Tom, Mick and Bridget

I'm a huge fan of Tom Cox. His writing is near perfect; Tom's books flow and you just can't help being carried along with them. Much, if not all of his work, starts in his notebook. As he says in Notebook, he's had a number of them over the years - he says quite early on that by picking up a pen and writing something down you write in a different way than when typing on a screen. I know this to be true; I too am always writing in notebooks, even more since recently joining a short story writing group. And like Tom I get thought pens at an alarming rate. Next time you're stuck for something to write, take a walk, sit on a bench, (not a cafe, never a cafe) and just write¹. It's where lines like this come from: 'There are two types of people in the world. People who fucking love maps, and people who don't.'

★

Tom's dad, Mick Cox, is an amazing artist; many of his illustrations appear in Tom's books. When Mick's cat, Bridget, went missing he and his wife were distraught. Mick tried to take his mind off it by imagining what Bridget might be getting up to on her travels. And so was born a beautiful collection of paintings ². 

¹ Don't thank me, thank Tom.

² Bridget came back, you'll be pleased to know.