Early this year, during a visit to South Africa, I found myself inspired to write a series of short stories. I’m not sure what it was, but a series of experiences each in turn suggested itself as a platform for a little work of fiction. Story after story floated off my pen – I wrote them in long-hand. And then, quite suddenly, the gusher died. I started the seventh, wrote a few paragraphs and – ran out of juice. Oh, well, I told myself: six stories on the trot is not at all bad. So I turned...