So, my old buddy Ben got hitched. Yep. He and Tahlia finally tied the knot, down in "sunny" Cornwall. It was beautiful, despite the rain. Best man's duties fell to Jake (Ben's bru), who is also one of my dearest friends, so I wasn’t at all miffed at missing out on that job. Besides, I really don’t …
The Purple Crisp
Greetings... It has been a while, eh? Yeah, well, I been busy. Weddings, marathons, general elections (all as an attendee and/or viewer, rather than a participant, I should add). Mostly, though, I’ve been learning about gutter opera, with D. Foy. The whole experience has been fantastic, a lot …
Book Review: Disintegration, by Richard Thomas
Over the last couple of years, I’ve become rather used to seeing Richard Thomas’s name appear in my news feed. It seems hardly a week goes by without one of his stories finding a home—not surprising, really, given that he’s one of the most prolific and hard-hitting writers out there. Operating …
The Next Project
Writing, eh? Sheesh. What a rollercoaster... First, you get an idea for a story, and: Excitement! You start writing. Seat-of-your-pants style, or carefully planned—all storyboarded out, scene by scene. Maybe you workshop it, get some feedback. Edit it. Re-write it. Re-write, re-write, re-write. …
Teaching Writing, Part One
For the past three weeks, I’ve been going to a small primary school just outside Bedford and helping one of the teachers with a group of boys who want to improve their writing. It takes me about forty minutes to drive there, and I’m only with them for a couple of hours, one morning a week, but even …