If you ever write a book (or get said book pub­lished), you really ought to do some­thing to cel­e­brate the occa­sion. Me? I got a tattoo.

I’m not much of a tat­too per­son, but last year, while in Fin­land, I got a tat­too of my favourite band on the back of my neck. It’s brought me noth­ing but amaz­ing luck, espe­cially with regards to my music jour­nal­ist career. I thought it was the only tat­too I’d ever get.

Until I men­tioned the Dark­house pub­li­ca­tion date to my friend Helen. She pointed out that many peo­ple get Fri­day the 13th tat­toos. Sud­denly, that’s all I wanted. A tat­too to com­mem­o­rate the pub­li­ca­tion of my first novel and the start of some­thing amazing.

So, yes­ter­day, I got the lit­tle 13 behind the ear. For some rea­son, it barely hurt, took less than 10 min­utes, and is really dis­crete. I love it, though. I think it’s going to bring me, and my books, noth­ing but good luck.

Also, now when my hair is up, I look pretty hard­core