Happy Global Champagne Day, you special person

I was looking for an idea for this week’s newsletter when I discovered that today, October 23rd, is Global Champagne Day.

It’s also National Croc Day.

Not the scaly reptile, but the shoes that seem to have conquered the world.

And I hesitate to share this: National Slap Your Irritating Co-Worker Day.

Please don’t. HR has enough to deal with.

How did I end up here?

This is what happens when I’m hunting for stories. I disappear down rabbit holes, get distracted and sometimes emerge with something worth sharing.

Meanwhile, over the past months, my inbox has been filling up with offers to turn my existing material into weeks of ready-to-post content.

LinkedIn posts, newsletters, videos. You name it, AI can deliver, all in my voice. In minutes.

I could relax, put my feet up and watch Netflix while a digital version of me does all the work.

It’s tempting; I understand the attraction.

Writing can be tough. Sometimes an idea that seemed brilliant in the shower turns out to be a complete dud when I sit down to write it.

Of course, I find AI is a useful thought partner.

I ask it to challenge my thinking, spot holes in an argument, or tell me when something doesn’t make sense.

But I have absolutely no desire to hand over parts of the creative process.

When I get hold of an idea, I can be like a pitbull with a pant leg. Love, like love the intellectual wrestling. Occasionally I admit defeat and let the poor idea go.

But oh, the joy when something finally clicks.

Just this morning, out walking, I had a cracking idea for my next book. If I remember correctly, angels started playing harps and a rainbow burst into the sky.

It was sublime.

As a writer, I live for moments like that.

And I especially love writing this newsletter.

Sometimes the result is imperfect. Maybe even eccentric.

But I wrote it. Just for you.

Let’s raise a glass to that.