Published Work: the Big Red Button Marked “Print”

I have the final cover artwork for New World Fairy Tales. This is it. This is how my book is going to look when it goes out into the big, bad world. There’s a comforting feeling of shared-experience about this moment. All published writers, anywhere, ever – the great ones and the terrible ones and [...]

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The Part You Throw Away: Shoe Boxes

We Still Have The Same Problem. But Now We Have It For A Different Reason. Shoe-boxes are a major cause of cognitive dissonance for me. For years, I have held two parallel and perfectly opposing beliefs. Belief one: shoe-boxes are infinitely useful and can be used for all manner of amazing craft projects, ranging from [...]

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Adventures in Trash: “Clover” and “In The High Valley” by Susan Coolidge. Possibly.

Of Course, This Could Also Be “by Susan Coolidge” In The Sense Of “by V. C. Andrews”. This Would Certainly Explain A Lot. I don’t know if girls still read “What Katy Did”. In my younger teenage years my best friend and I were absolutely obsessed with them, having both privately conceived the belief that [...]

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Great Moments In Retailing: St Clement Vets, Truro

TOP FIVE REASONS WHY SO MANY CLIENTS RECOMMEND ST CLEMENT VETS 1. Because their staff are caring and dedicated 2. Because their facilities are superb 3. Because they’re conveniently located 4. ….nope, I’m out. Anyone else want to have a go?

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Zombiepocalypse: Dear God, Won’t Somebody Please Think Of The Children?

INTERIOR, DAY, MY CAR. SOMEWHERE ON THE M5. In the car are Becky, Ben and me. We are playing a seemingly endless game of “What Animal Am I?” BECKY: Are you a mammal? ME: Yes. BEN: Are you friendly? ME: Reasonably friendly, yes. BECKY: Do you live in this country? ME: Yes. BEN: Do you [...]

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Great Moments In Retailing: Chip Shop, Whitby

Thanks to a sustained century-long effort at making the absolute most of one scene in “Dracula”, Whitby has firmly established itself as the Horror-themed East-coast seaside destination of choice. Like most seaside towns in the region, it also likes to cultivate a wistful aura of post-Victorian shabbiness, which is permanently on the cusp of tipping [...]

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Published Work: Edin-Burrow

My short story “Edin-Burrow” has just been published online by the fantastic literary magazine, “The View From Here”. Hooray! “Edin-Burrow” evolved from an extended version of a game of Consequences with a very dear friend in America. At the time, I was mostly interested in learning to speak American as part of the “New World [...]

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Adventures In Trash: “Mrs Darcy vs The Aliens” by Jonathan Pinnock

It’s a strange and lovely fact that “Regency Steampunk Monster Mash-up” is now an official genre When was the last time you actually, properly LOLed? Like the word “literally” in the hands of footballers, the phrase “laughed out loud” has become a debased metaphor for mild amusement. Lots of things make me smile. Few things [...]

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Great Moments In Retailing: DFS Sofas, St Andrew’s Quay

Does anyone else think the team at DFS are just a little bit too into this?

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