Heyup, you lot – happy 2026! It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything meaningful on this blog, eh? Despite my repeated insistence that I was on the cusp of renovating the blighter, it’s plain for all to see that this simply hasn’t happened. All my blog has come to in the past few months is, uh, certainly nothing to do with Novels. Or literature. Or even self reflection, really.

Not that I’ve had little to talk about. Far from it! Nor has 25′ been a year of total creative burnout either. Far from that. Even business (Noun – State of being busy) is hardly an excuse, however demanding assignments and job-hunting may appear. Despite all the fascinating controversies in the writing world…despite all the cool ideas and little stories I’ve created…despite topping my last assignment back in summer and having dozens of hours free from work, I’ve produced nothing for WordPress to gawk at! Nowt!

So what’s my Alibi? What’ve I been up to?

2025 – Personal

I Finished University in June – officially graduated sometime in September! My bachelor’s degree has been a great experience all around, with lots of fond memories from seminars, especially my English Language group.

With that milestone, I’ve been looking for a few small jobs to get started with. Unsurprisingly enough, none of them have been especially literary: have been gardening for families around Headcorn and Maidstone since September. Otherwise, I have also done my usual labours on our family farm, including the construction of a new house for our tenants. I breathed in so much insulation foam that week, painted so many boards that month and still have marks on my hand from cement. I also spent an entire day picking up horse muck from a friend’s Equestrian estate for dumping in my clients’ beds (flowers).

On a gloomier note, I Buried my Cat of 16 years, Flash, next to my late Dog (Milly)’s Bench memorial on the twelfth of November. Gave him a little Chalcolithic-style burial cairn from the rock bed that he used to laze upon. The calmest cat I’ve ever seen, he enriched our lives no end.

Media – A definitive list of books, for old times sake. The whole LOT.

• Charlotte Bronte’s Angria collection by Penguin. Jane Eyre meets the Trigan Empire comics, more or less.
• Nigel Molesworth by Geoffrey Willians (note speling chiz). Fascinating artwork by Ronald Searle.
• The entirety of Full Metal Alchemist. Because a man my age really ought to read more Manga.
• The first volume of Rogue Trooper, Judge Dredd and Nemesis seperately.
• Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Stayed up past midnight with this bugger!
• Geoff John’s Doomsday Clock, which is basically an unofficial sequel to the above that my friend sent me as a joke. I could have posted one HELL of a review on here, starting the mother of all flame wars.
• Life of Samuel Johnson (Boswell) in it’s entirety as part of research for a project idea.
• Gulliver’s Travels (Swift).
• Art of Discworld by Paul Kidby.
• Food in Early Modern England by Joan Thirsk. Tasty.
• Thumbsucker by Robert Shearmann. An unforgettable experience, also prompted by a friend’s prank.
• Book of Dave by Will Self.
• The sleeper Awakes by HG Wells.
• Bleak House by Dickens – an absolute doorstopper.
• The unforgiving minute: A (sic) life of Rudyard Kipling by Harry Ricketts, which I loaned from a local library.
• PG Wodehouse: A literary Biography by Benny Green. In fact, I read several others by the selfsame playwright (Right Ho Jeeves, Thank you Jeeves and Mr Mulliner speaking) across the course of this year. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard at a novel outside of Pratchett and Bryson.
• Kamudo by Akira Himekawa (artists behind the Twilight Princess Manga), as recommended by a friend. Might review it proper if I can clean up this blog!
• Francis Grose’s dictionary of the vulgar tongue. For all your Austenian expletive needs.
• The five red herrings by Dorothy Sayers. Not the universally accepted entrance point to her detective fiction from what I’ve read afterwards, but as an ex-Geordie I was fascinated by the shoddy transcription of last-century scottish Vernacular.
• 1000 Books to read before you die. The sort of book you get from a distant relative, but enormously appreciated all the same.
• The world according to Cunk by whoever ghostwrites for Diane Morgan/Charlie Brooker. The other kind of book you get from a distant relative. Same verdict as above, albeit with considerably more severe asthma.
• Looking for Transwonderland by Noo (Pronouned “Gnaw”) Saro-wiwa.
• Dozens and dozens of cheap trashy TV Magazines. Again, for Soap opera characterisation research. Not pretty.

So that’s what I’ve been up to…what about the future of the Novel Hovel?

The blog of TOMORROW! – What I’ll do now.

Now I’ve finally plucked up the balls to actually post something on this carcass of a blog, I’m at least on the right track for beating procrastination and “revamping” this website after two years blagging.

Now what did I mean when I say revamp? Well, I’m aware the presentation of this site is a little…er, basic. Shoddy, even. Now, I’m not the sort of lazy sod who’d be content just to hire someone to fix it up or (worse yet!) implement some AI to do everything. I had originally intended to get some assistance from my brother, who has had experience with HTML and Java, to give me some guidance. That obviously failed to materialise in the past, but it’s a new year – why not to such spring cleaning to heart as a fresh resolution? We’ll be kissing farewell to this NEOcity style wall of links and gauche green backgrounds and coming forward with something a bit more appealing! I’m even thinking of wiping the whole thing and starting afresh, unless there’s any objections.

This overhaul is not going to manifest immediately. I can’t will it into existence, regardless of what Chat-GPT Bros will lead you to believe. But for the meantime, I can still kick up the old routine to get back into the momentum of bloggery – Artwork, Book reviews, the odd short story and discussion. All this, though, will begin again starting next Wednesday – I need just a week more to get prepped.

Hope to see you all soon,

Ben.

P.S. Good Luck with your resolutions!