Category: Uncategorized
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I haven’t got a giant moustache but I know who has
I can think of two good reasons I have never been asked to join a writers’ cricket team. Can’t bat, can’t bowl. Er, three. Can’t throw. Um, four. Can’t catch. Especially rock-hard, shiny red cricket balls. Do you blame me? My fingers are bruised enough from typing. For context, read Captain Hook takes aim over…
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Captain Hook takes aim over fine leg
If you ever need proof that writers will do almost anything to avoid actually writing, look no further than J.M. Barrie’s amateur cricket team, the Allahakbarries. With Australia getting the better of England in another Ashes battle, it feels like the right moment to remember that some of literature’s finest minds once tried their best…
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Why I’m so Lone Rangery
I first got behind a typewriter in 1973, back in Grade 10, when I made a bold move that rattled the school timetable — I took typing as an elective. Most of the other boys chose manly pursuits like woodworking or metalwork, but I decided to cross the gender divide. That’s how I found myself as the…
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Meet Wish-Wash, my new (unreliable) reviewer
You might remember my no-recipes policy from last week — no scones, no stews, no nonsense. Well, I can’t promise the same restraint from my newest recruit, Bert Whish-Willson, better known as Wish-Wash. The gnarly old man has appointed himself reviewer-in-residence for my books, and you can now find his ramblings under the My Books tab on my website,…
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Welcome — but leave your mixing bowl at the door
You might think an author’s website is all about flogging books — a digital shopfront with flashing “Buy Now” buttons and not much else. Some are, I’ll admit. But the better ones (and I like to think mine’s one of them) are more like a comfy lounge where readers can wander in, have a stickybeak,…
JOHN MARTIN'S TALES 