Mary Shelley, born on this day in 1797, had a life as Gothic as her novels: her mother died when she was less than a month old, she engaged in a romantic relationship with a married man whose wife committed suicide, the death of three children, and her husband's death by drowning, before she died... Continue Reading →
I've spent the last six months or so actively trying to improve my Amazon Reviewer ranking. This means I've been writing reviews on the books, music, tv shows and to a lesser extent other products I've been purchasing. You can find a list of my reviews here - take a look and if you agree with... Continue Reading →
Yesterday I wrote a bit about my forthcoming collection of short stories for ‘Young Adults’: a bit of background about how it came about and a little about my initial thoughts or lack thereof of what constitutes YA. Today I thought I’d look at a few general questions I’m now starting to consider (or... Continue Reading →
"I wrote a few children's books... not on purpose." - Steven Wright I've been thinking about that joke from Steven Wright a bit recently and it's not as funny as it used to be... So here's the deal: I'm releasing a new collection of short stories - exact publication date to be confirmed but it'll... Continue Reading →
Saturday morning started well: I woke up early, enjoyed a bit of reading (my newly delivered copy of Warren Ellis' The Authority) while listening to a new album (Red Hearse - a new discovery for me, and after a couple of listens recommended) and planning a week up at the Edinburgh Fringe. Then I picked... Continue Reading →
I tend to write a lot of reviews - you may even have seen some of them on this here site. I tend to publish them on Amazon or GoodReads as well - I hope that my rave-reviews on books I've really enjoyed make at least one person pick up a book I loved that... Continue Reading →
A very quick one, image free and hastily written today because I need to get back to writing real stuff... I saw a post earlier today from Georgia Springate, author of Beyond (a book I've previously recommended - and which you should check out), who put down some of the music she listens to while... Continue Reading →
I was lucky enough to be invited to facilitate a session at this weekend's Newcastle Noir Literary Crime Festival, held in the Central Library in my old home town of Newcastle. The session was entitled, 'The Men in Black' - due to the fact that the authors interviewed write novels firmly entrenched in the 'real... Continue Reading →
(Originally published on RagTagMagpie) Today marks the anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock's movie, Vertigo which premiered in the US on the 9 May 1958 - 62 years ago! Saul Bass is responsible for designing some of the most striking title sequences in film history, including Anatomy of a Murder, West Side Story, Spartacus, Ocean’s 11, as... Continue Reading →
