The writings of 12 February 2003 are not the first entries to be contained within my LiveJournal for I have since gone back and back-filled it with transcriptions of earlier attempts at diary writing or with flashbacks from my memory. This last decade has been my single, longest attempt at writing any kind of diary.

So where was I in 2003…?

Job then: Electronic Content Quality Controller. Basically the guy to make the online versions of some scientific journals like the (Thrice) Monthly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Job now: Web and Digital Media Officer. The web designer for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University. I also look after the social networking and do a bit of video work. Its a lot more creative work than a decade ago.

Writing then: I was in the wilderness years. The then titled Blood & Fire was started, but writing wasn’t go so well, so I was busy revising my previous novel Flyht. I still have a fondness for Flyht and may yet dust off the cobwebs to it.

Writing now: My second novel, Mr Tumnal, having published my first, The End Of All Worlds during the last year. I’m nearing the end of this one, after which I will have to revise it, edit it, and then decide whether to try the traditional route of publishing it or take the Indie route again.

Life then: Single. Dreadful levels of self-confidence. Recently bullied at work, starting this journal was part of a plan I had to try and get more confidence in me. About the same time I also became a First Aider at work and joined the Social Committee. Approaching my 30th birthday. Wore no jewellery. At the time of starting my journal I had no pets, although I would soon take on my first cat, Pepper.

Life now: Married. Met Emma on match.com we now have 8 cats, 3 chickens, 2 bunnies, 1 hamster, and some fish. I wear a wedding ring and a necklace – usually amber (I purchased an amber pendant whilst on holiday in Estonia in the summer of 2003), but sometimes Obsidian or a small piece of Celtic glass, or (rarely) Murano glass). In the intervening years I have had coaching for Aspergers, been made redundant from my job at (then) Blackwell Publishing (replaced by a machine), had a spell at OUP doing something similar but with online books, a short spell of unemployment, and been ‘restructured’ once whilst in my current job. I’ve also met my best friend, online, and since married her.

But how to begin? I did have an idea for a film today – well when I say today – it’s been brewing in my head for a few days now. It’s a kind of Richard Curtis/Love Actually inspired, ensemble kind of film. There’s a multitude of stories that surround four to six separate groups of friends. The connecting link between these groups, is the internet (for the sake of argument) LiveJournal world. It’s a bit of romance, with twisted plotlines – the central, overarcing story is this internet romance that comes good, defying some of the real life relationships happening in the stories spun around in the orbitting groups.

In the words of one friend: “so kind of using the little stories as dynamoes to generate meaning for the larger overarching story”

So the internet story ends up being more real than the life version. Me like that. It’s the opposite of what you would expect.

Of course, this said, I’m not sure if it’s the kind of story that I have the ability to write…