I'm getting too old for this shhh.

An interesting day today. I enrolled in the Queen's University Belfast MA for creative writing. It was a bit of a challenge to get to this point. First the stress of getting accepted onto the course. I applied thinking it was a long shot but in the time it took to get word back I began to believe that I needed that offer more than anything in the world. I'm good at torturing myself that way. But the offer came and then I had to figure out a way to actually attend the classes. Turned out I would have to take a demotion at the day-job if I was going to make the classes. After considering the finances and whatnot, and with the support of my perfect wife, it looked like it would be a reality. Then I had to pay the fees. Not easy on my newly reduced income. But we worked it out.

And I got what I wanted in the end. So today I spent a lot of time marvelling at the fact that I'm so much older than the majority of folk milling about the Queen's campus during freshers' week. I passed down many an offer for a free shot at a nightclub or a reduced rate pizza from young hipsters armed with a stack of coupons positioned at strategic points on campus. And I accepted the reality of the work I'll have to put in to gain that piece of paper that will validate me as a serious student of creative writing. And I got a student card that will entitle me to money off clothes from shops I wouldn't dare set foot in.

But hey, now I can dream of a day-job in the arts sector. And I feel accomplished.

In other news, I got a further ego boost when I read an article in the Belfast Telegraph that names me as a writer to look out for in the future. Gob bless Colin Bateman and read the article here.