Review: THE LAST BERSERKER by Angus Donald, Canelo

ISBN e-book:  978 1 80032 186 1        £3.99  Paperback: 978 1 80032 187 8 £8.99 I am not big on Vikings. I read a lot about them in the 1980s, but there was not a lot in their history that grabbed my attention. I was always more drawn to the first kings … Continue reading

Rationalising!

This is a curious time – one of great potential with a couple of new projects, but also one in which I have to try to rationalise what I do.  That sounds rather pretentious put like that – but it really isn’t. You see one of the projects, which I have mentioned before, is that … Continue reading

Libraries – Protecting From Fake News

In recent years libraries have been squeezed tightly. Since the banking crisis of 2008, all levels of government have seen budgets cut. One of the first areas of constraint to be seen was that of libraries. It appeared that no politicians, no civil servants, whether nationally or locally, were prepared to argue for the defence … Continue reading

Working While Family’s on Holiday

There is no doubt that writing is a great deal easier (for me) when school keeps my family at bay. My wife helps at the local college. When teachers were off sick, away on training, or otherwise engaged, the school used to call in qualified teachers through an agency. But agencies tend to charge large … Continue reading

Situation Normal – AFU

Apologies for the military slang – but what a couple of days I’ve been having. And no, not in a good way! For the last couple of months – perhaps longer – I’ve been suffering from the famous Apple spinning wheel of death. I had my suspicions about the causes, and was pretty sure that … Continue reading

Writing and Editing

And so, having disposed of the copy edit last week, I am now reliably informed (Natasha is never wrong) that Severn House will post the proofs of the next Jack Blackjack story to me today, so I’ll have to work through them from tomorrow or Friday. It’s an odd job, being a writer. You need … Continue reading

Writing in the Cold!

It is rare indeed that I can wake up, stare out towards the moors, and see snow smothering the top of Cosdon Beacon. This is all wrong. The snows should not continue into April. I am happy enough to wake to the sight of snow in February and March, but those months have gone. I … Continue reading

Book reviews

I made it a firm policy many years ago that I would not give a bad review to someone else’s work. It’s not because I am a particularly kind person. I have most definitely read several books that truly did not deserve those hours of my life. Those are hours I could have spent with … Continue reading

Nothing Succeeds Like Failure

This title appealed to me for two reasons today. The first is, yesterday I put up a video that demonstrated my utter incompetence with technology. I had tried to make a video recording of opening a parcel. Not, you would think, the hardest thing to do. However, the camera decided to go into a bit … Continue reading

Why Are Books Good?

We are blessed with another splendid day. It’s confusing, though, to be sitting indoors, huddled in warm clothes, and then, on wandering outdoors, to find that it’s too hot for anything other than shirtsleeves. Today started very well, thanks to a delightful teacher called Mark, who wrote to thank me for my notes on writing. … Continue reading