To Mooch is Human

I think this is going to be another of those posts that looks a bit like a sponsored article but which really isn’t.

I wanted to scribble a little bit about a website that I use from time to time - one which I get quite a lot of fun out of.






It’s called ‘Bookmooch’.

(Of course, you guys probably know all about it already and then this post will join the ranks of some of my other patently-obvious ‘discoveries’ which, in their day, provoked such edifying Blog-entries as ‘Breathing is Fun’ or ‘Have you Ever Tried Eating an Egg?’)

Anyway, just in case you haven’t heard of it http://www.bookmooch.com/ is a community for exchanging used books. The idea is that you give away the books you no longer need in return for books that you want.

Every time you give a book away, you get awarded a few points and these points can then be used to ‘Mooch’ a book you want from somebody else.

I find that it’s a bit like being able to nip into a second-hand bookshop online. You get to browse through participant’s book-collections or search for that title that is not available in your country but perhaps can be ‘Mooched’ from somewhere else.

I’ve already received a few good books this way and also enjoyed passing books on to people who have been genuinely pleased to get them.

It’s a 'win-win' kind of deal.

Although it’s not entirely without its downsides. Mainly, the cost of posting a heavy book to a far-away-land can be sizeable enough and the three mooch-points you receive in return can seem like scant recompense. However you can always restrict which countries you will send your books to and if your budget is completely hammered after a few of these overseas forays, you can just shut down the ‘foreign-affairs’ wing of your mooching for a while and sit on your points until a good book comes along.

The other downside is that when a book is popular - it’s popular. Some titles can have a long waiting list for them and some just never seem to appear at all.

But if you, like me, are drawn to books and like being in their company, this little site might be well worth a look.

Writing in the Bubble

Where have I been?  I’ll tell you, shall I?

I’ve been over at Jim Murdoch’s blog ‘The Truth About Lies’ reading some of his archived material. 

He’s a great writer and there’s lots of really great stuff over there.

In fact, I recommend you head off over there immediately and never mind about this old guff.

Come back later if you like.

One of the things I found over there resonates with me a lot. It was a line buried in the comments section of his Dec 2007 posting which was called ‘You’ve never had it so good.’ I hope he doesn’t mind if I quote a line from one of his comments here.

What Jim said is this;

"… since I never share my works in progress and I rarely talk about the specifics of what I'm writing, I still choose to live with a level of creative isolation if not exactly social loneliness."

See, I thought I was alone in this. It’s great to know that I’m not.

Here’s the thing;

I cannot talk about whatever I am currently writing.

I just can’t.

Even when I go to visit with my friends in Castlebar Writer’s Group - and I listen to and comment on their precious work-in-progress - I often have to offer something in return that was completed some time before. Even there, among the people who would best understand, I have to keep my secrets.

And this seems to annoy some people quite a bit. (Not the Castlebar Writer’s Group, I hasten to add.) I think some people think that I’m a bit of a pretentious git who is trying to weave some kind of literary mystique about himself.

But it’s not like that…

Over the years I have learned that I need to write inside a little bubble that contains nothing but me and my current idea.

On several occasions, I have made the mistake of getting into discussions about my work-in-progress. After I do this, the bubble is invariably burst and the work, when I return to it, is somehow tarnished and lessened by having being oxidised in the public arena.

Jays… maybe there is a bit of the literary mystique crap about me after all!

But, no, I don’t think there’s anything mystical of clever about this need. I need to be able to continuously reassure myself that my work-in-progress is ‘simply brilliant’ in order to keep up the momentum necessary to get it done. If I go and tell somebody about it and they immediately don’t fall on the floor writhing in ecstasy at the beauty of my concept then I’ll start to wonder what the hell is wrong with it anyway? I’ll lose confidence in the work, possibly drop it and go and find something else to scribble.

It’s like finding a lovely polished black stone on the beach, keeping it in your pocket and thinking how great it is until you show it to your pal and he snorts and says, "it’s just an old rock." It sort of takes the good out of it, you know?

And, besides, inside my bubble is such a fun place to be. My idea is in there with me and it’s spinning around and swelling and shooting out pseudopodia (eh?) all over the place then pulling them back in again. It’s a mad place really.

So if we’re ever shooting the breeze – like on the street or something - and I don’t have too much to say about my current writing ‘thing’, please understand…

… it ain’t you, it’s me.

The Moon After Midnight

This Thursday sees what will probably be the final performance of my newest play ‘Midnight in the Theatre of Blood’ by my great friends at Do You Playhouse at The Kiltimagh Theatre, County Mayo (8.00pm).

It’s been tremendously great fun and I’ve loved what they did with my little play.

So then, just as I’m getting ready to be depressed about the end of all that fun, I get this in my email.





This is the kind of thing that can brighten up a guy’s day.


Balally Players new production of ‘The Moon Cut Like a Sickle’ runs in the Mill Theatre Studio, Dundrum, Dublin from the 15th to the 19th April.


I’ve seen them do it in rehearsed reading and I’m looking forward like mad to seeing the full thing.


So if you’re in Dublin around that time, do come down and have a look.



As for all my Non-Ireland based buddies who drop by here from time to time. Well I know, what with carbon footprint concerns and the relatively strong position of the Euro against many other international currencies, that it might not be the easiest thing in the world for you to fly over here…

…but try eh?