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I asked one of Ted's friends (age 7) to write a poem while we were waiting for our food in Pizza Express, and he came up with this. Kids today, eh?

Driving home from seeing Inside Out 2 just now... Me: So what did you think was the message of the movie? Ted (8): That you should abandon broccoli?

My god, the story of Jo in the UCAS Results Embargo training video is an emotional rollercoaster! I'm sat here raging about the incompetence of Anytown University.

If you combine the national vote share for the Conservatives and Reform, it's about 38%. In the constituency where I live (which was, miserably, a CON hold), those two parties account for 57% of the votes. Bloody hell.

As much as I love authors, and the publishing industry, I'll hazard a guess that this is priority #744 on the new PM's list...

Always fun to see the names of children on the back of their primary school leavers' hoodies (this one is Lorelei's) - but even more so when one kid's parents were clearly huge fans of a particular ITV weekend franchise.

Songs making me smile: Fontaines D.C.: Favourite Wilco: Say You Love Me Chappell Roan: HOT TO GO! Tampa Red: Let Me Play with Your Poodle Red Sleeping Beauty: The Sound of Summer Juice Webster: Returning The Cords: Bo's New Haircut James: Sometimes

Already looking forward to teaching my non-fiction module again in the autumn...

🚨Okay let’s do this! BUNNY VS MONKEY: The Great Big Glitch is the TENTH book in the series, it’s not out till OCTOBER, but I have one super advance copy to send to a BVM fan to read earlier than anyone else! 💖All you have to do is share this tweet. Winner chosen Mon 22nd 🤞🤞🤞

Brilliant article by my University of Derby colleague, Cat Mitchell. Genuinely important research which will, I hope, help to make the industry a more inclusive place for everyone.

So proud of Ted (8) for successfully bluffing his way through a Summer Reading Challenge chat at the local library just now, talking about a Lemony Snicket book that he was returning but hadn't actually read. Transferable skills!

I only saw Oasis once, the gig at the Riverside in Newcastle that ended in a brawl after five songs. It would be pretty funny if they did that again for these massive reunion shows next year - just have a punch-up with the crowd and walk off after 25 mins.

Our 14 year old is about to embark on his GCSEs journey and I'll be encouraging him endlessly to read Alom's book: it really is superb!

I was lucky enough to receive a proof copy of @jonathancoe's forthcoming novel. Madly entertaining, with some of my favourite ever Coe jokes, and an amazing mix of politics, cosy crime, dark academia, autofiction, Friends, Below Deck (!), B.S. Johnson and much more. Dazzling!

"I wish I was the brakeman On a hurtlin' fevered train Crashing headlong into the heartland Like a cannon in the rain With the beating of the sleepers And the burnin' of the coal Counting the towns flashing by In a night that's full of soul With light in my head You in my arms"

I have two research articles that I really ought to be finishing up and submitting but what I want to do right now is start work on a new one, all about the extraordinary explosion of Taylor Swift books.

Some amazing events in the line-up for November's Derby Book Festival, including the brilliant Jonathan Coe being interviewed by me on Tues Nov 19th. Please do come along if you can!

I found something yesterday that ChatGPT is very good at: if you feed it approx. 1,000 words of prose (in this case, the opening of a YA fiction novel) and ask it to make the writing "slightly worse", it does a wonderful job of that...

At the match yesterday, after a grim tackle, we sing of their player being a northern bastard (because we were, you know, up north) - until our striker runs to inform us that the guy is "from down south so call him a southern bastard instead". The joys of non-league football!

"The advertisements are reportedly part of a media campaign celebrating rule breakers who defy conventional behaviour to enjoy Heinz’ new range of pasta sauces." Sometimes you just have to admit that the 21st century is an amazing time to be alive.