Category Archives: Culture

Chronscast 2022 Review

It’s hard to believe that Chronscast has been going for a year now – it seems only a few days ago that Christopher and I started a recording session with Stephen Palmer to talk about Northern Lights, when in actual fact it was November 2021. I’m very proud and grateful that our team – Bean, Brian Sexton and TheContinue reading “Chronscast 2022 Review”

Chronscast Episode 12 – A Ghost Story For Christmas, with Alison Littlewood

As the nights draw in and we approach the midwinter, what better way to celebrate the season than dipping into that most macabre of festive traditions, the Christmas ghost story? While we’re all familiar with Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, more modern traditions include the BBC’s A Ghost Story For Christmas, adaptations of typically M.R JamesContinue reading “Chronscast Episode 12 – A Ghost Story For Christmas, with Alison Littlewood”

The Rings Of Saturn, Chapters 11, 12 & 13

I took a break last week owing to national holidays in the UK for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, but today I’m publishing the last three chapters of my novella The Rings of Saturn. In the previous chapter Emmanuel, Katarina, and Agnes had discovered the malevolent truth behind the artist Edouardo del Bosques’s plans, with tragicContinue reading “The Rings Of Saturn, Chapters 11, 12 & 13”

The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 9

Last week Edouardo announced his intention to hold an exhibition, and to have Manu be a central part of it. So Manu sets to work, and has an unexpected and difficult reunion with Em, his epistolary correspondent. The truths, hidden behind layers of paint and wine, begin to reveal themselves. ~ Em, I’m still here,Continue reading “The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 9”

The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 8

Last week Manu engaged in a strange nightbound union with Agnes and Katarina. Unsure of their relationship with one another, they somehow know that they are bound to Edouardo in some way, and that this is the thread that connects them. When Manu approaches him, the old artist reveals his plans: an art exhibition, hisContinue reading “The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 8”

The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 7

Last week Em partook in a strange dinner with Edouardo and some of his associates, and wasn’t quite sure of what to make of it. Upon Edouardo’s recommendation, Em agrees to meet with Agnes, one of the people who joined them for dinner, and they take a trip just outside Madrid. ~ I did asContinue reading “The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 7”

Literature Long Read: This World Is On Fire – Mysticism, Rejuvenation and Peace in The Waste Land

2022 is the centenary year of TS Eliot’s modernist masterpiece The Waste Land. It is one of the 20th century’s greatest and most influential poems, and yet seethes with such profound imagic, linguistic, cultural and religious references that it appears intimidatingly impenetrable to the lay reader. That’s the modernist way. But let’s not be temptedContinue reading “Literature Long Read: This World Is On Fire – Mysticism, Rejuvenation and Peace in The Waste Land”

The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 6

Last week Em began work as the amanuensis of Edourado del Bosques, and meditated upon the horrors of growing old, and how the old view the young. Would even the great ones be resentful to those in the flushes of youth? This week, Emmanuel joins his mentor at a dinner in Madrid, where he seesContinue reading “The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 6”

Aiming High Part 1: Write For The Stars

I made the conscious decision to make a serious go at writing around about ten years ago, during a holiday with my wife (then fiancée), and set about pulling together an epic fantasy that was pretty much 100% ideation, and 0% planning. I had no idea how I was going to approach the task, soContinue reading “Aiming High Part 1: Write For The Stars”