Balloons and a Bouncy Castle

Sad news about the Brazilian priest who, at the time of writing, still hasn't been found after setting off on a journey powered by helium balloons and being swept out to sea by strong winds.

There's a character in my second novel, Being Light, who is swept away on a bouncy castle on a freak gust of wind. He loses consciousness and when he wakes up and sees a plump blonde woman dressed in white standing over him, with the light behind her creating a halo effect, he thinks he's in Paradise. But actually he's in a remote part of Kent.

I often see articles in newspapers by writers following up on news items with their own stories: I too am anorexic/recently got divorced/wrote a story about a man swept away on a freak gust of wind/killed my child/like to eat organic food/won the lottery etc etc.

Perhaps I should have contacted the national press in the hope that an editor would consider paying me to write a self-congratulatory story along the lines of prescient author's brilliant second novel foreshadowed sad adventure of mad priest blah blah. I dunno, it always seems mercenary and opportunistic when I see other people doing it.

Although, I must admit, whenever I get any reward or recognition for my writing - financial or otherwise - it seems dirty and wrong somehow. I have to get over that.