No Surprises Living in Devizes

9th Feb 2016, I don’t know what came over me as checked Facebook before my mid-morning nap; hard life I know. Saw this news post from a site I’d not heard of before, went by the name of Index: Wiltshire. I quickly despatched a message to them, without any real thought as to the implications of my actions. That moment of lunacy is why we are here today, with this book; all I can do is apologise.

I asked if they needed any writers; dared them to take a chance, making it perfectly clear I had no experience in journalism. Did they listen? No, they just let me loose on a path; I had no idea where it led.

Forward wind a year and No Surprises Living in Devizes has become a bit of a “thing,” the best description I can come up with. Every Sunday a new episode goes live like the unleashing of a crazed dragon on steroids. I face a plethora of responses and feedback; some are nice.

There’s brute honesty in the causerie journalism doesn’t usually convey in this day and age. This stems from the fact I’m not a journalist. It also brings a straightforward view on life in our traditional market town, with wonky edges.

Yeah it’s satire, something which soars over the heads of some like a B52. Yeah it’s a rant, playing a character more left wing then Jeremey Corbyn’s vest in a preponderance of conservative snobbery, and yeah, it’s very design is to turn your stomach after resting off your Sunday roast. But hey, I try to be pleasant.
Here’s the thing I quickly learned, it’s impossible to find a weekly subject to rant about Devizes every week and if there is one surprise in Devize; it be art it be a rioght gard place and I’m gandeflanking yer shagger.

So sit back, try to make yourself comfy, maybe take a stiff drink and enjoy what is principally just a collation of all the year’s No Surprises Living in Devizes.