Coming soon..... a new short story written by me

.....it'll probably come in weekly instalments, a bit like Charles Dickens used to do with his part works contained in those lovely Victorian magazines. Not that I'm comparing myself with Dickens, you understand, who will remain one of our finest ever writers. Mine of course won't be available in book, or even booklet, format but just on here for now (and teased on twitter maybe.) How can I attract people to this page though? Now that's a different question. But first I must put pen to paper so that I can bring you the opening chapter.

I'm still standing!...

...As Elton John once sang. I'm still attempting to sell books and it still beats working in an office!
Have a great Christmas everyone....

Recycle your books....

How times have changed since this wartime government backed poster. I just chanced upon it in a book I got hold of recently and was struck by the contrast in attitudes compared with the wholesale closures of libraries all over the country. We need to save the ones that are left that's for sure....

Booky Marky?

Okay, apart from the fact that I'm called Mark and work with books, (well, let's make that books are my life shall we!) it seemed like as good a time as any to change the direction of this blog, rather than just let it sit there doing nothing in the blogosphere or delete it from history. So rather than lose all of those classic posts from over the years (really, which were they then? I can hear some of you saying) I'm changing over to more bookish matters. So please let's have some views on anything to do with books, publishing, reviews of books if you like, or anything you can think of. If you still want to talk about general things in the news then you can do that too. You could even talk about Tonbridge if you like, but I probably wouldn't have a Scooby doo what you were going on about since I don't live there anymore. Or you can just carry on with the twitter and fleecebook and the snap numpty or instagranny or whatever. In the meantime here's a link to my facebook page and a weird sculpture of me which my daughter made as part of an animated art school project...

Mini Me

A few pics from my new base in NE Lincs..

Snowy scenes in the village

Moon over the houses

Wood for the fire. It's nippy up north!

Chopping logs is the new hobby!

Sealed with a loving kiss...

Here's a photo of a seal and its pup at Donna Nook, which is a lovely place this time of year, on the NE Lincs coast. The seals think that it's an ideal place to come out of the sea for breeding. In fact, so we learnt, over 2,000 pups have been born there in the last six weeks or so. A great day out for all the (seal) family and not bad for us humans as well!..

Life in the country!

I'm now living in exile in North East Lincolnshire in a small village. Whether the quiet eventually drives me insane remains to be seen. At the moment I'm enjoying an idyllic existence. Feeling refreshed and raring to go after a whole month off work. The longest holiday I've had in over 13 years! Keep posting your comments and please do support your local independent bookshop wherever you are. I'll probably post a few pictures from my new base here before, gradually, fading in absolute obscurity and the memory of my Tonbridge existence and the footprints I left there being all but swept away....

12 years, 3 months, 4 weeks, two days....

That's it then. The last day in Mr. Books is almost half over as I write. Lots more on Twitter about this for anyone interested. I'll be leaving the town in less than a week after 28 years but, for now, I'm savouring the moment of spending my last few hours in the shop. There will be a new Mr. Books, starting tomorrow in fact. How's that for a seamless handover! I'll let him announce himself when he's ready. I may continue with the odd post in exile but, for now, it's goodbye from Mr. Books and goodbye from me....

Announcement....

And now the news you've all been dreading.... Tonbridgeblog will be moving up north very shortly. By the end of July for good and in dribs and drabs in between. The blog may continue as Tonbridgeblog in exile or something like that. Maybe I'll start a Tonbridge Wicked Whispers Blog revealing all the secrets many customers have told me over the years! Actually I'm probably not that cruel, or am I?!
The shop is almost sold but not quite, so we'll see what happens on that front over the next few weeks. It's been nice knowing some of you and it's always good to get comments however harsh and cutting some of them can be. I hope life treats you well and I'm sure some of you will be joining me up north before too long. Especially after the Corbyn revolution as none of you will be able afford to live in the south east when you're paying 90% income tax! Au revoir...

Out and about with camera....

This curious fellow I met in Chiddingstone didn't have a lot to say for himself!

 

Funny who you meet out in the countryside!

Any rooms at the Bug hotel?!

I bought one of these at the Tonbridge Farmers Market from a chap who claimed that it was made entirely from recycled materials and that it would be crawling with bugs of all kinds within weeks, they'd make it their home. A bug hotel as it were. Well, after about eight months of being on my garden fence more or less undisturbed, by humans at least, all I can say is that the only evidence of insect life are the cobwebs coating the "rooms" of the hotel. And, as any fool knows, spiders aren't even insects! Although, I suppose, most people would still call them bugs!

Very cheap rates at the "Bug Hotel"

Tonbridgeblog out with camera....

Sounds like the title of an old fashioned book!

The view from Chiddingstone Castle. Imagine sitting here for breakfast every morning!

And my shot of the day....

Taken at Bough Beech Reservoir visitor centre....

Nice landing Mr. Blue tit!

Chaffinch? Someone help me out with identifying this colourful beauty

Out and about around Tonbridge....

The bluebells were quite striking out around Bough Beech Reservoir yesterday....



Bluebell wood...
 

Everywhere you look there's bluebells

Out and about around Tonbridge....

Out for a drive yesterday with my camera. Here's a couple for you....

St George flag proudly flying over Chiddingstone Castle

Some interest in Mr. Books but time is running out!...

Nice piece in the Courier last Friday with one of my favourite photos of me of all time I think. The snapper did a great job in capturing me, surrounded by books. Almost as if he was reaching into my very soul (surely that's going too far... don't you mean sole? Ed.) Lovely comments by our MP, Tom Tugenhat as well. I must give him that tenner!

Mr. Books Bookshop is For Sale as a going concern....

Sorry to drop this bombshell on you all this morning my loyal Tonbridgeblog die hard readers who've stuck with me through thick and thin. Let's face it, of late, it's been very thin! Yes I'm off back to my roots in NE Lincolnshire near the sea which I've missed all these years. I will be around for some months yet though so don't despair too much for now. More on the move as it unfolds but, in the meantime my thoughts are turning to what to do with the Bookshop. The lease is up quite soon so my choices seem to be: do I renew the lease in order to then assign it to a new owner at a later date. Sounds risky ish to me. So what are my other options? Well one would be to just walk away from the business I've build up for almost exactly 12 years. I really don't want to do this and would love to see the bookshop carry on with a new owner who has lots of fresh ideas so that they can put their own spin on it. Then there's a third way: I could just continue to own the shop business and employ a manager. It's all very exciting but scary at the same time.....

A train leaving Tonbridge Station towards Dover most probably...

Okay not the most exciting photo but some people like trains and I was on the railway bridge when it went under so....

Reflections of Tonbridge....

The Medway from the Town Bridge

The river can look quite stunning from the bridge early in the morning on the right day. Here it was recently as still as a mill pond....

Picture(s) of the day/week....

This shop unit on the railway bridge has seen better days. Next door isn't doing much better. Dodle turned out to be, well, anything but and it's probably many businesses ago since this was the Discount Mini Market. Shopkeepers take the advice of someone who has made the mistake of opening a shop away from the main drag. However cheap the rent is you'll end up regretting it. Anyway, from a purely photographic point of view I really like this shot because it shows a bit of imperfection, faded glory and history. All summed up in one washed out façade. Ahh yes the power of pictures!...



Lovely row of boarded up shops. The first thing many visitors see at the gateway to the town