It struck me the other day that my November this year will be “bookended” by two book launches, and as this isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence, I thought it worth writing about. The first event was the launch of my debut short story collection Umbilical at Five Leaves Bookshop in my home town of Nottingham, …
Imagine going into your local Waterstones and browsing the nearest tables of books. What would you likely see on display? The latest Colleen Hoover or James Patterson? Lead titles from traditional publishers who have been singled out for success by Richard and Judy? The novels that made the Booker shortlist? A memoir by a celebrity? …
Short stories: why read them? Why write them? Why analyse them? Read More »
Earlier this month, on the 17 March 2023, my wonderful father-in-law, Dr Laurence Bellamy, died. His death wasn’t completely unexpected – he’d been seriously ill for the past six weeks or so – but, still, it was a shock. A steady and supportive constant in my life had suddenly gone. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been thinking a …
A part of me thinks it would be a good idea to record what I read during the year. Another part of me, the part that always rebels against any kind of straitjacketing, says NO! In the end, though, a lack of time settles the argument and so there is no comprehensive record of what …
Just the other week, Noel Chidwick and Mark Toner, the co-founders of Shoreline of Infinity, an SF magazine which is run from Edinburgh, announced that they’d be “stepping off the Shoreline of Infinity Spaceship” so that they could spend more time on their own creative projects and with their families. After the announcement, there was …
Back in 2018 I wrote a post about my daughter’s time at primary school coming to an end. It felt like a huge deal at the time, but now that she’s about to go into Year 11 it feels as though she’s an old hand at this secondary school business! However, last month my youngest …
Although there are many articles that answer the question, ‘What is horror?’ (this post by Brian J. Showers is particularly insightful), I thought I’d add my thoughts to the mix since it wasn’t all that long ago I was saying I didn’t like horror. So what made me change my mind? Being a highly sensitive …
What is horror? A few thoughts from someone new to reading horror. Read More »
This time last year we’d just gone into lockdown again and I was busy home schooling. Just the other day my eleven-year-old son said that he’d forgotten all about that time, although I certainly haven’t! I remember the great tumult of emotions I was feeling at the time – the continued worry about Covid, frustration …
Since this is the one year anniversary of when I announced that I’d be closing down my small press, Mother’s Milk Books, I thought it worth reflecting on what my life’s been like since then. (Although, being a pedant, I have to say that much of the year was spent on the admin involved in …
It’s a month and a bit since my debut pamphlet, Russian Doll, was published – a good time then, to stop and consider what it’s been like to have this particular collection of poems out in the world. It’s been good. And as someone who chooses words very carefully, ‘good’ really is the right word …