Notes from the peninsula

Originally I posted bits and pieces here about my life, but recently it’s been more somewhere I write about films, especially the film challenges I enjoy taking on (see the side panel). My 2019 debut novel is still available with Salt Publishing: The Complex. I’m writing a second novel, but midlife has thrown me some curveballs, so it’s taking longer than I’d like.

I also have a PATREON where you can follow me and read more about my writing progress, see notes on the novels I’m reading, there’s an old podcast I keep threatening to revive, and other low-key shenanigans.

September 06 2020, 15:38

Doing 31 Days of Horror, 2020

With 2020 being a demented shitshow, I did fleetingly wonder if I wanted to do #31DaysOfHorror again this year, but then I remembered why I love horror films — they are an escape from reality. [more...]

July 12 2020, 05:28

Reality Bites

Reality Bites is still surprisingly affecting. I had low expectations. I’m not sure why. There is something about your early twenties that is particularly painful and potent. [more...]

May 25 2020, 08:56

Writers on lockdown

I miss the opportunities to write in a coffee shop, with the ritual of a double macchiato to get me into the groove, especially on my way into work. [more...]

May 18 2020, 06:09

Leaving Rebecca

It’s hard to pinpoint when I stopped reading Rebecca. I started in the middle of April, and I chose it for many reasons. There were so many little cues from the universe that it felt rude not to read it. [more...]

May 16 2020, 11:40

Website as digital garden

I’m doing okay in my little lockdown bubble. We live in a relatively rural spot, we have a garden, and we are working remotely pretty successfully. The days are going really fast. [more...]

April 21 2020, 14:22

The inner Wonder Woman

Last night, I had a deep dream of stasis and being held. I seemed to accept it, though there was a suggestion of pressing against constraints. I can’t remember any details. It’s a feeling from a fragment. [more...]

April 17 2020, 10:34

My favourite five books of 2019

In 2019, on Goodreads, I set myself the challenge of reading 52 books. Here are my favourite five. [more...]

April 12 2020, 15:55

A walk around my writer’s block

It took me thirty years to get from wanting to write a novel to finishing one. I walked away from writing several times, but I always came back... [more...]

March 31 2020, 22:21

Escape room

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed all of us back into our homes, and my writing room is now where I also do software development work for my employer. [more...]

January 29 2020, 19:22

First post, best post

I find it liberating to write whatever is next in my thoughts. The train doesn’t ever stop, not even for sleep. [more...]

November 23 2019, 18:12

Minimalism

I’m into minimalism this week. It’s been a useful concept as I try to solve some tricky problems. [more...]

November 15 2019, 11:10

Writing and reviewing

I’m a writer not a critic, but I have critical thoughts about other people’s books — what does it mean if a writer is a critic too? [more...]

November 14 2019, 19:10

Blogging with Jekyll

I’ve updated this website, hopefully in ways that aren’t obvious to the reader, but that let me have more control (and fun) in the months ahead. [more...]

July 12 2019, 17:12

On writing ‘The Complex’

The first shoots of the ideas that would combine to become The Complex appeared way back in November 2012, when I was fascinated by Lars von Trier’s film, Antichrist. [more...]

February 03 2019, 18:12

Anomalisa (2015)

Everyone looks the same to Michael Stone. He is in Cincinnati to give a talk at a conference. He is desperate for something real in his life, an authentic person who is not like everyone else. [more...]

August 20 2018, 11:15

Point Break

It’s tricky to find films that my fifteen-year-old son will want to watch with his forty-something parents, but this seemed to sit in the sweet spot — surfing, armed robbers, a cocky young hero, skydiving, a love interest and lots of banter. [more...]

August 19 2018, 09:15