The Bible tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to. Romans 12:3-8. There is nothing we can do to impress God. Anything good that we have in ourselves has come from him. If I am a good writer or a good preacher I must realise that God has given me those abilities. I may say that writing Christian articles on websites and preaching is my ministry but I must remember that all Christians have a ministry. The Bible says that we...

Release date 01.24.26 The Payout Game is an Irish crime thriller featuring Garda Inspector P.J. Crowe — a flawed but dediicated detective living in the small coastal town of Roscarrig that keeps giving him big-city problems. Crowe is hoping for a quiet Christmas in Roscarrig, but during a charity regatta, a body washes up on the rocks beneath a lighthouse — a man known across Ireland: a celebrity bookmaker with deep connections to high-stakes...

Most of us know who Kathy Burke is. She’s kinda famous. Famous enough to have a major publisher publish her autobiography, A Mind of My Own . I like her because she always comes across as that rarest of breeds, a working-class actress made good. Working-class actor if we’re being politically correct. I loved her retort to Helena Bonham Carter when she opined that there weren’t enough roles for her because she was too pretty. Let me remind you...

The cherry blossoms still bloom...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct6stl People I know have started voting with their body. I attended a Catholic funeral on Friday. A girl I used to know. Bernie Porter that’s no longer a girl. No longer anything. Her mum was my godmother. Both are dead. Both received Roman Catholic funeral rites. Mass and the bit at the end, where her coffin is carried out of the church, by her ex-husband and son. Her coffin is put in the ground. Ashes to...

“A magazine that refuses to be one.”

Taking off work tomorrow to drive down to Bushnell, FL, site of the state's national cemetery. Veterans Day road trip. Take about 2 and a half hours to get there. Going to visit a friend. Kid, really. Originally from Iowa. Never said a vulgar word in his life, not that I ever heard, except once. He found this mongrel btich. Belly fat with worms. Mange all over. He washed her and fed her. Wasn't a hope in hell of keeping her alive but he never...

You come away after reading Ewan Lawrie’s third poetry collection as if you actually know him. Multilingual. He can even write about himself in the third person. Smartass. He wrote a trilogy of books with a lead character—Moffat—and four other novels and two short-story collections. Fuck sake. Gie it a break. Worse of all, he’s got really great hair. Hunners of it. Mair than a brown bear. I’m no jealous. Honest. The thinks I know about poetry...

Tariq Ashkanani threw me. I learned his novel The Midnight King had won Bloody Scotland’s main prize. It used to be called the McIlvanney prize. Named after the author of Laidlaw . A Glasgow detective that set out not just to solve crime, but solve the world. Most of us remember Taggert . Most of us have been in drafted in as extras in the dour, detective drama. Which is a long-winded way of saying, The Midnight King isnae even in fucking...

The Payout Game Irish crime author Robert Craven returns with the third novel in the acclaimed P.J. Crowe thriller series Dublin, Ireland — Award-nominated Irish crime writer Robert Craven announces the release of The Payout Game , the third novel in his gripping contemporary crime series featuring Garda Inspector P.J. Crowe. The book launches January 24, 2026 in paperback and eBook formats. Set against the stark beauty of North County Dublin’s...