Signs that I used to be a bookseller: I’m just minding my own business when the thought pops into my head that last year there were two novels for children published in Australia that heavily feature an octopus.

“Wow,’ I think, “wouldn’t it be fun if I could find, say, 8 fairly recently published novels for children that feature an octopus?”

Approximately 1 hour later. This will be useful to someone, somewhere.