I saw this week on Publishers Lunch that one of the major houses had bought a flatulence-themed Christmas book. File this under “Is Nothing Sacred?” if you like, but maybe they’re onto something. Just take a familiar theme, add gas and/or poop, and presto — everything old is new again, if a little gross.

Nothing wrong with being gross. One of S’s favorite books recently is Roddy Doyle’s The Giggler Treatment, which turns scatology into high (and yet, low) art.

Besides, news of this week’s sale has me thinking about a scat-themed manuscript I wrote about 18 months ago but never submitted anywhere. Nor did I intend to submit it anywhere. I wrote it mostly for myself, as a just-for-fun spoof of one of those familiar themes (character tries to fit in with a new crowd, only to discover that he just needs to be himself!). It still makes me laugh just to think about it, though, and now I’m thinking about sharing it/inflicting it on the wider world, just to see what happens.

An Easter-themed sequel might be a good idea, too…