I’m sorry that Rhiannon and I haven’t been that active on the PVB lately. We’ve been weathering a family crisis which looks like it’s going to get worse in the days to come.

Over summer my wife of twenty years, Sally, decided that I was impossible to live with and expressed an intention to separate. Attempts I’ve made at a reconciliation have so far failed. Sally is determined to move from the family home and take the children with her. The children don’t wish to go. The divorce papers arrived last week and Sally is claiming that I’m responsible for an irretrievable breakdown of the relationship and should therefore pay all costs for a divorce, give her custody of the children, a lump sum, and maintenance payments. On 13th November I’m in court at the start of what promises to be a lengthy, gory, and expensive custody battle.

As you can imagine this has been the emotional equivalent of a series of sledgehammer blows to the head. I still love Sally and I’d have her back in a heartbeat. I hate the idea of us being opponents and having to fight. These events have been a shock to family and friends (many of whom I’m only now getting round to cluing in; this is my weekend for “going public”) and a horrible trauma for the children. It’s been a factor in my recent decision to change jobs to something that gives me much more time flexibility. It’s why I’ve not felt particularly inspired to creative writing.

That said I’m trying to maintain as normal a lifestyle as I can for Rhiannon, Alex, and myself, and the PVB is part of that world. I just didn’t want posters to misinterpret any long pauses in activity or occasional snarkiness as reflecting on them or their work.

IW