Making Even Less Sense

Posted by Colin Harvey Sep 9, 2009

I've been overwhelmed by people contacting me after my blog post on Sunday, in which I described what Aliette de Bodard diagnosed as 'post-novel ennui.' I also warned that for a few days my blogs might even make less sense than usual -- a warning that should have applied to that blog itself!

I wrote that 'I was given some news on Friday of a personal nature.'

What I should have said was 'of a confidential nature.'

My apologies to anyone who read more into that than I intended. Several of the people present at the Friday night discussions are on Facebook or other networks, and I need to be aware that any confidences that I reveal could get back to those present. A good way to lose friends is to gossip on public fora, and I learned in Unilever that anything one writes on the net can eventually find its way into the public domain.

So at the risk of infuriating you all, I'm going to remain frustratingly cryptic about the news that rocked me. I have managed to start to come to terms with it by fictionalising some of it, a process that always helps me find an emotional equilibrium.

I was going to write that you can be reassured that I'm not ill, but that was something else that emerged after I had blogged. Monday morning I work up dehydrated, with a headache and a mouthful of ulcers. But clearer headed than I had been for days. I'm on the mend now, but for about 24 to 48 hours I felt a little off-colour. So apologies if that post about making no sense made er, no sense...

And for all of you wrote to me offering support, thank you very much indeed. I'm touched more than I can say.