Wow!

Oliver’s Voice nominated for a major book prize

My book, Oliver’s Voice, has been nominated for the International Booker Prize.

This is absolutely incredible.

Incredible (adj) impossible or hard to believe.

If you still find this hard to believe, you would be right, and then you might be suspicious about today’s date.

1^st April.

April Fools Day is a popular excuse for all sorts of pranks and hoaxes across Europe and North America, yet its origins are obscure.

The most popular theory relates to the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar and originates from France. The date of the new year was moved from 1^st April to 1^st January, and those who still believed the new year began on 1^st April were called April fools. People taken in by nonsense are also called April fish because they have been easily caught, and it is still fun today to secretly fix a paper fish to somebody’s back on this day.

Some people trace the origins back even further, to Roman times, when around the equinox, marking the start of spring, was the festival of Hilaria. In honour of the goddess Cybele, people dressed up in disguises and enjoyed a day of fun, which probably involved getting absolutely hammered, because, Romans.

Personally, I find this theory a little iffy. It smacks of people trying to make a connection that isn’t really there. For a start, there are many festivals of Hilaria, it refers to any festival of fun, and the Romans knew how to have fun, or at least the rich ones did. It also marked the vernal equinox, which isn’t the first day of April, so nice try, but I’m not buying it.

The great thing about writing ghost stories is that I get to research folklore, the fascinating world of the paranormal, and so many intriguing traditions and beliefs. This is actually my job these days, yes, really. Somebody, please pinch me.

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