This week is Christmas for authors, really. I've been stuck in my house seething at the Covid-19 lockdown that's keeping its heel on our throats, but still trying to keep busy. A few weeks ago I had my live digital launch, which mostly went rather well, if you ignore the bit at the start where… Continue reading Book Week Scotland!
It's happening! Copies of Happiness Is Wasted On Me have been sent out to bloggers and reviewers all over the country. I'm shitting myself that they'll hate it, but I'm also going to be very mature and sensible and not roll around the lino screaming and wailing if no-one likes the adventures of Walter Wedgeworth… Continue reading Not Long Now!
There's a new book shop / cafe combo open in Stirling and aren't we all happy to see it? The Book Nook looks like one of those very cool shops you'd find in Byers Road or Edinburgh, transplanted to Stirling's Upper Craigs, in walking distance of The Thistle Centre. I popped into see it last… Continue reading The Book Nook
As the publication date for Happiness Is Wasted On Me approaches, I've decided to sort out my Goodreads account and start to take it a bit seriously. I've got a lot of books to catalogue, so over the next few months I'll be sorting and sifting through them, adding reviews and entries. If you have… Continue reading Goodreads!
I feel like a hunter when I'm in a book shop. I get the same feeling when I'm in a record shop. I want something. I must have something. It's there somewhere, hiding, so I've got to find it. That means exploring the surroundings. When I get a book or a record/CD that I didn't… Continue reading Books I love you might not know but should know because I love these books
Last year I was at a launch of a new book when I had a conversation with a blogger, someone I like quite well. We were chatting about books we read when we were kids. If the early nineties belonged to Point Horror, then the late eighties were owned by Roald Dahl. However, as soon… Continue reading When authors disappoint: a personal story
Truth be told, I've been wanting to talk about this book for a long time. It's one of those rare reviews I didn't enjoy writing, because I love this book so much that I don't think I can really do it justice. Of course, being my blog, I'm going to try to do it as… Continue reading Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette
Originally serialised in Playboy Magazine (in Japan) between May to October of 1968, Life For Sale wasn’t available to read in The UK for decades. Thankfully Penguin Classics decided to turn Yukio Mishima’s stories into a novel and, with the help of Stephen Dodd’s translation which makes the story accelerate along, this classic by is… Continue reading Life For Sale by Yukio Mishima
Happiness Is Wasted On Me was meant to be released on 28th May but having had a chat with the publisher this morning, we both agreed to postpone it. With bookshops being closed, it seemed like a bad idea to put the book out next month. I actually requested the delay, so I could have… Continue reading News about my book
Lockdown is tough on everyone. All of our freedoms have been snatched from us, our TV sets and streaming services help a little, but the more adverts I see telling me to #StayAtHome the more I want to scream. No-one wants to overwhelm our NHS, but of course if The Tories hadn't slashed it to… Continue reading Things That Make Me Happy During Lockdown
