The Hispaniolan Solenodon

I wasn't born - to my knowledge - with a specific love of long-snouted animals, but an interest in wildlife was bound to lead me there one day. This cultivation was hammered home when working at Norwich County Court from 1992 until 2005 where all sorts of nonsense took place involving myself, and others who will remain anonymous under psuedonyms such as Trunka, Uncle Oojah, and Broughty. A lot of this nonsense - some true, some false - is documented in my biography of the forgotten comic impressario, Ponthe Oldenguine, available from Atomic Fez Publishers. Long-snouted animals had an important part to play in Ponthe's life. And here is a good example:

This is the Hispaniolan solenodon, a strange looking shrew-like creature with a long snout and specialised teeth capable of delivering venom. Only two solenodon species exist today, one in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and the other in Cuba. Just look at the length of that snout.

For starters

I suppose my first blog should be like a tsunami rolling across cyberspace destroying all in its wake, but in reality this initial post will be read by so few that it's more of a drop in the ocean than the ocean itself. Let's get basic:

 

Why Nitrospective? Two-fold. Firstly, I write fiction. Quite a lot of that fiction has been published. And last year some of that fiction was published by DogHorn. "Nitrospective" is the title story of that collection and - like the other stories - is an example of what I like to call 'slipstream'. Slipstream is a nebulous term - it can encompass everything and anything - but I feel it's the closest definition of what I do. Although even I don't know exactly what it is that I do when I write: it can come out crime, horror, science fiction, or fantasy - but it won't recognisably fall into those genres as defined by the general public. Nebulous, as I say.

 

I also like the word "Nitrospective" because of the implied explosion mixed with the anagram of 'introspective'. If I have an aim for this blog, then it's a mixture of those two words. And I know 'nitrospective' isn't a word. But it is now.

 

In addition to writing I have a day job in a call centre, work Sundays in a library, I typset, I proofread, and I co-edit the magazine, Fur-Lined Ghettos with my partner, Sophie. I also watch a lot of movies and I read a lot of books. I'll probably rant about either or both from time to time. And I especially like animals with elongated snouts. I may well post images of animals with elongated snouts and enthuse about them. So - if nothing else - if you also like animals with elongated snouts then you'll know where to come.