Richard's speech last year was memorable, though, wasn't it? My understanding is that in the Morgan attic there's a portrait of elderly Church of England vicar drinking a cup of tea with his pinkie out getting more and more delicately proper in his speech as the years go by.

Sorry about your bike.

Like Paul, I'm definitely looking forward to your shortlist review. I'm not allowed to discuss nominations and who's shortlisted or not (mostly because I'm not even in those meetings) but I'm definitely allowed to say that I've always thought of your round-ups of the Clarke Award shortlists as one of the real highlights of all the varied attention the award tends to generate.

Also, a small consolation perhaps, but assuming you'll be able to make the ceremony this year at least you can just enjoy the night and not spend the whole time worrying about which combination of expletives is the best way to top Richard's acceptance speech last year...

I had more than one bike stolen when I lived in Wandsworth, but you sort of expect it there. Plus I didn't need it every day to ship a toddler to nursery, as I now do.

My bike was stolen when I was living in Bow. Quite funny now.

I walked back to the flat from a holiday and someone went past on a bike that looked like mine.

My that looks like my bike, I remarked to myself.

And of course it was actually my bike.

Oh how I laughed, once I stopped chasing the guy (self preservation kicking in quite late on in the whole affair). *coughs*

Anyway, Swiftly rocks - in my humble opinion.

Graham: no upset at all. This post, hmm, hoom, reads (looking at it now) rather more self-pitying than I intended. I'm actually much more pissed off about my bike.

I can certainly say in all honesty I didn't expect to get shortlisted, although I persist in thinking it's the kind of novel a body might think could conceivably have been shortlisted, along with a dozen other titles that didn't make the list. Of course, Freud knows there's many a truth in inadvertence; but that doesn't mean there's any general moral here, beyond the obvious one, that I need to write my novels better. Which is always good advice.

And hey, think positive - means you can write your yearly shortlist review without any fear of bias. ;)