I’ll be spending this Christmas alone.

Don’t feel sorry for me. I prefer it this way.

After God knows how many years of my dad dictating exactly when we should open our presents, my uncle George insisting that the sound be turned up to full volume for the Queen’s speech, my auntie Betty slapping him for his bad manners…you get the scenario.

The last few years have been a Godsend.

I can eat and drink what I like, when I like and there’s no one to tell me I’m being too greedy.

Bliss!

What makes this Christmas different is that it’s the first since I registered with Big Closet and subsequently re-invented myself as Nicki Benson. Some might say that my female alter-ego hasn’t been an unqualified success, that she still comes across as a little too testosterone-fuelled as she struts her stuff across the BC dance floor. Be that as it may, I still feel the need to give something back to a site that has not only allowed me to publish my often unconventional fiction but also introduced me to a wide range of people who, though I’ll probably never meet them, I will always consider my friends.

Here’s what I propose.

On Christmas morning around 1100 GMT I’ll set up a blog called ‘Have Your Say’. It can be about anything. If you feel lonely, get that off your chest. If you feel suffocated by relatives, well here’s the perfect excuse to escape them for a while. If you want to scream at the world, then do it!

I’ll also make myself available for Private Messages throughout the day. Replies will be sent as soon as is humanly possible. I can’t promise that they won’t be accompanied by links to 1970s prog rock…

I can anticipate some of the responses this blog might receive. Why, I hear you ask, if you feel so altruistic don’t you volunteer to help the needy in your neighbourhood?

Good point. I have no answer to that except laziness.

Or perhaps Nicki doth protest too much, and she’s the one in need of company.

Not with the Sunderland crowd. We don’t do ‘lonely this Christmas’.

It’s up to you. The offer is there.