8 Questions
Latest
Newsletter
The Cat: A Folk Tale For Midwinter
Subscribe now Once upon a time, a man, a woman and a cat were walking through a deep forest. All three had walked for what felt like a thousand miles and all but the smallest member of the party balanced precariously on blistered, swollen feet. Night had fallen only an
A Newsletter Where I Write In A Fairly Chaotic Way About Several Ostensibly Unrelated Things, Some Of Which Are Depressing And Worrying, Some Of Which Are Thankfully Not
As (to say the least) an unfestive sort of person, who would ideally prefer to be temporarily deactivated, C-3PO-style, during this darkest, most spiteful chunk of winter, I place what might seen as a curious amount of importance on New Year’s resolutions. December might be my least favourite month,
The Don't Mind Me Decade
Subscribe now My granddad died when I was four. There are a couple of photos of him holding me, plus a few others; one of us, probably taken by my mum, sitting together on a wall near the sea at Skegness with my nan and my aunt Sarah and my
Some Photos From My Family's Archive And The Cult Low Budget Horror Films They Became
This is a free post, but taking out a paid subscription here helps me write more of the stuff I love to write, and will give you access to lots of exclusive writing in the near future. Dragon Cottage (1978) Bored out of their tiny brains after being transported against
The True Story Of How Julian Cope Licked My Entire Face And Hypnotised Me Into An Occult Life On The Margins Of Society
A lot of people ask me why I am the way I am, so, after many years of holding back, I thought it was time to come clean. The truth is, it all dates back to the day in summer 1994 in the Nottingham branch of Virgin Megastore when the
Houses In Motion
The Pain Of Knowing You Can't Go Back
Newsletter
The House That Books Held Together
Subscribe now This is a piece I wrote eighteen months ago, when I had relatively few readers on Substack. It’s about a building I still feel privileged to have spent time inside. I wanted to repost it for more of you to read, as I’m currently thinking a
Newsletter
Some Ghosts I Have Known Who Turned Out To Be Massive Pricks
Ghost hunters in Somerset’s Quantock Hills have reported that the spectre of Jane Walford, who was murdered by her husband John in 1789, can often be seen at the site of her demise, known as ‘Dead Woman’s Ditch’, swearing violently at people. “FUCK OFF,” Jane will usually shout
Hard Facts
The difficult truths I'm learning right now about my choice to publish books in an uncompromising and independent way
How A Novel Gave Birth To A Record
Subscribe now Melbury Beacon isn’t quite the highest place in Dorset, but, at 263 metres above sea level, it’s one of the big boys and, much like the man I walked to it with a couple of autumns ago, probably has no trouble seeing when it stands at
A Few Brief Bits And Bobs For Your Ears And Eyes
This post is free but if you’d like to support my work, I’m offering 25% off all full annual subscriptions until Monday at 7pm UK time. Having got a few little jobs out of the way (the most exhausting novel I’ve ever written, posting 3000 books to