An eccentric whiskey collector...

I'm looking to buy a house in the near future (first time buyer) and yesterday after work we went to look round what looked like a promising house. We were greated at the door by a fairly short man, mid-fifties with wild straw coloured hair and a slightly disheveled appearance. His hair in fact was not dis-similar in colour and style from Dr Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future films. This man didn't have the same wild look in his eyes, but he did have a manically energetic air about him which was obvious from the wild gesticulating he did with his arms all the time. The faint smell of cigarette smoke emanated from him. The house was untidy to say the least, with piles of junk everywhere, a lifetime of belongings scattered all around. On the walls were cabinets filled with miniature whiskey bottles, some many years old and others from distilleries long since closed down. The man, lets call him Mr Bell, explained that he "wasn't a drinker" but just liked collecting them. It started accidentally when someone bought him some miniature whiskey bottles for his birthday, and on subsequent birthdays others followed suit. His job, installing and repairing cash machines, used to take him all round the country and he often would have several hours to kill in a strange town. He'd wander round the shops, and gradually started buying miniatures wherever he went. One day, so he told us, he'd like to travel round Scotland visiting all the distilleries.

In the course of showing us round the house, we found out he was just in the process of getting a divorce - I'm not sure what number wife this was, but it clearly wasn't his first. The kitchen, with its rows of bottles on top of the cupboard, many of them alcoholic, cast some doubt on his assertion that he was "not a drinker" but then maybe they belonged to his soon to be ex-wife. Mr Bell was obviously a DIY man, as the signs of his handiwork were everywhere, much of it unfinished. The only rooms which were fully decorated were a computer room (with a desktop, a laptop and various other computer equipment), and the attic room. The attic was reachable only by a rickety and unsecured ladder, but the room itself was nicely carpeted and decorated, with what looked like a serious collection of music kit. There were speakers, amplifiers, mixing stations and a lot of kit I simply didn't recognise. A man of many hobbies, that much was obvious.

So that was the story of Mr Bell (obviously not his real name). An interesting person, potentially the basis for a fictional character. Lets hope I meet someone else interesting soon.

What am I currently reading?

Currently reading 'Blood on the Tongue' by Stephen Booth. It's a crime novel, which follows two junior detectives in a rural police force in the fictional village of Edendale in the Peak District. I was once at a book event with Stephen Booth and he told us that he writes about junior officers as it's more realistic - the Inspectors and Superindtendants in the police world do a lot more paperwork than anything else. Contrary to what you'd believe from watching or reading Frost, Morse etc. 'Blood on the Tongue' is his third novel (the first is 'Black Dog').

Also reading 'America' by Alistair Cooke. It's a very well written and enjoyable history of America. About half way through and finding it really interesting, but put it down for a bit to read a novel.

Avid Reader, Aspiring Writer

Hi, I'm Steve, and if anyone is reading this then welcome! Inky Pages is my blog all about books and writing, by an avid reader and aspiring writer. I'm a little fickle at times so what will appear on here I'm not exactly sure but mostly I'll be talking about books, writing and anything else that happens to occur to me.

Also, if any of the books on writing which I've read or idly flicked through are to be believed, an excellent way to hone your writing skills and come up with lots of great ideas is to keep a writer's journal. This blog will hopefully also be that journal. This doesn't mean I'm going to write all about my day (that would be very boring and tedious most of the time), but the idea is I'll write about anything interesting I've seen or done, any interesting characters I've met.

Anyway, more soon...