A Reader Request (please reply!)

and some timetabling updates

I received some feedback on ‘Track 7’ from a reader earlier today (thanks Brendan) which suggested some other musical avenues that might prove explorable off the back of my musings about Morrissey’s malaise, which then got me thinking …

… each ‘Challenge 69’ chapter is loosely structured around one of my own favourite ‘musical mavericks’, but there must be lots of my hundreds of readers (OK, 103 to be honest!) who have their own preferred variation on this theme.

After all, we all love a rebel! So, here’s the pitch!

It would be great if some of you (by simply replying to this email) could please let me know which ‘musical maverick’ would sit atop your own nonconformist tree?

There are two ways you can play this game:

• For the ‘full strength’ version; let me know your own choice, and then pen some accompanying words (as many or few as you like) explaining why, in your eyes, they are deserving of this preeminent status. I can then share these as guest posts, or,

• For the ‘maverick lite’ version; if you’re not keen on writing an explanation (or it being shared!), then simply reply with the name of your chosen artist and I’ll let Stuart loose with a few of his own thoughts on your choice! I’ll encourage him to be kind about your ‘maverick’ (unless, of course, you choose Whitney Houston).

PLEASE consider joining in; preferably with your own rationale (as it would be great to hear some new voices on the site) but failing that a simple nomination is fine.

My hope is enough of you (a dozen in fact) will respond to allow me to pull together a ‘twelve mavericks of Christmas’ feature which I can send out over the festive season!

~~~

While I’m on, a few brief updates:

• For those who read my ‘holiday’ post, those elusive Northern Lights did indeed turn up (most unexpectedly) on our final day in Svalbard. They were spectacular!

• A much belated congratulations to Adrian B. who was the first ‘C69’ reader to contact me with a correct solution to ‘Track 7’s ‘challenge’ (‘T8’s is much harder!),

• Post-holiday editing is going relatively smoothly on ‘Track 8’, so barring any last-minute hitches it should be out, as scheduled, on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th,

• To avoid any clash with the King’s Speech (still sounds weird that) I’ll be delaying ‘Track 9’ until the 27th & 28th, to be consumed alongside your turkey sandwiches,

• Which has made me think Sat/Sun releases may be the way to go in 2023, given not all my readers have yet (like their author) given up on gainful employment!

That’s all for now, I’ll send a final brief chapter countdown post on Friday.