“I like you sir. You’re shit or bust, you are.” – Keith Douglas’ batman, to Keith Douglas. I was twenty three when I discovered the work of the Second World War poet Keith Douglas. I’d just completed an English degree and was worn out with novels, so for a year I read only comics and poetry. …
Enough now. There you have it. There are one hundred stories from almost forty years of my life contained in my collected stories. They contain half the damning truths I suspected at midnight, and half of the saving truths I re-found next noon. If anything is taught here, it is simply the charting of the …
The book industry’s an odd one. About three weeks ago I finished handwriting the first draft of my third novel, which I’ve since been typing up to see what I’ve got on my hands. In the meantime my second book, The Man who Rained, is at the printers being turned into something glossy and pretty …
In the last couple of years I’ve waited until the end of the year to put together a list of things I’ve loved from the preceding twelve months. I probably shan’t be doing that this year, because I’ll have a new book out in January and lots to say about it. So, in the meantime …
Just wanted to share with you the good news that my hero of 2009, William Elliott Whitmore, has a new record coming out this month. Check it out here. I also wanted to share a little teaser of something I’m hoping to post next week. A new project for this blog. If you can …