Yeah, I bit the bullet and made a video. The first one I attemped wasn't very good. I read from a script, and it really sounded like it. Blah. But I have like 30 draft blog posts for this blog now (most are just titles or notes for when I come to write them). I… Continue reading My First YouTube Video (Why I Like Fantasy)
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A Eulogy For Bloomers And Tarts
Bloomers and Tarts was a sandwich shop. There she is. It might not look like much, and it may have been years since I ate from there, but I loved it. I live in a pretty big village. I mean, there are two supermarkets within walking distance, and since it lies beside the M6 toll… Continue reading A Eulogy For Bloomers And Tarts
Tiny Letters From Me
We're told over and over again that we need an author newsletter, right? Well, I was stubborn. "Not me!" I said. I didn't want the stress of managing people's emails. They're trusting you with their personal data, after all. I just wasn't sure I saw the point of them. I subscribed to some people's newsletters,… Continue reading Tiny Letters From Me
A Cheap, Easy Meal for Lockdown Times
When I started this blog, I pondered whether I should make it about writing, history, or myself. A global pandemic was as far from my mind as it could possibly be. Yet here we are. Now I've done a lot of cooking in my life - most of it on a tight budget. I was… Continue reading A Cheap, Easy Meal for Lockdown Times
To People Who Think Adult Fantasy Has No Value
I'm not mad at you, don't worry. But I do think you're wrong. There are two arguments I see people trot out when they're bashing fantasy. They are: In a fantasy story, anything can happen, so you can't make a plot with stakes. And: Fantasy fiction has no bearing on the real world, so it… Continue reading To People Who Think Adult Fantasy Has No Value
Keep Writing
I'm in a mood to say stuff today. Stuff that might motivate you. Stuff that might scare you. But it's stuff I strongly feel I need to say. There are lots of things people don't understand about writing. There's a kind of mysticism that surrounds writers and the act of writing. The 'muse', as some… Continue reading Keep Writing
What I Wrote in April 2020
Hey folks, it's that time again! A new month is upon us, so I'm looking back on everything I wrote in April. It was quite a busy month for me. I'd set up a couple of projects: the Castle Tour and #CampNaNoWriMo. Camp NaNo is basically a smaller version of the big National Novel Writing… Continue reading What I Wrote in April 2020
When Edward II Saved His Wife From A Burning Tent
If you know a bit of English history, you know Edward II. He was the king who was killed by a red-hot poker being shoved up his behind. (Note: that almost certainly didn't happen.) He was a tyrant, he abused his power and was ultimately punished for it when his wife returned from the continent… Continue reading When Edward II Saved His Wife From A Burning Tent
Mount Testaccio, the Roman Landfill
The modern world has a big problem, doesn't it? Okay, no, not global warming, the other one. No, no, not the impending economic crisis. The OTHER ONE. Yes, that one. Plastic. We really backed ourselves into a corner with plastic, didn't we? We've made hundreds of thousands of tonnes of it. And for good reason:… Continue reading Mount Testaccio, the Roman Landfill
Pirates of the Caribbean Was Almost Awful
How Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow saved the film.
Dewi Hargreaves 