3 11, 2025

Writing ‘Reptiles’ evoked memories of Bagley Wood

By |November 3rd, 2025|Categories: Biography, Events, History, Kennington, Letters to the press, Lost History, Novels and short stories, Oxford, The Oxford Times|0 Comments

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/4430842.run-bagley-wood/?  Reptiles, my latest novel starts with Toad Patrol in Bagley Woods. In this pic, I’m wear my high viz jacket but the month wasn’t appropriate, the amphibians move at the end of February and in March.     This

5 09, 2025

Meeting Giorgio!

By |September 5th, 2025|Categories: Art, Biography, Events, History, Novels and short stories, Oxford|0 Comments

Meeting Giorgio! https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/italian-fashion-designer-giorgio-armani-dies-91-2025-09-04/ Today the death was announced of Giorgio Armani. What’s my connection with the fashion designer?  My journey to becoming a novelist began when I took up freelance writing for magazines mostly about art, antiques and books. The

17 02, 2025

Politics, Lives, Page Turners:  The Courage of Claret Press publishing Sylvia Vetta and Pen Farthing  

By |February 17th, 2025|Categories: Ai Weiwei, China, Art & History, Cultural Appropriation, Events, Lost History, Novels and short stories|0 Comments

Politics, Lives, Page Turners:  The Courage of Claret Press publishing Sylvia Vetta and Pen Farthing   I first made this blog  before Pen Farthing and I talked at the Oxford Indie Book Fair . Today's Guardian feature warrants re-posting it.