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Over the last year, I’ve become obsessed with trawling second-hand bookshops and charity bookshelves. I’ve caught up with Clare Chambers, Emily St John Mandel and Ruth Ozeki. But I'm not done yet
My reading of The Complete Works of Shakespeare was almost at an end. The book (only a paperback) had weighed in at 1250g, and the font…
Let It Snow!
The sky grew dark and the clouds drew in. The first big fat flakes began to fall. And fall and fall and fall...
Well, I'd just read all of Shakespeare's plays and I was feeling extremely showy-offy. And yes, I'd been totally mind-blown or singularly unimpressed and all the…
Don’t Call On Me
. Cold winds blow through city streets as winter’s grip takes hold and grey souls in downbeat worlds retreat to lies untold. . Rain-lashed pavements now…
Unbelievably, after nearly six months, I had almost come to the end of the complete works of Shakespeare. That lockdown challenge had proved hard to do…
Of all the Christmases before and since, this one will forever be my favourite: the night of the beatboxing panto under kerosene lamps in tribal Jharkhand, with magic of an entirely unexpected kind
Pericles - Cymbeline - Winter's Tale... I was determined to push on, despite having never heard of a couple of these. Also unaware that the good, the bad, and the ugly were about to hit me full force
Hugh was last seen with Jack, our four year old. He shrugged and dipped a toast soldier into his runny yolk, "We were playing Hide n Seek, but I couldn't find him. He vanished."
Imagine Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Rhianna all rolled into one - tthen multiply by 100 and add a ***load of gold and you're coming close... that's Cleopatra!
If you read my Christmas Snippets post, you'll be aware that I suffered a psychotic episode in 2019. This was followed by a long period of…
Othello - Macbeth - King Lear... If I thought Iago and Macca had issues, then Lear wrote the book on them
My paperback version of The Complete Works of Shakespeare was starting to look properly shabby. I'd bent the cover back a lot, and sat cups of…
Christmas Snippets
As a teen, I used to feel awkward and a little fearful of homeless people; but this week I held the cold hands of a lady who was living on the streets
I was approaching the halfway mark of my Shakespeare-a-thon, and methought it was time for some top scores. The Big H was coming up, so I…
Improvised Lines and Spinal Tap Whispers
As a rock guitarist, I expected music, not culinary critique. But there I was, teaching an actor how to make Irish Stew—in front of a live audience.
Much Ado About Nothing left me in a good place, so the thought of another comedy coming up was quite welcome. But would it deliver the…
Christina
Gone Too Soon
Remembering a friend in poetry.
Just Another Day
I don’t want to bring you down, but Christmas isn’t always fun for me. It’s a difficult time for a lot of people. The pressure is…
A Lake and a Troika
It is 1975. I am a teenager, listening for the first time to a protest song by Greg Lake. The tune mesmerises me, the riff stiffens…
When I was eight years old, I auditioned for a part in my school’s Christmas play, Christmas is Cancelled! Despite being a shy child, I loved…
I was cracking on with my stupidly self-imposed lockdown challenge to read The Complete Works of Shakespeare. I'd met a few Henry's now, and although I…
Over the river and through the woods To Grandmother’s house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh Through the wide and drifted…
I'd now hit the stage where I was half enjoying this challenge and half wishing I hadn't told everyone I was gonna do it. There were…
I'd now encountered a few stand-out plays, in my great Shakespeare-reading marathon, so I felt quite buoyed up at the prospect of what was approaching. But…
In my quest to read all of Shakespeare from start to finish, I finally made it to plays that I'd heard about and seen on the…
Ten minutes before I left the house, my boss called. “The science class is cancelled today. Take Jisoo and Jennie instead. They need adjective practice.” (By…
Full of enthusiasm for my lockdown project of reading The Complete Works of Shakespeare, I wandered blindly on to play number 5. Some time later I…
Love, Christmas
The Long and Short of It I enjoy writing short stories, which is a complete one-eighty compared to how I used to feel. I used to…
When I first started down this self-publishing journey, I heard quiet rumours of the dangers of scammers. I knew they were out there. I knew they…
We all remember those drawn out days of the first Covid lockdown, right? I don't know how you coped, but while other people were learning new…
The Good There’s so much to love about writing – the excitement of that initial spark of an idea; the stimulation of the challenge to make…
Be True to Yourself
My sort of marketing I recently participated in ALLi’s SelfPubCon, which focused on the business side of writing. There were sessions on using social media, monetising…
Giving Feedback The title of this post is a sentence that’s often used at the end of a fellow writer’s feedback in the Lab, and I…
There has long been an association between mental illness and creativity with seemingly endless examples of successful creatives affected by anxiety, depression, bipolar and other mental…
We are back from a river cruise down the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest. Well, what did we see? We were amazed at the people who…
It was an irresistible afternoon, the gorgeously seductive late summer / early-autumn sunlight inviting me to come play in the woods… how could I refuse? So…
Read my full take on AI vs. creativity in art and writing—and how we can navigate this storm together. Because AI isn’t going away. It’s our new competition ???? #AIAndCreativity #HumanTouchInArt
In Other Words…
"I’m fine" can mean so much more than meets the eye. Explore how under-writing can pack a punch and create tension in my latest blog post #EconomyOfWords
Missed the Slush Pile? Don't Let These Mistakes Derail Your Writing Career ????✨ #Writers #WritingTips
#70sMemoirs #British Army #Bavaria
Skiing, singing, socialising and serendipity in 1970s Bavaria
Last night, my daughter and I had the best movie night ever—complete with a DIY fort, popcorn, Skittles, and a cinematic masterpiece that left me speechless. ???? Why Shrek is the Ultimate Story ????
There's something mesmerizing about stories where society falls apart—but the human spirit refuses to break. From Children of the Dust to The Handmaid’s Tale, these tales grip me with their dark, yet hopeful narratives #Dystopia
It’s Art If I Say So
Marcel Duchamp said this: "It's art if I say so". He's the guy who stuck a urinal on the wall and called it 'Fountain. But is it art? Too bloody right it is.
Let Them Eat Cake
Over the years, I’ve developed a method for outlining my novels that’s a mash-up of different methods I’ve read about
As a kid, I watched Star Trek. Some things have come true. I remember at the market you had to push to open the door. On…
Writing Emotion
I keep coming back to AgentPete’s phrase: ‘emotional aftertaste’. This is what we as writers should leave the reader with by the end of a scene/chapter/the novel
From Murderbot’s snark to Red Rising’s grit, plus Ray Porter’s legendary narration—here's my top 10 SFF audiobooks list that’ll blow your mind (and ears)! ???? ????✨ #SFFAudiobooks
Good Writing
Why do some stories stick with us forever, while others feel forgettable? ???? Frank Herbert's "Dune" is a masterclass in storytelling—characters, world-building, and prose all shine
Experimenting
Be Brave I’ve been writing seriously for years. The more I wrote (and read the work of other authors), the more I experimented with different genres,…