Census meme (from everywhere)
Mar. 8th, 2011 08:45 pmIn 2011 I am mostly living in a mortgaged house in Arthur's Hill, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK), with two boy-cats [Barry and Mac, for those not playing along] and too many books not enough rooms. I am also sometimes (not often enough) living with
klwilliams in her house in Sunnyvale, CA (USA), with two turtles [Dymphna and G'Kwan] and what must obviously be not enough books, because I keep bringing her more.
In 2001 I was living in the same house in Newcastle, with two utterly different girl-cats [Sophonisba and Artemisia, Sophie and Misha to their friends, which was everybody], and fewer books but not conspicuously so. No Karen. I had yet to discover America. (Actually, come to think, at census-time I was very busy discovering Taiwan. Which makes a neat decade between the first seeds of the idea that became the Moshui trilogy by Daniel Fox, and publication of the final volume next week...)
In 1991 I was living in a rented flat in Benwell, which is the same side of the city but a little edgier. No cats: not good cat territory. Still writing crime at that time; I had yet to out myself as a fantasist.
In 1981 I was living in a rented house on a farm in Cumbria, having a year out from the city. I shared the house with a friend and our two girl-cats, Homily and Pod. It was about census-time that year that I was commissioned to write my first novel, after four years making a living with short stories.
In 1971 I was living in my mother's house in Oxford, with three siblings, two dogs, one cat and a changeable number of smaller pets. And a great deal of incipient teenage angst.
In 1961 I was living in the house I'd been born in: 6 Cave St, Oxford, two-up two-down with no bathroom and an outside toilet. Two parents at that time and two siblings, pets unknown to me but certainly no dogs or cats.
In all earlier census-years I had not yet been born, unless I am wrong about those systems of belief constructed on notions of rebirth, Great Wheels, etc.
In 2001 I was living in the same house in Newcastle, with two utterly different girl-cats [Sophonisba and Artemisia, Sophie and Misha to their friends, which was everybody], and fewer books but not conspicuously so. No Karen. I had yet to discover America. (Actually, come to think, at census-time I was very busy discovering Taiwan. Which makes a neat decade between the first seeds of the idea that became the Moshui trilogy by Daniel Fox, and publication of the final volume next week...)
In 1991 I was living in a rented flat in Benwell, which is the same side of the city but a little edgier. No cats: not good cat territory. Still writing crime at that time; I had yet to out myself as a fantasist.
In 1981 I was living in a rented house on a farm in Cumbria, having a year out from the city. I shared the house with a friend and our two girl-cats, Homily and Pod. It was about census-time that year that I was commissioned to write my first novel, after four years making a living with short stories.
In 1971 I was living in my mother's house in Oxford, with three siblings, two dogs, one cat and a changeable number of smaller pets. And a great deal of incipient teenage angst.
In 1961 I was living in the house I'd been born in: 6 Cave St, Oxford, two-up two-down with no bathroom and an outside toilet. Two parents at that time and two siblings, pets unknown to me but certainly no dogs or cats.
In all earlier census-years I had not yet been born, unless I am wrong about those systems of belief constructed on notions of rebirth, Great Wheels, etc.