About me and this website
Read a little about me and a brief resume about night school, writers groups, writing stories and poems, and creating this website … Continue readingAbout me and this website
Recent Posts
Curve
Latest weekly episode of “The Late Show”
Another chance to hear the latest episode of my radio show, “The Late Show” which includes music from Prefab Sprout, Arctic Monkeys, Dylan Henner, Bob Dylan, Steely Dan, Grace Ives and more … Continue readingLatest weekly episode of “The Late Show”
A poem about Vik Muniz’s 2012 exhibition at CAC Malaga
Returning home from holiday in 2012, I wrote a poem about the Vik Muniz exhibition I’d seen a couple of weeks earlier at CAC Malaga. I posted a video of Muniz’s art with … Continue readingA poem about Vik Muniz’s 2012 exhibition at CAC Malaga
A video about Vik Muniz’s exhibition at CAC Malaga in 2012
I went to the CAC Malaga in Oct 2012 and was very lucky to see an exhibition by Vik Muniz. It’s hard to believe it’s that long ago. I took … Continue readingA video about Vik Muniz’s exhibition at CAC Malaga in 2012
Station to station
Still playing strains of rock, pop, country, jazz, electronica, rhythm and blues I’ve moved into hospital radio, where I’m presenting a weekly music show at 10PM on Sunday nights. You … Continue readingStation to station
CAC and Centre Pompidou Màlaga
In 2018 on a day when I was starting with “man ’flu“, I revisited CAC, and went on to look inside Centre Pompidou Màlaga, for the first time. I visited … Continue readingCAC and Centre Pompidou Màlaga
A Kind of Magic
Here’s a story I wrote some time ago, after randomly picking 5 Rory Story Cubes (reading, Big Top, ladder, magician, and a fish) … … Continue readingA Kind of Magic
Almería to Rodalquilar (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 8)
Our Airbnb hostess negotiated a taxi trip from Almeria city to the pueblo blanco of Rodalquilar for €50. The price seemed a bit steep but being so close to what would be our resting place for a couple of weeks, we were keen to finally get there… … Continue readingAlmería to Rodalquilar (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 8)
Barcelona to Almería (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 7)
The two of us with Piper the chihuahua, arrive in Dieppe to travel to Paris via Rouen … … Continue readingBarcelona to Almería (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 7)
Paris to Barcelona (travelling to Spain with a dog: part 6)
Your indefatigable trio arrive in Paris via Rouen ready for a trip next day to Barcelona. We are eating up the miles. Read all about it! … Continue readingParis to Barcelona (travelling to Spain with a dog: part 6)
The Rolling Stones, Manchester 2018
The Rolling Stones, truly legendary rock musicians, played a gig on 5 June 2018 and I was there in a humungous crowd. This is my review of a tumultuous event. … Continue readingThe Rolling Stones, Manchester 2018
Dieppe to Paris (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 5)
The two of us and Piper the chihuahua arrive in Dieppe to travel to Paris via Rouen … Continue readingDieppe to Paris (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 5)
Newhaven to Dieppe (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 4)
Read about our journey from Newhaven, Sussex, across the English Channel to Dieppe in a bid to escape the UK winter … Continue readingNewhaven to Dieppe (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 4)
Borrow Box
If your library closed in the recent council budget cuts you can still borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your library service online or via an app on your phone … Continue readingBorrow Box
Book review: “Arthur Ransome and Captain Flint’s Trunk”
You might enjoy my appreciation of Christina Hardyment’s book, “Arthur Ransome and Captain Flint’s Trunk” on GoodReads.com. But then you mightn’t. Well, you know what you’re like… … Continue readingBook review: “Arthur Ransome and Captain Flint’s Trunk”
Self portrait
On a hot day in the garden I used my iPad as a mirror and sketched a self portrait on paper … … Continue readingSelf portrait
Preparations and Newhaven port (travelling to Spain with a dog: part 3)
All about how I planned to take my Chihuahua dog abroad to escape another dull UK winter … Continue readingPreparations and Newhaven port (travelling to Spain with a dog: part 3)
The fly in the ointment (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 2)
In the middle of yearning to get away from the UK for the winter I only went and bought a dog! Complications!! … Continue readingThe fly in the ointment (travelling to Spain with a dog, part 2)
Escape from the UK winter
I’ve become more unhappy with the effect of the UK winter on my state of mind and have yearned for an escape… This is the first post about my escape abroad … Continue readingEscape from the UK winter
Sketching the lake
Here’s today’s sketch, made on another grey, cold day. I climbed over a fence to draw from the lakeside … … Continue readingSketching the lake
Sketches of Spain
I had some drawing lessons with a local artist. Then I went to Spain and spent some time doing some sketches from the terrace of our holiday apartment. See what you think of them. … Continue readingSketches of Spain
Sketching the windmill
Hey it’s Springtime! A lovely day brought out lots of visitors to the town. I felt I should go draw. The windmill shouldn’t be too challenging to sketch, I thought! … Continue readingSketching the windmill
Sketching the bay
Well the drawing lessons have been running for a few weeks now and I’ve been unhappy with my output from them. I needed to get out from the classroom into the great outdoors … … Continue readingSketching the bay
“Drawing for beginners”
I went to a beginners’ drawing class at a local college. The 1st lesson wasn’t what I was expecting… … Continue reading“Drawing for beginners”
Sketches of Spain
I had some drawing lessons with a local artist. Then I went to Spain and spent some time doing some sketches from the terrace of our holiday apartment. See what you think of them. … Continue readingSketches of Spain
The Empuhuh
RoryStoryCubes helped me write this piece of flash fiction about a dog, a dragonfly and a dragon in a spare half-hour. … Continue readingThe Empuhuh
Round robin anyone?
Some time ago I took part in writing a ’round robin’ … … Continue readingRound robin anyone?
Gardenias again
Based on the prompt ‘Gardenias again’, I wrote this piece of flash fiction about a man who, living alone, comes home from another hard day at the office. But all is not well. … Continue readingGardenias again
Interruptions
Steve got a writing toolkit for Christmas, and last night we each took one of its’ emery boards, each with a prompt on it, and started writing. Then he interrupted us every 5 minutes with another line we used to change the direction of our stories. My starting prompt was I loved the way she said “balloon”. She said it as if she were blowing bubbles., and the interruptions, are in italics below. Here’s what I came up with… … Continue readingInterruptions
The wheels on the bus …
Writers & Artists Yearbook asked on Facebook “Writing exercise time: write a short paragraph to accompany this image.” I posted this … … Continue readingThe wheels on the bus …
About 35°C in the shade
‘Opening the wardrobe door’ was a recent writing prompt I was given. Quick as a flash fiction writer, I came up with this… … Continue readingAbout 35°C in the shade
Murder. No mystery.
The runes were cast and these are what the gods came back with – a black cat, a lightning bolt, a light bulb, an eye, a question, a footprint, an abacus, a compass and a magic wand – see the picture! I did my best with this meagre material… so here is my offering! … Continue readingMurder. No mystery.
Photo prompt kills!
The little man had sharp blue eyes similar to those of a mynah bird we once had caged in the kitchen at home. Gordon continued, “He’s my most trusted forensic man. He’ll take you through to the morgue… … Continue readingPhoto prompt kills!
Two poems …
I attempted a couple of poetry styles – an ‘echo’ poem and a ‘diamante’ poem … … Continue readingTwo poems …
Tommy’s tale
A stranded train passenger tells a tale to pass the time in the waiting room … Continue readingTommy’s tale
The City
I threw some Rory Story Cubes and the images revealed let me imagine a City … … Continue readingThe City
Is there life?
More photographic prompts this week er… “prompted” me to combine 2 snaps into a quick sci-fi 70’s pastiche. Simples! … Continue readingIs there life?
bots
“I know what you mean” St John squeaked. “I mean, where are the women? We came here for a night of sybaritic pleasure and no totty about. Not a sausage. I was so looking forward to putting the pedal to the metal, if you know what I mean.” … Continue readingbots
Cento
From the Latin word for “patchwork,” the cento (or collage poem) is a poetic form made up of lines from poems by other poets. Though poets often borrow lines from other writers and mix them in with their own, a true cento is composed entirely of lines from other sources. Early examples can be found in the work of Homer and Virgil. Quite good company, huh?! … Continue readingCento
Oscar
Here’s a poem abut one of my cats… … Continue readingOscar
Oscar, Ella and Ringo
Our cat lost us, so I wrote about the trauma. i guess it helped me. … Continue readingOscar, Ella and Ringo
Calvin and Hobbes
Recently, after making a donation, my wife brought home a book of comic strips from a charity table at work. It was “The Calvin And Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book” by Bill Watterson, commemorating his own comic strip, which was pretty big in US newspapers in the 80’s and 90’s. … Continue readingCalvin and Hobbes
Streets of fire
A picture of a boy and a miner freshly out of the mine inspired me to write this piece of flash fiction… … Continue readingStreets of fire
The Elephant of Doom
This is a piece of hokum, inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s characters in “The Jungle Book”… … Continue readingThe Elephant of Doom
The Morning After the Night Before
You know the one where someone shows you a work of art or even just an everyday household object, and it inspires you to write something? I’ll show you mine, you show me yours… … Continue readingThe Morning After the Night Before
Dialogue
I was asked to write something entirely in dialogue. I’m not the greatest talker in the world but when it comes to imagining a dialogue that’s easier for me… see what you think. … Continue readingDialogue
Horror flash
I wrote this piece when my friend Lauren brought in another yet another great idea – write some flash fiction. She gave us the idea that a little boy was in bed, meant to go to sleep, but he couldn’t, for the very good reason that he thought there was something hiding under the bed! … Continue readingHorror flash
Writer’s Block
Anyway I was tellin’ you about this geezer. Supposed to have done a lot he has. A lotta writin’ not a lotta wacky baccy! Does a lot of soul searchin’ too I expect. Staring out the window, I mean. Often see him, looking down at me I do. Why me I’ve no idea. I’m not exactly inspiring… … Continue readingWriter’s Block
Just like Conan Doyle?
Don’t deny you always wanted to write like Conan Doyle? Me too. So I gave it a go. … Continue readingJust like Conan Doyle?
Adolphus and Me
What if a fascist group rose to prominence in the United States, sometime round about now? Huh? Well what would YOU do? … Continue readingAdolphus and Me
Haiku
A haiku is a 3-line poem with 17 syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Thought I’d give it a bash! … Continue readingHaiku
En Ronda
This poem was inspired by a photograph of a building awning I saw in September 2007, in Ronda, Southern Spain. The huge photo depicted some famous local bullfighters… … Continue readingEn Ronda
Ash crisis? What ash crisis?
When the airline says its safe to fly again, sadly it looks like our holiday is nearly over … Continue readingAsh crisis? What ash crisis?
On Holiday in the Shadow of the Volcano
When the volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland in 2010 it caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe and also to my holiday! Read all about my holiday issues here … … Continue readingOn Holiday in the Shadow of the Volcano
Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall
Drawn by the first-ever lighting of the 70-mile monument from end to end, thousands of visitors filled every local car park, lay-by and footpath, while helicopters and a NASA satellite recorded the necklace of beacons from above. I played my part! … Continue readingIlluminating Hadrian’s Wall
The Dean of Gibraltar
Here’s an extract from a long standing project I’ve got on, writing a series of short stories about Gibraltar clergy – don’t ask me why but it seemed a good idea at the time! … Continue readingThe Dean of Gibraltar
An Introduction to Gibraltar
I worked in Gibraltar for 6 months a few years ago. For me it was an amazing and unique experience. Here are a few things I learned. … Continue readingAn Introduction to Gibraltar
In The Machine
…as he pressed the On button, there was a loud report, the TV screen shattered and an acrid cloud exuded from the gaping hole… … Continue readingIn The Machine
Those Were the Days
In 2009 some old friends and I made a nostalgic return to some old pub haunts. I played the papparazi part. We all ended up feeling old. Where did the time go? … Continue readingThose Were the Days
How Honey Got Happy
As soon as Honey Dale woke up, Steve Taylor’s face swam into view. It was a waking nightmare. She stopped herself from screaming as memories flooded back. In spite of the occasional nightmare, Honey knew everything was so much better now. … Continue readingHow Honey Got Happy
Perfect Day
As part of an exercise in characterisation, the men in my class were asked to write a piece about a woman, and the ladies were to write about a man. Examples given to us were from Alan Bennett’s “A Chip In the Sugar”. I haven’t read the book, but to my knowledge, this lady never lived ‘oop North’… … Continue readingPerfect Day
Francisco y Cayetano Rivera Ordonez
I read and enjoyed for a second time, “Death and the Sun, a Matador’s Season in the Heart of Spain”. Edward Lewine embarks on an eye-opening journey around Spain, with Spain’s most adored bullfighter. Also here’s a CBS video about the brothers Ordonez. … Continue readingFrancisco y Cayetano Rivera Ordonez
I’m back…
Some of my friends in Gibraltar noticed the site was down. I’m happy to report it’s back online again. Thanks Roy and Sylvie! … Continue readingI’m back…
Spoon
Here’s a ‘concrete poem’ I wrote. Concrete, pattern, or shape poetry is … “poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme, and so on. Judge for yourself if I managed it! … Continue readingSpoon
Joosy
This story was inspired by my sometime tutor’s Bichon Frise dog. It’s a dirty job but someone had to write it… … Continue readingJoosy
Hand in hand with the great Stephen King?
Recently in my creative writing class we carried out an exercise, adding to the beginning or end of a fragment of text we’d been given by our tutor. I was excited by the start of the story and piggybacked my text on to it.
Below is an extract from Stephen King’s “Night Shift”… … Continue readingHand in hand with the great Stephen King?
The Rock
I think this was one of the first pieces of ‘flash fiction’, for want of a better term, I ever wrote in the first Creative Writing class I attended, in 2009. It came out of a lesson to which my tutor brought a smooth khaki coloured rock, and told us the 15 ideas it had given him for a story. He asked us to use our imagination and to come up with something ourselves … … Continue readingThe Rock
Sonnet
This poem was inspired by watching tv adverts showing shiny, happy people buying nice sofas, immediately followed by ‘Warzone’. ‘Warzone’ was a Channel 5 documentary series following the lives of British servicemen and women at Kandahar Airbase, Afghanistan. Amongst the team was a fire crew, who had put out a plane fire.. … Continue readingSonnet