In the course of my research into how railroads operate, as part of my background reading for the novel I just started writing, I’ve discovered an interesting fact. It used to be that hobos got around the country by jumping on freight trains and moving from one city to the next to collect food stamps and benefit checks. Well it turns out that “catching out”, as train hopping is called, has become the burgeoning hobby of bored yuppies. Weird. Who would want to sit for hours hiding from railroad police personnel in the hope that they could jump onto a moving death trap and sit for days on a hard floor lashed and beaten by the elements? On the other hand, who would want to sit in an office upward of ten hours a day?

Anyway, the novel is progressing fairly well and I have pretty much nailed my synopsis. Thirty chapters in all, each of which should average about 2.5k words. I’ve written the first couple of scenes and I think they work pretty well.

The key will be to keep up the momentum until the book is finished. That will depend on a number of factors but mostly on how much time I can devote to it each day. Watch this space.