The Money Shop:

Part Two

Tuesday May 13th, 1980

A valiant but doomed attempt here to continue The Money Shop from the previous day, obviously interrupted within minutes of starting. I can’t necessarily blame myself for that - I clearly wanted to finish the story in the same exciting style and must have been asked to do something else instead. But I’ve noticed there’s an increasing trend towards scrappiness in this English book and I want to understand why. In my second term, I wrote 32 pieces, but in the whole of the third, I wrote only half that number. The general creative trend, which was soaring up and up before Easter, appears to have taken a nosedive. There must be a good reason for this. There are several possibilities: 1. Life’s just like that. Over the years, I’ve realised that creativity just works that way. You get into a project, then there’s a period of intense enthusiasm as you work tirelessly to realise your vision, until it naturally ebbs away and - unless there’s a damn good reason, like money - never comes back. You learn professional techniques to be able to work through the down times, but if you’re just trying to coast on enthusiasm alone, once your initial honeymoon period is over, it’s not really going any further. This might just be the first recorded example of that ever happening to me. 2. I was ill. I fell ill quite a lot when I was a kid. Thanks to an early bout of measles as a baby, my parents decided it was pointless me having the vaccine. As a consequence I had measles three times, German measles twice and, in one particularly bad month, mumps immediately followed by chicken pox. I also had recurrent tonsillitis which lasted way into adulthood, leading eventually to me having my tonsils removed at the age of 28. I do remember one time at Fairburn I also managed to rip my heel open on a large nail which was sticking up out of the floorboards outside my bedroom and couldn’t walk on it for a few days. There’s actually no evidence I was at school the previous week, so I suppose it could have happened around here. 3. My Topic books. Ever since Mr Geraghty gave me the green light to start defacing my Topic books, my main outlet for mad creativity had shifted. The English books still appear to be my main forum for text adventures, but the ability to use these other books for more freewheeling nonsense was making them more and more appealing. As the term wears on, that will become more and more apparent. And then there are other possibilities which, one day, I’d like to write about in more depth. It would be therapeutic for me at least. But right now, at the time of writing, I need to take a step back. Making this website is the most fun I’ve ever had, but it’s a full- time job and it pays me exactly zero pounds a year. There are other things I need to take care of, like this and this and maybe even this. But when they’re done, maybe then I’ll have a go at telling you what I mean. TO BE CONTINUED??

TOPIC 2 The one where it all kicks off

TERM 2 The birth of the 1980s - Blake’s 7, Blondie and battles in space

< The Money Shop: 1

Moses and the Pharaoh >

The Flame in the Desert An evil fire threatens the safety of the world

Grobschnitt’s Page Meet Grobschnitt, the dome-headed Harbinger of Mischief

Apeth (from Ota Sbees) Ritern ov thu perpal geriller

Exploring the Underworld Eight boys go exploring in a dangerous cave

TERM 3 1980 continues with the embassy siege and The Empire Strikes Back