Friday 7 December 2012

When I was 45 ...


Yes, it's my Birthday Blog Post, in which, every year, I look back with a critical eye on my life and check whether I need a kick in the ass or should just give in and collect my coffin.

When I was 45, for the first time ...



  • I saw geek-god Alan Moore live! And Jonathan Coulton! My nerd apotheosis...
  • I wore a cheap-n-slutty glow-in-the dark minidress to a blacklight party
  • I reported someone on Facebook for abusive language
  • I visited Florence, Barcelona and Ravenna.
  • I saw Mumford and Sons in concert!!!

  • I crawled around an Etruscan necropolis. Two, actually!
  • I went by motorhome all the way from from Italy to England, and right through the Alps in a tunnel.
  • I ate samphire (salty).
  • I swam in a freshwater lake (in Italy).


  • I got my PADI open water scubadiving certification.
  • I saw Mathilda, and Stomp, and Jesus Christ Superstar, all live.
  • I appeared in a national newspaper - the Express.
  • My name was mentioned in The Bookseller, on BBC Online, and ... by the Canadian Broadcasting Company!
  • I backed something on Kickstarter. It still hasn't turned up.
  • I co-edited the fiction for Geek Love, which is just the coolest anthology ever, and the highest-backed fiction project on Kickstarter. I found I rather like editing other people's work, mostly because I am mean.



  • I was headhunted and contracted to write the first volume of The Book of the Watchers for Cleis.
  • I went to Eroticon 2012, which was great but exhausting. Still not sure I can cope with 2 days in 2013!
  • I had 10 short stories published. I'm definitely not going to manage that many next year!
  • I went to a burlesque show.
  • I slept in a yurt (I say slept ...), and watched the stars through the roof hole while possibly not entirely free of the influence of mind-altering substances. My hippy weekend.


  • I went to the London Book Fair and hung out with the editors of Samhain and Ellora's Cave (No, not at the same time. Hell would freeze over first, I suspect).
  • I got my kit off and posed butt-naked for photographs that'll appear in public. In Geek Love, in case you were wondering.
Other firsts ... Heh. Not telling!
So: 45 was the year of sex, drugs and ... folk music.
And geeks.

I'm definitely not dead yet :-)

10 comments:

K D Grace said...

Happy Birthday, Janine!

And, wow! What a year you had! I can hardly wait to see what next year brings! I hope it's full of new and wonderful adventures.

KDxx

Janine Ashbless said...

Heh. My forties have turned out to be just great, beyond my wildest dreams. And you guys know how wild some of my dreams are!
At some point my body's going to give out and say "You know, maybe stay home and have a nice cup of tea instead" ... but I think I shuld hammer it until I reach that point!

D. L. King said...

Happy birthday and hammer away! What a fabulous year.

Janine Ashbless said...

"... I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land..."

Hmmm. This is starting to sound like a euphemism.

Liz said...

Yep, Camden Market is the coolest place in Britain :)

What a wonderful year, happy happy birthday x

Jeremy Edwards said...

Helia and I love these! I probably said that last year, too. [Checks link.] Yep! Maybe I'll say it even louder this year, though, what with the butt-nakedness and all. (;v>

Janine Ashbless said...

And thanks Liz!

Jeremy Edwards said...

Oh, I guess I don't get to actually see it, then. But I can still enthuse over it, in principle, right?

Lily Harlem said...

Wow, happy birthday and what an amazing year!!

I know what you mean about a two day eroticon, its going to be busy but fun, looking forward to seeing you there.

Lily x

Janine Ashbless said...

Jeremy - worry not. Geek Love will be available to purchase in e-format, so you can enthuse over my digital butt.

And I do not believe I just wrote that ...