It's that time of year when I switch off the internet and do analogue stuff instead. Read some books, play some records, do some napping, that sort of thing. Wishing you all a wonderful festive season. End of February is the deadline for writing my book so might not be back till then. Take care x

Having visited my birthplace for a festive family visit today, I have been thinking about this song and video, both of which are great and conjure up a very specific Christmas vibe for me.

If you will permit me a last-ish minute plug for my book, Tips from a Publisher, which would make the ideal festive gift for the aspiring writer in your life. Adam Kay once said it, 'Contains everything you need to know to get published'. And who am I to argue?

ATTENTION ALL USERS! I have an important infographic to share with you.

why are verso fiction covers all either like “here is a mysterious young sexy lady” or “we forgot to design this one”

2025 has been a bit of a frustrating year for me, book wise, as I haven't had as much time as I'd like to spend reading for pleasure. I've had a lot of research to do for Mastermind and for our forthcoming Literary Dogs book, and that has taken my reading hours. A few books really stood out though.

Love how Karen Carney (legend) has managed to navigate the entire Strictly final in trousers and flats.

Just back from the festive parental visit to Essex. Canvey Island, to be precise. Now, I live in Windsor, no stranger to flags, especially during state visits, but I have never seen as many as were lining Canvey Way, the main road onto the island. Nearly every lamppost had one, some had two.

This week I have been watching episodes of Camberwick Green while tucking into my breakfast panettone and cup of tea. Such nostalgia seems fitting for this time of year. I had never noticed before that the characters clothes were made out of that sponge material. In my memory, they were cloth.

Yesterday my timeline was full of people celebrating the fact that an odious children's book author and racist comedian had been outed as a sex pest. Today it is full of people celebrating the fact that an odious YouTuber got the shit kicked out of him. Never change, people, never change.

The wonderful Outside Project are raising money for the Trans+ Winter Night Shelter which will provide a safe, supportive refuge for members of the Trans+ community who are homeless, escaping domestic abuse, seeking asylum, refugees and at risk of sleeping rough this festive season.

Ah that's a nice worst kept secret in publishing you have there, sure would be a shame if it was revealed just before Christmas

In the past few years, whenever there's been a suggestion that a male celeb is about to be exposed as a sex pest, or worse, David Walliams' name would always come up. I guess it was only a matter of time.

When you sneeze while posing for a family photo.

If you will permit me a last-ish minute plug for my book, Tips from a Publisher, which would make the ideal festive gift for the aspiring writer in your life. Adam Kay once said it, 'Contains everything you need to know to get published'. And who am I to argue?

A group of evangelical Christians are singing songs in Windsor town centre, proving once again that the devil has the best tunes.

I read three books today. Go me. Full disclosure, they were pretty short. Also, they were gifts for other people that I was sneakily reading before wrapping them. They are the Jólabókaflóð books for my wife and kids on Christmas Eve. First up, Florrie: A Football Love Story by Anna Trench.

I suddenly remembered this existed earlier and it is my Tom Holland Umbrella. But then so it Tom Holland’s umbrella.

Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google. My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence! go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT

Given the way things are at the moment, I actually think this is a pretty neat idea and something I've been advocating for some years. If you want the Oscars to be relevant on a global scale, then stream them live to the globe. And via a platform that young people, or some of them, actually use.

Isn't this the same in the US? Never been a thing here though, I don't think. Long-held beliefs can really stick around. Try getting someone over 40 who grew up in the UK to eat pork cooked medium or remotely pink and watch them squirm.

My daughter reports that a customer attempted to return a half-full/half-empty (delete as applicable) bottle of wine to the clothing department, where she works, in M&S today. They claimed it was off. It was a gift had they received in October and they did not have a receipt. They wanted a refund.

Although there are things to admire in L'allégement, a restored Swiss movie from the early 80s now showing at Le Cinema Club, including some stunning visuals and the engaging presence of Anne Caudry, it is ultimately a bit of a mess both narratively and tonally.

I think we are entering a phase in the publishing industry where authors, especially established ones, may have to insist in their contracts that their books are copyedited and proofread by humans. Otherwise, the tasks will be increasingly performed by in-house AI software.

ATTENTION ALL USERS! I have an important infographic to share with you.

Just watched the film Elf for the first time. I'll be honest, the inaccurate portrayal of the children's publishing industry did kinda spoil it for me.

HMV, 1990s. Customer: Got any complicated tapes? Me (thinking I'm hilarious): Sorry, we only stock simple tapes. C: Nah, you know, complicated ones. M: Blank tapes, or ones with music? C: With music. You know. Lots of different songs... complications. M: Ahh, compilations! Right this way.

Tonight on Mastermind, a contestant will attempt to answer the questions I wrote about the Bridgerton books. I'm actually going to be out this evening, so will watch it on iPlayer tomorrow. After which, I may share my views on the novels, if you are very lucky.

I only know Anthony Jeselnik from one stand-up clip (the 'cunt' joke) but this is one of the most interesting book round-ups I have seen for a while.

If you wanted to purchase any of my wife's ceramics for Christmas, her last visit* to the post office will be on Friday. I think the code BIGMOUTH still gives my online friends some discount. *Not ever, I hope she'll visit the post office many more times in her life, but for now.

Just a reminder that the greatest computer game ever made is available to play for free online.

The little book publishing house that I pretend to run has some wares on offer. They fit into stockings. And suspenders. www.alimentation.cc/ration-books/

I was actually at this recording. I'm in the long-sleeved orange shirt to the right of Lauryn Hill. It was a remarkable lineup with Crowded House, Patti Smith, Ash, Richard and Danny Thompson, Booth and the Bad Angel and Norma Waterson.

Interesting NHS experience just now. I found out by logging into my account that, because my health trust had been unable to contact me, a request for a procedure had been cancelled and I had to go back to my GP to be referred again.

Tonight I watched It Was Just An Accident in a small cinema which appeared to be mainly attended by Iranians, or Brits of Iranian heritage, who laughed like drains and chatted a lot. If you like your humour dark then this could be for you. Also, genuinely brilliant ending.

Woman in front of me on the train is facetiming her husband. No headphones, obvs, so we are all listening. And now you are too...

Latest monthly visa application figures are out. Skilled workers? Still dropping. Health & care workers? Still dropping. Slow clap.

Oh, the listings for the new series of Celebrity Mastermind are up. Which means I can have several whole minutes of fun trying to work out which celeb is answering questions on subjects I've written this year.

Linda Fiorentino's personal life sounds like the plot from one of her movies.

BREAKING: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off eastern Aomori Prefecture around 11:15 p.m. Monday. A tsunami warning has been issued for coastal areas of Aomori, Iwate and Hokkaido prefectures. People in these areas are urged to evacuate.

they’ll stop when they meet resistance

Guys, I just took a mattress to the tip. In my opinion, that's top-tier waste disposal action.

Check it out!! Hodder & Stoughton have an open submission window for all fiction genres. Get in quick. Details in link. Please share :)

Lurking at the back of the medicine cupboard in the old house. A small, unopened, army issue sterile bandage from the middle of WWII.

Historical fiction, recently reviewed in the ARB: “Spring Castle” by Michiko Ishimure, “The Samurai Detectives” by Shōtarō Ikenami, “All Things Under the Moon” by Ann YK Choi asianreviewofbooks.com/tag/historic...

I'll be honest, I know next to nothing about Lando Norris, so I checked his Wikipedia page, and it's good to see someone with humble origins making his way in such a rich and elite sport. 'His father...co-owned Hargreaves Lansdown...610th on the 2022 Sunday Times Rich List...net worth of £200m.'

I cannot second this hard enough. It is an incredible piece of television.

Ahh, bugger.

There's a new Wodwo album available on Bandcamp. Wodwo is the musical alter ego of award-winning novelist Ray Robinson. Ethereal, ambient, experimental stuff that I listen to a lot when I am reading or writing. The perfect soundtrack for that sort of activity.

If any of my Bluesky author friends have written books that feature dogs quite prominently (not necessarily plural dogs, could be a singular dog), then do let me know, and I'll see if there's any way I can squeeze it into our forthcoming book Literary Dogs, a history of canines in literature.