Bullying and Parliament
Dominic Raab has been found to have engaged in bullying as a minister and has resigned. He seems to have some issues with the definition of bullying. As a writer, I always reach for the Oxford English Dictionary when a definition is required. The OED says that a bully...
Scientists of Sir Anthony Standen’s Lifetime
I don’t claim that this is an exhaustive list of scientists contemporary with Sir Anthony Standen. It’s more of a tasting menu, with each scientist chosen because they relate to the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures in some way. The place to start must be Galileo...
Pointless and Dying Phrases
Claire and I often watch Pointless in the afternoon. It’s a quiz show hosted by Alexander Armstrong. The format is to try and choose an answer that is the most obscure correct answer. One of the rounds today were clues to phrases which are rapidly dying out. We were...
Corsham Writers, Raymond Chandler, & Duck Soup
I attended my second meeting of the Corsham Writers Workshop on Thursday. As with my first meeting, it was a delight to chat with other writers. There were a couple of writers new to the group, and a long standing member who hadn’t been at the first meeting I...
Facebook Friends and Profile Hacking
Brian Feinblum gave me some book publicity coaching last year. He asked me how many facebook friends I had, to which my reply was around twenty. “That’s hopeless, you need thousands’, he replied. He also gave me some tips on how to achieve that, which I have been...
Wordle Strategy
Claire and I start most days with the New York Times Wordle puzzle. Then we move onto Quordle. Finally, after completing Sudoku, I feel my brain is ready for writing or researching. Judging by my facebook friends, Wordle is very popular. I post my results and then my...
Easter, Oak, Golf, and the Garden
My last post concerning oak was way back on 5th September last year. That post was inspired by the oak we had bought to replace the rotten legs on our garden swing. Naturally the swing in question is a bench type of swing, not the children’s playground variety....
Research and Spinning a Good Yarn
I enjoy spinning a good yarn, particularly my Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Because I write historical fiction, my research must be thorough. In the latest book, Called to Account, I have been very thorough with my medical research. I wont give you any spoilers, but...
Artificial Intelligence, ChatGBT, and Me
Many of my author friends on facebook have experimented with ChatGBT. Their results have been very impressive. The stories they’ve asked it to write, have been convincing and entertaining. It’s difficult to perceive that they’ve been written by a machine. The only...
Bullying and Parliament
Dominic Raab has been found to have engaged in bullying as a minister and has resigned. He seems to have some issues with the definition of bullying. As a writer, I always reach for the Oxford English Dictionary when a definition is required. The OED says that a bully...
Scientists of Sir Anthony Standen’s Lifetime
I don’t claim that this is an exhaustive list of scientists contemporary with Sir Anthony Standen. It’s more of a tasting menu, with each scientist chosen because they relate to the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures in some way. The place to start must be Galileo...
Pointless and Dying Phrases
Claire and I often watch Pointless in the afternoon. It’s a quiz show hosted by Alexander Armstrong. The format is to try and choose an answer that is the most obscure correct answer. One of the rounds today were clues to phrases which are rapidly dying out. We were...
Corsham Writers, Raymond Chandler, & Duck Soup
I attended my second meeting of the Corsham Writers Workshop on Thursday. As with my first meeting, it was a delight to chat with other writers. There were a couple of writers new to the group, and a long standing member who hadn’t been at the first meeting I...
Facebook Friends and Profile Hacking
Brian Feinblum gave me some book publicity coaching last year. He asked me how many facebook friends I had, to which my reply was around twenty. “That’s hopeless, you need thousands’, he replied. He also gave me some tips on how to achieve that, which I have been...
Wordle Strategy
Claire and I start most days with the New York Times Wordle puzzle. Then we move onto Quordle. Finally, after completing Sudoku, I feel my brain is ready for writing or researching. Judging by my facebook friends, Wordle is very popular. I post my results and then my...
Easter, Oak, Golf, and the Garden
My last post concerning oak was way back on 5th September last year. That post was inspired by the oak we had bought to replace the rotten legs on our garden swing. Naturally the swing in question is a bench type of swing, not the children’s playground variety....
Research and Spinning a Good Yarn
I enjoy spinning a good yarn, particularly my Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Because I write historical fiction, my research must be thorough. In the latest book, Called to Account, I have been very thorough with my medical research. I wont give you any spoilers, but...
Artificial Intelligence, ChatGBT, and Me
Many of my author friends on facebook have experimented with ChatGBT. Their results have been very impressive. The stories they’ve asked it to write, have been convincing and entertaining. It’s difficult to perceive that they’ve been written by a machine. The only...