The picture above was taken by Rosy, and shows me reading at Short Fuse at the Brighton Komedia on Thursday. The theme of the evening was 'Nights at the Circus', inspired by Angela Carter's novel of the same name. I was very nervous, since I'd not read in a while. To add to my nervousness I was reading a clown story, Death of a Ronald. I wrote it a couple of years ago but this was its first public outing. It isn't a pleasant story so I didn't know what an audience would make of it. I probably didn't need to worry as they laughed in all the right places.
I've missed Short Fuse while I've been away in Coventry and it was good to be back. I enjoyed the other stories, especially one about a highwayman (currently far cooler than pirates) and a beautiful story about tightrope walking in Geneva that I would love to hear again.