Pluggity Plug Plug

There’s an interesting interview on the front of the Guardian today with someone who’s memoirs have recently been published … no, not Tony Blair, rehashing the tired old battles of the past. I mean Shaun Attwood, on the front of the Society Guardian, about his book detailing his experiences in ‘America’s Toughest Jail’ (copyright Sheriff Arpaio).

Why do I mention it? Because Shaun just happens to have been my mentee through the Koestler Trust (I am assured this is a real word although I’m suspicious) and I spent just over a year working with him on his book. He’s kind enough to suggest I worked some magic on it, although most of the time I was merely standing on the sidelines while Shaun taught himself to write, making the odd helpful comment rather in the manner of someone watching someone else remove a goat from a fence. But his book, Hard Time, (I preferred Shaun’s original title Green Baloney and Pink Boxers but what do I know about titles*) is out now. I don’t do much plugging of writerly stuff here, as you’ll know, but I’m making an exception in this case. Although having seen how much higher he is up the Amazon ranking than I am …

Anyway, Shaun is also a blogger – it’s how he got started and the reason why the Koestler Trust matched us up in the first place. His has been a fascinating story and I’ve been privileged to see it develop over the time that I’ve known him from a series of scattered and amusing anecdotes into a compelling story about someone who managed to drag himself out of the depths and not just survive but thrive. Go, and have a read.

Right, plug over. Normal service will resume tomorrow…

*especially as I managed to misremember even this one