Reasons to be cheerful—Matthew Ravden

As well as being the author of BlokeMiles (his first novel, which is out now, published by Orion), Matthew Ravden is also a director of Next Fifteen, an international group of PR agencies

My pride and joy is my Shure E5 earphones set—they go right inside the ears and make my iPod sound half decent.

My happiest memory is crab fishing with my father off the quay at Appledore in Devon.

The best hotel room in the world is any of the rooms at Tree Camp overlooking the Sand River at the private Londolozi game reserve in South Africa. When I went there on my honeymoon, there were scratch marks on the deck, right next to the jaccuzi, where a pair of lions had mated a few nights before.

My favourite new toy or gadget is this fantastic “über” remote control called an MX3000, which means I can have all the latest technology without a platoon of handsets.  Scores points with the wife, which always helps.

The best clothes I’ve bought recently have been from Fat Face.  I know, it’s hard to believe at my age, but it’s true nonetheless.

My favourite restaurant table is at Le Manoir au Quat’ Saisons. My wife and I had a special meal there to celebrate her birthday.
The best books I’ve read recently (apart from BlokeMiles) are The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connolly, and a book called Candlemoth by Roger Jon Ellory, about a bloke on death row for killing his best friend. It’s his first novel, so I have some sense of solidarity with him.

The best music I’ve heard for ages is Monty Alexander meets Sly & Robbie—it’s jazz piano with a funk rhythm section.

What I’m looking forward to most this autumn is playing golf in Scotland for four days with a few good friends.

Three other reasons to be cheerful are that mankind will not destroy the planet—the planet will decide when it’s had enough of us; England won the Ashes (let’s enjoy it while we can); and life’s too short not to be.