If I could visit any place and time in history, among my choices would be Paris around 1960. It was a time of great societal tension, with events in colonial Algeria at the forefront of events. But it was the time of the nouvelle vague, the nouveau roman and jazz music, and it was a … Continue reading Other people’s nostalgia
Or, me talking about maps again. Names change as both language and places change. The village I grew up in has a name - Newburgh - which it has borne since the 12th or 13th century and clearly no longer merits. Some town names' spelling - and meaning - alter over the centuries, but this … Continue reading A nail to hang a place on
"The stones, like the natural granite cast up from the earth by nature, defy the centuries. To stand beside them...on the heights of West Penwith...is to become...an astronaut in time. The present vanishes, centuries dissolve...here in the lichened stone is the essence of memory itself. Belief in immortality...Man's answer, from the beginning, to the challenge … Continue reading Cornwall: ancient stones
The story I'm writing at the moment is set in the past, in a vague and never-specified summer at the end of the 80s: 1988 or 1989. Certain signifiers are there - and necessarily there - which tie it to this particular era. Thatcher is Prime Minister; the 1984-85 miners' strike is described as having … Continue reading Imag(in)ing the past
Who am I kidding? Every holiday, I take pad and pen. Every holiday, they remain untouched. I think, though, that it's important I take them. It symbolises my intent. And if I don't actually put pen to paper, then I can spend time plotting and planning, right? Well, no. Not really. Not consciously, anyway. I … Continue reading “This time I will definitely do some writing while I’m on holiday”
In Scotland the schools are off, and the weather has been uncharacteristically summery since late May. I'm away on holiday. Time to share with you what I've been reading in this fine weather, and what's in the suitcase for the trip to Kernow. The Devil Rides Out - Dennis Wheatley: 1930s black magic horror hokum. … Continue reading Summer Reading
I tweeted a month or so back that I'd shoved all other writing projects aside (and that has included this blog, dear reader) because I'd started work on a Folk Horror story. This new work is now at around 9,000 words* and going well. I feel a twinge of guilt at abandoning (for now) the … Continue reading New fields, old land
Warning: contains spoilers, sort of. I read Jon McGregor's debut novel, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, when it came out in 2003. I was, I confess, immediately envious of his talent, given that he's two years younger than me. Ah well, some people have it. This is the first novel of his I've read … Continue reading Habitat and Habit: “Reservoir 13” by Jon McGregor
This is a follow-up to my previous piece on nostalgia. Not because the world needs any more writing on The Beatles: it really doesn't. The book is a collection of the serialised strips which appeared in Look-In from 1981-1982. There was also a similar strip covering Elvis' rise to fame. I remember them (vaguely) from … Continue reading Meta-nostalgia: “The Beatles Story” by Arthur Ranson & Angus Allan (1981/2018)
To mark the BBC adaptation Miéville's The City & the City, here's a quick run-down of his oeuvre so far. All opinions my own. The City & The City. If one definition of great art is that it changes the way you view the world, then this is great art. Inspector Tyador Borlú investigates a … Continue reading A China Miéville top 10
Into the Gyre 