Orbiting Buzz

I was born in the Lunar Age. By the time I’d made my appearance on the planet we’d already walked on the moon twice. (It would have been three times if not for the near-death accident that aborted Apollo 13’s moon shot.) Even though I was only two years old when the last man walked …

Adventure at Buckingham Palace

Last week I was lucky enough to go to a garden party at Buckingham Palace. The actual Buckingham Palace. In London. Where the Queen lives. I know! It all started last year when I volunteered to to join the committee of the Society of Authors sub group, Authors North. Since then I’ve helped out with …

Animating Tony Blair

Sometimes a job comes along that is, quite frankly, ridiculous. That was my first thought when Director friend Adam Miller called me a few weeks ago. “We need some animation of Tony Blair,” Adam explained. “Right,” I replied cautiously. “In a tiny submarine.” “OK…” “Really tiny, as in microscopic.” Adam said. “He’s inside an artery …

Patron of Reading 2016

I’m thrilled to let you know I’ve been appointed as the Patron of Reading for North Durham Academy in Stanley, County Durham.   What is a Patron of Reading? A Patron of Reading (PoR) is a school’s special, designated children’s author with whom the school forms a personal attachment. The patron might be a writer …

Draft 3 completed

Very happy to have completed the third draft of Project Artichoke. Diane read the second draft and gave me her thoughts on that, which helped inform the revisions in the new draft. Having left it alone for about a month I came back to it with fresh eyes, which is always useful. I’ve been using …

Waterstones Middlesbrough talk

Do you live near Middlesbrough in the UK? I’m doing a free event in Waterstones Middlesbrough later this month with fellow author Stephen Aryan. Stephen is the author of the Age of Darkness trilogy. Battlemage, the first book in the series was published in September 2015 by Orbit books in the USA and UK. Book 2, …