This morning, Lou Reed and John Cale reflect in the quiet piano lights of the train

The brilliant Liz Flanagan has a new book coming out - always a treat. The new thing about this is that it’s her debut book for adults www.thebookseller.com/rights/fox-i...

Having a blast with my boy today. Playing Turrican on the Amiga 500 and I.STILL.GOT.IT (ish).

Writers, do you ever think that even though you know you can write something that maybe you shouldn’t because there is so much out there already and perhaps new things should only be the very best, the most essential?

Making tracks to the big wheel

I fully endorse two of my own books!

It's friday! That means time for the weekly good news thread. What's YOUR good news from the week? What's made you smile? Mine is an incredibly fun time I had with @amdassu.bsky.social at her online launch last night. For this gorgeous book! (pics from the physical launch earlier on)

Raising readers, poetry edition childrenspoetrysummit.com/2025/11/06/a...

This morning I am driftwood, nailed together as a door and whistling with the wind

25 Years of the International Space Station: What archaeology tells us about living and working in space 🧪 🏺 🔭 #SpaceArchaeology

Moon over Chorley Theatre on the walk home from seeing Back to the Future last night @chorleyrobbie.bsky.social

“That’s the art, eh? What to say, and when to say it. And the rest is silence.” Ursula K LeGuin

The boy and I are heading to the cinema. Anyone guess what we are going to watch

The first (1955) Danish edition of Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451. Later editions did not convert the title, so this is the only SI-compatible edition! 🎢

Chris Priestley has written some fabulous scary stories. Seven Ghosts, Still Water and Freeze are all short enough to be achievable reads for reluctant readers and are also dyslexic-friendly. The Tales of Terror series is great too. #UKKidLit #KidLitUK #KidLit

Nearly 25 years ago I wrote a long Tolkien fanfiction about Faramir and Éowyn and what happened after the fairy-tale. I posted chapters as I was writing them: it became my first full-length novel…

All the warnings sent at once

Happy New Year!

Here is the long and short of it.

I am reading Tehanu by Ursula LeGuin. It’s exactly the book I need to read after wading through a bestseller which was so bafflingly a copy of someone else’s book that I am still wondering how the author thought “yep, this is something new”

I have thoughts on this, none in agreement with the author who seems not to understand that trends aren’t a product of great ideas or that creating fads would really help reading. It’s a reductive, empty cry for relevance www.thebookseller.com/comment/the-...

If ever you needed an excuse to stop using Amazon then consider that they’ve just sacked 14,000 people and replaced them with AI. This is just the start, according to their VP of people experience (seriously). We are just pigs at an auto-refilling trough of AI slop

It’s #electronicears at 8pm This week I’m focussing on the first three Soft Cell albums by way of tribute to Dave Ball, including the wonderful ‘Hendrix Medley’. Do join me, streaming from www.candofm.co.uk

Join me!

I used to read a book a day as a child. Spent as much time in the library after school as I could add a teenager. I read loads of stories, eventually. But the first books I really wanted to read were dictionaries, craft books and non fiction. www.vivianeschwarz.co.uk/the-best-pla...

I now wear the white poppy from Peace Pledge Union. Both my grandfather's were WWII veterans and I know neither of them glorified what they ended up doing. For me the white poppy let's me show respect and a commitment to peace share.google/nRXS0G671WKn...

Today I am mostly cursing the stupid people who saw fit to enact laws preventing me from sending a small child up the chimney. #MakeFiresGrateAgain

Out early for the first time in days after a bit of a sick thing. I walked and called for all the stray words which ran away from me during my low point

This is one of three cartoons I have in the current Private Eye.

Do you like scary movies? With animals in? Have resurrected some prints. Signed, A3 and available from Fiveways Arts and Crafts, Brighton. Online here: fivewaysartsandcrafts.com/search?q=nad...

Right. I need coffee to help me wade through the book I’m currently reading

This is an email I received yesterday. It’s an example of why marketing through AI still requires actual skill. This email is high on bullshit and low on actual marketing ability. Flattery is not a sales strategy

The BBC are accidentally running the subtitles to Mrs Marple over the Mercury Prize, and it’s rather wonderful. A few of lines could plausibly have been written by Jarvis.

It’s so good to see sunset getting earlier each day. Daylight was an interesting experiment but we should just ditch it fully now

A story in three parts

Please read my column today in conjunction with Aditya's. The government pretends to be delivering housing to those who need it, but is in fact just appeasing the big corporations. Then it blames nature protections, and rips those down at their behest as well. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Space Harrier is 40! I remember seeing this beautiful machine in Piccadilly arcade and wishing I could a) afford to play it and b) was confident enough to sit in front of the many people who stood around in wonder at it youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgr...

A local north london charity called Akwaaba is raising money for a creative art space for refugees, unhoused ppl, and the wider community. Even small donations will make a big difference! www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding... #UKKidlit

The irony is that today is also International E-Waste Day. Wonder how much this will contribute to the pile.

Absolute legend. My ex-creative director tried hiring him to do a video game cover. Asked Drew to do the illustration in a specific style (why, I don’t know). Drew politely declined and offered to supply the number of the illustrator he was being asked to imitate. Wish I’d kept that fax

‘96% of healthcare professionals said the model helps to reduce children’s anxiety, and 46% reported a lesser need to use sedation after the children played with the set.‘ ‘Lego doesn’t sell the sets and instead has donated more than 10,000 of the kits to hospitals around the world.’

Publishing’s use of social media is generally appalling. It’s usually one post per day, a single image which may sometimes get converted to a reel. No faces, no personality. Even publishers with large followings get low engagement. So irrelevant on something they could fill with content

Concerned about what the peace means for Palestinians? Concerned whether there will be peace at all? Concerned about accountability for the Israeli genocide? Shabana Mahmood has this to say to you.

Did… do no one vet the title of this book?

Unlike museums, arts, cultural and heritage organisations, science and discovery centres are unable to access gov't and National Lottery funding for their infrastructure needs. If you recognise the huge cultural and economic benefits of fostering an interest in science, sign this open letter. 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Why The Hobbit and not Weirdstone of Brisingamen? Why Harry Potter but not Wizard of Earthsea? What makes some books like Titus Groan become acclaimed but not mainstream popular whilst others become part of our literary language?

I went to see The Word For World Is Map and I would just like to observe that Ursula K. LeGuin was a gift to humanity in so many ways.

Honestly, it’s exhausting that people think Gazans should only ask for help to survive to eat, to stay alive but not to dream, to study, or to rebuild their lives. Wanting education, safety, and a future isn’t greed. It’s being human.

I wrote about it in 2018, but it's an issue so fiercely defended by social silence that I found it impossible to get any traction. It's one of those occasions on which everyone thinks you've gone mad, as the alternative is to recognise that the system is mad. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...