Thriller writer, archaeologist and traveller
November is not a great time to travel, with most places being in transition between seasons. I figured Belize should be coming to the end of its rainy season when I set off on a two week trip, starting on 23 November (an auspicious date for anyone paying attention). Didn't quite get it right but... Continue Reading →
Long time, no blog, as the year has ended in a flurry of travelling. Just like most of 2025, in fact. I spent around 120 nights away from home, splitting the year more or less into equal thirds of writing, archaeology and travel. January was mostly spent recovering from the flu, but following the successful... Continue Reading →
I've just pitched into another draft of my next non-fiction book, which has the working title A Roman Small Fort on Alderney. It's the result of research and excavations stretching back to 2008 and I've been picking up the text and working on it for the past eight years or so. It now has a... Continue Reading →
For some, fascism is not extreme enough It's 1937 and Britain is being led by a fascist government, but Leader's grip on power is challenged by socialist unrest on the streets, by foreign agents and by those with even darker visions for Britain. Hugh and Sissy have become trapped in their roles working within the... Continue Reading →
This weekend I completed a novel about a conspiracy against the king. In this case, Edward VIII, but it gave me goose pimples when I have typed ‘the king’ numerous times with only Edward in mind. Modern readers, especially oversees, may wonder how the Abdication could cause such a major political crisis. The thirties were... Continue Reading →
Back in 1976 a friend brought a double LP concept album called The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway into school, and over a couple of lunchtimes we sat in the near-darkness of the drama studio entranced. Up to that point, I’d never been much of a music fan and had never heard of Genesis. I’d... Continue Reading →
Battlestar is back! The noughties reboot of Battlestar Galactica is getting a fresh showing on BBC2 and iPlayer, having originally been screened on SyFy channel. I’m sitting out a 7-day isolation away from home so on Saturday night I decided for old times’ sake to watch the first 20 minutes of the pilot episode on... Continue Reading →
There will be plenty of retrospective prophets this year. A few scientists will be revealed to have had perceptive papers published in obscure journals just before C-19 hit, but a larger number who predicted other crises will keep quiet. Writers of certain dystopian novels, TV series and movies will be lauded as prescient, although those... Continue Reading →
Back in November I took screenshots of four stories from the internet in the same 24 hours. Record floods in Venice and Yorkshire, record snowfall in the USA, and the harbinger of the Australian bush fires that are still raging. These were drowned out by election excitement, hence the blog did not appear. What strikes... Continue Reading →
"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed" (Luke 2:1, King James Bible) Kicking off with a seasonal quote, and closely following party promises leading up to the General Election, here are some thoughts from an ex-civil servant. I might add that... Continue Reading →