So this is the third in an instalment on my blog inspired by a Threads thing where one was challenged to name twenty books that you'd read that had greatly influenced you - without commenting why or how. At first I didn't think much of it, but as I progressed I realised it was really interesting - possibly more so personally - to think whether or not... These authors and works, Have they influenced me as an author? So I figured as a blog I'd consider them in more detail, loo

I recently participated in a Threads thing where you were challenged to name twenty books that you'd read that had greatly influenced you - without commenting why or how. At first I didn't think much of it, but as I progressed I realised it was really interesting - possibly more so personally - to think of these authors and works. These authors and works, Have they influenced me as an author? So I figured, as a blog, I'd consider them in more detail, looking at how and why t

I recently participated in a Threads thing where you were challenged to name twenty books that you'd read that had greatly influenced you - without commenting why or how. At first I didn't think much of it, but as I progressed I realised it was really interesting - possibly more so personally - to think of these authors and works. These authors and works, Have they influenced me as an author? So I figured, as a blog, I'd consider them in more detail, looking at how and why t

Spring is here (allegedly) and it's time for me to awake from my winter slumber, my hibernation, and kickstart a more regular blog write for 2024. I do admit to feeling rusty as another year creeps by and I welcome the age of 55. That's beginning to get up there now, isn't it. My body tells me it is, even if my mind stays at an evergreen mental age of around four-and-a-half. What to write? In the coming weeks I'll likely post a review of 11.22.63 having just finished watching

Light. Pretty. Soft flutter of wings in flight. Strange flight. Funny misshaped meander. Colourful, up, down, round and ‘bout, this way, that, ne’er seeming to go in one direction yet leading me on. Ever on, down through shadows of trees. Lost and yet found, a butterfly, by me. Follow glint of silvered fire, purple hues, kiss of gilded light ‘bout painted eye; downhill by tree and through fern, thick green light, the nettled kiss as hurts my hand. Tingled sting. Care not. Lau

For the last couple of weeks my blog has focussed on books - namely Tolkien's 'THE SILMARILLION' - and with 'THE CHILDREN OF HURIN' on its way to me, I will be returning to Middle Earth in the not so distant future. Okay. So what have I been doing instead of reading? I've been watching! Oh yes. Netflix's much anticipated STRANGER THINGS 4 was released on Friday. I wanted to savour it, draw the watching experience out, and I failed miserably. I couldn't stop watching. It was b

Where has the year gone? April in 3 days. Already! And for those unaware, it means #INDIEAPRIL is upon us. Consider this your wake-up call. It all started in 2019 on Twitter, and although I was there at the beginning - well from the 2nd April in that year before COVID and lockdowns were even a thing - I don't recall much about how or who started it (*). What I can tell you though, is it's an opportunity for Indie Authors, via the #WRITINGCOMMUNITY on Twitter, to not only show

Time I reinvigorated the blog. It's been awhile. Being a recluse - and indeed having become even more reclusive over the last couple of years - I guess I was struggling with content. Indeed, my mind has made it difficult to read too, and so book reviews dried up. Now, with the onset of 2022 and all we've all been through with Covid, lockdowns, and the like, I think it's time to start anew. Push this old soul back out into the world and hopefully put some smiles on faces. I fi

There is a place in the forest. Beautiful. Once found, forever lost. I found it. Once. A Place in the Forest - Image by Paul Jameson A place the wisest never leave. Forever they live there, beyond touch of time. Eternally asleep, fore’er awake, they ponder woes of Man and know there the answers ‘fore ever a question is asked. ‘Tis magick of the Gods, of Immortals, gifted them as were once like you and me; man, woman, boy and girl, as Gods now to t’ Tribes of Man. Sought out.

Is a strange piece, even by my standards. A novella in length, I wrote it as a kind of precursor to NIGHTJAR, to put into context hinted at apocalyptic events that led to the strange feudal future that that novel is set in. I set the piece out as a kind of prayer book or hymnal, divided up by Chapter and Verse. Each chapter is inspired by one or more medieval images, and the dark events we seem to be witnessing in our own time - which include war, famine, sickness and a chang