This has been a month of completed drafts. I completed the first draft of my novel, a continent and millennia-spanning epistolary thriller, and have sent it off for its first beta reading. I also completed the first draft of my MBA thesis, which asks the question “Are diversity drives proving productive for UK publishing?”
Activities
The first draft of the MBA has been a struggle. It has involved a lot of reading and quantitative research. “Diversify” by June Sarpong proved massively helpful when it came to accruing data.
There have also been more live music performances, a side-project that continues to grow. I am building up to giving a full-length set that will hopefully materialise this year.
Output
There have been new MVs, including a higher-quality version of “Self-Doubt”, that has proved popular on Manchester’s open mic scene.
There is also “The War of 1812” (I underestimated how difficult it would be to sing), and another version of “The Happy Birthday Song”.
My review of “Life” by Lu Yao, translated by Chloe Estep, was also published by The Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing.
Wider World
When writing my MBA thesis, my main goal is to try to ensure that its conclusions are somewhat less weaselly and evasive than those of The Mueller Report. The left’s worst nightmare has come true, with Trump in the White House and well on course to win a second term, and Boris Johnson in 10 Downing Street and committed to delivering Brexit, deal or no deal.
There are reasons for optimism though. Boris Johnson does not believe in Brexit with any conviction. Trump continues to show himself to be an ignorant fool with every utterance, which means the Democrats have a reasonable chance of inflicting the first real defeat on an incumbent since 1980 (1992 barely counts because the late Ross Perot split the centre-right vote).
With the situation in Hong Kong, it is more important than ever for liberal democracy to show that it is the superior form of government.
Kevin McGeary 