Martin Pippin quest: AdversaneAdversane on a raw, windy day in December bears little resemblance to the village Farjeon writes about. The cottages from which the children would have come to play are still there, although with several rather sinister looking vehicles parked outside. The road is busy: no parent would allow young children to become […]

Well, here’s a new idea! On the other side of several little surprises, like being nominated for an award and then being shortlisted for the same award (many thanks to all who voted) I was reminded to go back to that book of childhood memory: Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard, that I mentioned in […]

Posted by on Nov 9, 2011 in awards, profanity, vans | No Comments

Um. Sorry I haven’t been around much. Life you know, and all that … Actually you don’t know. So, OH has had operation. All very successful but having a somewhat intense and bored man underfoot 24/7 is not conducive to deathless prose – or any other kind that wouldn’t normally be ****ed by a pre-watershed […]

Havant Plenty of scope for puns (sorry I Havant a clue etc) but I shall ignore them. Havant is a beautiful little place and The Spring is an excellent arts centre in a truly stunning setting. I had a fine time reading there and hope the audience enjoyed it too. I can’t recommend this literary […]

Reviews and fan mail Tricky situations: 1. A very kind and thoughtful review of my book by another blogger. 2. A lovely message via my website from a grateful reader. (Never thought I would type that particular sentence as you’d have to be peculiarly twisted individual to be grateful for most of the short fiction […]

Workshops and writing practice We’re back to a thorny issue. I’m putting together the workshop outline for ‘Grow and Tell’ in September. It includes a memoir exercise, a ‘taste and write’ based on home-made preserves, and a horticultural section on how to preserve, conserve, and otherwise hang on to, your edibles. So what’s the issue? […]

I will always miss what I Havant … Which is a truly awful pun (or as the great master, Terry Pratchett, is wont to say, pune) but I had to make it, as I shall be in Havant and it was too good an opportunity to waste. Actually, as a writer, I think I have […]

Posted by on Aug 9, 2011 in allotments, rebus, rewrites | 3 Comments

Oh lord and blithering hell – where did the last six weeks go? I’d love to say that I’d been thrashing out some fabulous new piece of novel length fiction but I haven’t. I have been wading through the setting concrete of the umpteenth rewrite of my novel, but that’s not news, in fact it’s […]

The writer exultant But not sure if it’s bad form to talk about things. One is British after all! And the British do not discuss religion, salaries or other embarassing subjects. And this could come under ‘salary’ or under ‘boasting’ or possibly both. Still, what the hell, I only get to say this once. The […]

The Hummingbird and the Bear: novel review There’s something very interesting about meeting a writer after you’ve read their work, although meeting somebody immediately after reading their novel can be a little disjointing. For years I’ve despaired of readers who have the misguided impression that I am the character(s) I write about. This can be […]