Liverpool: summer milestones

Over summer,

• my litrefs reviews site got its millionth hit
• my litrefs articles site got its half-millionth hit

I've retired too. This may explain why I've already written more prose this year than in any previous year: 32 Flashes and 6 stories so far. I've only written 3 poems though. None of the 2025 stuff has been published yet.

In the last month I've visited Paris, Nottingham, Chester and Liverpool. In my travels my biggest surprise was when I visited the Liverpool street where I used to live - much smarter than how I recall it. It's cobbled with a stylish bar at the end, and closer than I thought to the landmarks I recall - the 2 cathedrals, the Unity Theatre, the Everyman Theatre and the Casa.

I'm surprised that the Casa still exists. In my day it had soggy carpets, cheap booze and dubious curries. We went there after the pubs closed. It didn't draw attention to itself. It looks smarter nowadays but still seems rather out of place. Without the barrels and the letters over the door it might be just another family house. The old Casa (short for Casablanca) "nightclub" is now the Community Advice Service Association (CASA) set up by sacked Liverpool dock-workers, with a bar and performance area.

While I lived in Liverpool I went to a Writers club. I wrote some SF and got a poem on BBC Radio Merseyside, but I was too busy doing a Masters to progress much with my writing. Now time isn't an issue.