It was so exciting last night to see two huge characters from my childhood on stage together: Kathleen Turner, who I will always think of first as romance novelist Joan Wilder from Romancing the Stone, and Ian McDiarmid, the dreaded evil emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars movies. The play was Bakersfield Mist. Joan Wilder plays a boozy trailer … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2014
Weirdest nesting material ever?
I have a creative blackbird nesting in my garden. This week, I was hanging my washing on the line, when I heard something drop down inside the overgrown ivy and creepers that cover the whole of my side wall - it was a blackbird chick fledging the nest. Later, when the chick was gone, I looked into the ivy and found the nest. Woven into it was … [Read more...]
Goodbye Rik Mayall
I just heard the news about Rik Mayall and I'm so sad. When I was 10, I used to strut around the playground sticking two fingers up at people and snorting and calling them fascist and Thatcher and drawing anarchy signs on my homework diary because I wanted to be Rick from The Young Ones. I had no idea who Trotsky was but thanks to Rik Mayall, … [Read more...]
Short stories come in pairs
When I write short stories, I write them in pairs. This is why: I think the best gift a writer could have would be the ability to read their own work as if they'd never seen it before. But a truly objective perspective on your own work is impossible. It helps to leave a draft in the draw for a few days, weeks or months, but I've found that if I … [Read more...]
Reading and workshop at the London Short Story Festival, 21 June 2014
I'll be reading at an event called 'The weird and wonderful world of short stories' alongside fellow reality-benders Dan Powell and Robert Shearman at The London Short Story Festival on 21 June 2014, 11am–12pm. We'll be chaired by Tania Hershman. The event is at Waterstones Piccadilly. Tickets are £8. Full event details and booking here. An hour … [Read more...]
Reading at the Literary Kitchen Festival, London, 20 June 2014
I'll be reading alongside Stuart Evers, Naomi Wood and Douglas Cowie at the Literary Kitchen Festival on Friday 20 June. The event runs 7–11 at The Peckham Pelican. Tickets are £5/£3 concessions. Full event details and booking here. The festival is on 16–22 June 2014, and includes open-studio workshops; readings from folk such as Evie Wyld, Adam … [Read more...]