https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-little-stranger All Gothic fiction requires a big house, a crumbling manor, think Dracula or Frankenstein with unruly peasants at the door with their torches. Before they’re invited in, of course, they’ve got to wipe their feet. Here we have Hundreds Hall, and like its master, second world war pilot, scarred and shambling Roderick Ayres (Will Poulter) the centre cannot hold and everything flies apart. He’s...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0940193 An ornate key turns up on your pillow, it doesn’t fit anything in the house. You ask other members of your family. Nobody knows how it got there. Did it teleport from somewhere else? You hear knocking sounds. Your neighbours come to complain. It goes on all night. It goes on for weeks on end. Months. Who’s doing it and why? Your Irish granny says it’s the work of the devil. A young pretty girl is the...

Like many these days, I have dabbled in the investment scene. Of course I've had a company 401K for years and really didn't pay much attention to it. Last year however, things changed! The virus hit, the world got all flitty, and the stock market took a bit of a tumble. It looked like a good opportunity to "Buy the dip" as I've learned it's called. I didn't want to say anything to the wife about this as I was afraid it might alarm her. Turned...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000s7hd/darren-mcgarveys-class-wars-series-1-1-identity-crisis Darren McGarvey from Pollock admits he’s lucky, incredibly lucky. And he’s right to do so. He’s on a roll after Poverty Safari . The go-to man when the BBC, or any other media organisation, wants to signal that they’re doing the right thing. Giving the working class a voice. The equivalent of a black woman in the moron moron’s cabinet of his 45...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000s083/circling-a-fox Matthew Zajac is an actor. Acting is a precarious profession. The same old faces crop up with regularity. Trying to make a living from acting is akin to trying to make a living from writing. I’ve did a few shifts as an extra. I’ve no interest in being the next what-ever-you-call him/her. Writing, well, that’s a different story. Writing is my game. I don’t expect to make a living from...

Bronze Medal Award winner of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics

Writers create little worlds of wonder but where do these stories come from? I know it is different for each writer for we have our own rhythm and flow…require different stimuli…and know what effectively works for us may not work for everyone. For me, when I write, it is visual…the words flow from what I see, or I should say what I imagine. I walk through the scenes in my mind’s eye almost in a trance, imagining and typing the descriptive words...

When it needs a review. During the month of January this year, Kobo promoted two of my novels; Eagles Hunt Wolves ; and, The Road of a Thousand Tigers for free download on their platform. I put them up for this primarily as something readers could enjoy during the bleakest month in the grips of a pandemic. Two fast-paced page-turners always help take your mind off things. And, on a more mercenary level, I hoped to get some reviews on the back of...

A story that sprang from a fragment of dialogue that was going around in my head (and simply demanded to be written down) has now, to my surprise, generated seven episodes, to date, and looks likely to provide quite a few more, before I'm done! Therefore, in an effort to try and tidy things up, I've collected all of the stories about Aefelthrith and Gwladys together in a 'collection' and sequentially numbered the various episodes. If you haven't...

My Photographs and Memories plan got a wee bit derailed and it has been superceded by other ventures. I did, however, pull together a small book of work related to the influence of a friend/muse of mine. I've been yoyo-ing between home and hospital since May 2017. It was supposed to be a simple operation but a number of mistakes were made.and as a result, among other stays, I had two visits to Intensive Care totalling around 10 weeks. The final...