Today I return to the Dust Lounge to move some dust around, and generally bash your eyes with NEWS, sweet NEWS. And this news doesn’t involve any voting, politics or fact-checking so y’all can relax.

NEWS 1 – the Dust Lounge is now populated with AN EXTRA KITTEN. Diesel needed some company, so Ripley has joined us. She’s a proper fiend – loves climbing legs and sneaking around, dive-bombing anything and everything. She’s an independent lady (much like her Alien character namesake), and certainly gives Diesel a run for his money. It won’t be long before she’s operating heavy machinery and kicking ass.

NEWS 2 – I have made the (possibly rash, and certainly interesting) decision to start officially studying again. It seems that after a 13 year break from using my brain for serious stuff, come September I’ll be starting an MSc Psychology. Learning about the mind, man. This is most exciting. Also, kind of nerve-racking.

NEWS 3 – This means that I won’t have long before I’m proper busy attempting to study, pay the bills and sleep, so I hereby declare that I need to finish one of my various writing projects before September. That seems like ages away, but it ain’t. It’ll fly by. And I’m saying it here because now you’re my witnesses and so it’s got to happen. It might be a novella, it might be (one of) the novels lurking away on my computer, or it might be something brand new. But whatever it is, it will be done by September.

NEWS 4 – As I have largely been neglecting the Dust Lounge and the ol’ social networks of late, I’m apologising by putting the e-book of Grind Spark out there for free this weekend! Grab yourself some HAPPY PRE-APOCALYPSE FUN* to cheer yourself up after the general election.

Hope y’all been doing well and surviving the twitter storms and political fires that are raging out there.

Until next time, fiends.

*’happy’ may not strictly be the right word.