That's not Angus, that's his predecessor, Malcolm. Malcolm was, I think you will agree, an exceptionally handsome dog, and had a kind of quiet nobility very much unlike Angus's antic energy. People used to call Malcolm "regal," and he really was. He would sit meditatively in the back yard as the birds and squirrels foraged within six feet of him, knowing that they were perfectly safe. With Angus around, they do not do this. As my son Wes likes to say, in the reign of Good King Malcolm all the creatures dwelt in peaceful harmony, but Duke Angus the Usurper has unleashed a reign of terror.
But enough about politics.
When time allows — and Time, in my experience, is rarely the allowing type — I am working away at my biography of Dorothy L. Sayers. What a fascinating person she was. It was simple enough to write about her early life, but once she (a) starts working in advertising, (b) starts writing detective fiction, and (c) has a child out of wedlock ... well, things get complicated. There's so much to learn about the manners and mores of the time, about changes in the media environment, about the rise of detective fiction, the worlds of music and movies. I am deep in the woods and having a great time.
Much of what I'm learning won't — can't — make its way into my biography, so it's migrating to my blog: see today's post on green tea, mescaline, and the demonic realm. There will be a lot of that kind of thing in the coming months, mainly on the big blog but sometimes on micro.blog as well — for instance this quick note on the Mustard Club.
So my thinking and writing at the moment have a kind of circumscribed variety: I'm discovering all sorts of things, but they're all connected, tightly or loosely, to the world of Sayers. I love writing about classic movies, tales of detection, the sensation novel of the 19th century ... and those of you who support me are making this possible, because otherwise I'd always be thinking Maybe I should write an essay on X or Y or Maybe I should ask to review this new book because, you know, the extra coin is always nice. Some years ago now I wrote a book on the importance of reading at whim, but right now I am also getting to write at whim. So thanks very much!
That said, if there are topics or themes or books or artists you'd like me to write about, please do say so in the comment below. Sometimes a useful suggestion is just the thing I need.