Through a glass darkly
Today sees the release of my short story Heat Haze. Those of you with really long memories might remember that it first appeared in Velvet Mafia, which was a wonderful LGBT magazine publishing a wide range of stories back in the 1990s and early 2000s. After it closed its doors, Heat Haze had nowhere else... Continue Reading →
What do you do on a damp drizzly morning in the Lake District? Answer, in our case, go and explore a bit more of Kendal's rich tapestry of history. This time, we chose the area known as Greenside, which rises steeply up the hillside on the west of the town. The main gateway to it... Continue Reading →
I have just discovered that there really were African Roman soldiers in York, and this makes me very happy. Why? Well, one of the main characters in Echoes of Blood is exactly that - a citizen of North Africa who has joined the Roman Army and been sent, as part of the Ninth Legion, to... Continue Reading →
The Lake District had over 8 inches of rain on Sunday. Yes, you really did read that right - 8 whole inches of water fell in a relentless torrent for just over 24 hours. Luckily, this time, there was no flooding, but it still left everywhere rather sodden. By Monday it had sort of stopped,... Continue Reading →
A few days ago I promised more details on the Virtual Gay Pride Fest I'll be taking part in, in just under a week's time. Well, here they are! On Saturday 4th July, at 12 noon EDT/5.00 pm BST I'll be going 'live' at the event, with a half hour takeover plus trivia questions and... Continue Reading →
Our third trip out courtesy of the National Trust pre-booking system, and this time we chose Fell Foot Park. It's a relatively short drive from home and set on the shores of Windermere with nice walks in lovely scenery. I last visited in about 1990 and Dave had never been, so it was the perfect... Continue Reading →
Those nice folk at Stonewall Writers & Readers have posted another excerpt for me, from my latest book Just Visiting. This is the gay time-travel romance I published a few weeks ago. Rather appropriately (and completely accidentally) it features a fight against inequality and outright racism, as well as mention of a Great Plague! You... Continue Reading →
On Sunday we managed to get tickets for another National Trust "property", Aira Force. This is a magnificent waterfall in a gorge near Ullswater. We've been many times before and it's always lovely scrambling through the woodland to the falls, so once again we made up a packed lunch and thermos flasks and headed north.... Continue Reading →
I'm popping in with some advance warning (so there's plenty of time for you all to pack your bags and leave Earth): on Saturday 4th July I'll be taking part in an online gay pride literary event organised by fellow writer Blake Allwood to help take the place of so many conventions and festivals that... Continue Reading →
Lockdown here in England is slowly easing, and on Monday we were able to have our first proper trip out for many weeks. We had the National Trust to thank for this, as they're starting to re-open some of their parks and gardens on a pre-booked tickets only basis. We got tickets for our nearest... Continue Reading →
