Howdy all -- I'm back! It's been a busy few days. I finished up my edit of Hell's Horizon on Christmas Eve, as I indicated with my little impromptu poem that night (I hadn't meant to write a poem -- it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time!). I'm very pleased with the book. I didn't do anything to it structurally, but trimmed it down by 24,000 words -- so hopefully it real read much more tightly now.

Went to my Grandparents for Christmas Day dinner, as I do every year when I'm in Ireland. My parents were there, Bas and her parents, and one of my aunts and her hubby and daughter. We had a fine meal, ate loads, then unwrapped presents afterwards. I got some nice little gifts. I never get big gifts because ... well, I don't really need anything big! If there's something I want badly, I nearly always buy it for myself, as I'm too impatient to wait! But fun little gifts are nice and welcome, and this year I got a CD, a book, a pint glass with the Spurs crest, socks, etc. Nothing overly exciting, but then I don't think too many adults get exciting Christmas presents -- it's a time for the young, so enjoy it while you can!!!!

I went to the Limerick horse races on St Stephen's Day with Bas and her Mum. It's good fun, and a couple of my horses came in -- one of them was a 25-1 long shot, and I had a tenner on it, so I won over €300 in total -- NICE!!!!! I came away with the long, satisfied chuckle of lucky gamblers the world over -- there's nothing so sweet as quickly won cash!!!! Visited some relatives and had a fairly early night -- this was one of our quetest Christmases ever, with not even a single visit to our local pubs!!

On the 27th Bas and I drove to Galway to see one of my favourite bands, The Hitchers. They were a Limerick band who I went to see a lot in the mid- and late-90s. They released two albums, a few singles, and built up a loyal but small fan base. Alas, they never got the lucky break they deserved, and broke up several years ago. But they reunite every Christmas for a one-off gig -- and I've somehow managed to miss every one!!! Each time they play, I'm away! This year was no different -- they were playing in Limerick on the 28th, but I'd already booked to travel to London that day! Fortunately they also did a gig in Galway this year, the night before, so I was determined not to miss it!!! We drove up, checked into our hotel, did some shopping, had a scrumptious fish-n-chips dinner, then watched Limerick's finest rock through their best tunes as if it was ten years ago and the world was still theirs for the taking. It was fine stuff, expertly delivered -- hard to believe they'd only had one day's practise for it!! Check out their MySpace page here if you're unfamiliar with them: THE HITCHERS

There was a really good support band on the bill, also from Limerick, called We Should Be Dead. Fronted by a couple of punkish ladies, they made a big impression and I'll definitely be checking them out live again. Their MySpace page is also worth having a look at, though the songs on it don't quite capture the energy of their live set (with the exception of the rather rudely named one!!): WE SHOULD BE DEAD

Today we flew over to London. Had a few hours in the flat, catching up with emails and going through the post. Then we walked to the National to see their adaptation of War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. The lifesize puppets of the hourses were amazing, incredible to watch, and it was certainly worth seeing for them alone. The story however was a bit flat and far-fetched. The National like to put on a big, emotional family show at Christmas, but while Coram Boy last year finely trod the line between sentimental and mawkish, this one tried a little too hard to tug on people's heart-strings. It was by no means bad, but take the puppets out of it and it would all be a bit risible and forgettable.