leicester Square. I interrupted the peace and quiet of the place with my exclamations of delight at the sight of Sarah's latest offering. Customers dropped bits of salt beef sandwich and spilled their drinks at my exuberance. But when you see her drawing you'll agree that I was totally justified. While Sarah has been working her favourite HB pencil down to a nub, I continue to edit SDT . At the moment I have it resting, like a good wine or whisky. I often find that if I'm a little stuck with a project (e.g. I know it needs drastic measures but am not entirely sure what those measures are) then setting it aside for a time always means I can see it with fresh eyes when I come back to it. In the case of SDT , this setting aside has happened 3 times. This suggests to me it's going to be o...