Birthdays

After yesterday's grumbly blog, I've been trying to think of something cheerful to mark the first anniversary of Severe Discomfort's publication.  One daft idea was to see what character traits astrology might ascribe to someone born on 3rd February, and see if they matched any of the characters in the book.  I must stress that this is just a bit of fun - personally, I'm a sceptic when it comes to astrology, though I'm not sure it is actually 'worse than racism' as the mighty Dara O'Briain once argued.


Anyway, back to February 3rd: Aquarius, it seems.  From a quick Google I got 'Those born under this sign have the social conscience needed to carry us into the new millennium. These folks are humanitarian, philanthropic and keenly interested in making the world a better place.'  So that would be all of the staff at the Solent Welfare Rights Project and their principal allies - except Hilary Carrington, whose birthday is actually mentioned as being 20th November, exactly a week after Lyn Walker's. 


There was no deliberate plan to make Lyn or Hilary a Scorpio, by the way - even if some alleged attributes of that sign aren't a bad match for determined, competitive and passionate Hilary, Lyn doesn't seem to fit the bill.  The crunch factor for Lyn's birthday was the opportunity for it to be on a 'Friday 13th' with its traditional association with bad luck, and not too long before Christmas.  Terry Walker also gets a birthday - in early May, branding him a Taurus and thus potentially materialistic and stubborn (again, a happy accident). 


I don't think any of the other major characters have stated birthdays (so far).  I'll be doing a 'what's in a name' blog one day looking at how the characters got their names, but what if some of their names fitted their star signs?  Is Sally Archer a Sagittarius?  'Sagittarians are truth-seekers, and the best way for them to do this is to hit the road, talk to others and get some answers. Knowledge is key to these folks, since it fuels their broad-minded approach to life.'  Not a bad fit...


Is Gary Pike the archetypal Pisces?  'The great strength of the Pisces-born is their compassionate and charitable nature. These folks love to help others and do so in the most imaginative of ways. It's their feeling sensibility that wins people over,' says the astrology site. 


That'll be a 'No', then!  In fact (without giving to much away if you haven't reached the end of Severe Discomfort or read Continual Supervision) that sounds much more like another of the guys from the DWP.


So 'Happy Birthday' to Severe Discomfort.  A year on, things are unquestionably worse for the Lyns and Terrys of this world, and it's tougher for the Vaughans and Hilarys too.  But there's some hope in a survey today suggesting that almost half of the people asked thought benefit claimants weren't fairly treated in the way the media portray them.  Perhaps it's time the other half read Severe Discomfort!


13th November 2015 - Severe Discomfort Kindle version free for the last time this year on 4th December.