Using fact for fiction — It was only in the last few years of creative writing that I started to venture down properly into the rabbit hole of research. And what a fine rabbit hole it is. Of course, there aren’t many works of fiction that do not require a degree of research. Even if…

with my dogs, Moth and Milo — Sometimes it’s the routines in life that keep us together, stop us from falling apart and to stay grounded. This week I have engaged in the ritual of the everyday to keep any phantoms at the door. ‘Step no further — I am protected by the routines of daily living.’

Throwing superannuated shapes — It may have been a mid-life crisis, although it didn’t feel much of one. Crisis? What crisis? Or perhaps it was my second childhood. But doesn’t that come later? According to Shakespeare this is when you return to sans everything. I wasn’t there yet. Neither toothless or hairless. …

One of the best ever live albums — It is an album that should be mentioned in any discussion of the best ever live albums. Forty years after its release (1972) it remained so. In 2012 a Rolling Stones magazine poll ranked Deep Purple’s Made In Japan at number six in best live albums of all time. It…

Art depends on life’s dissonance and suffering — Yesterday I was watching the mini series based the novel, Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke. The storyline concerns a group of aliens of advanced intelligence and their benign invasion of Earth. Their purported aim is to facilitate the next evolutionary leap of the human race. After many years their…

The fun and frolics of joining a writers group. — Last Autumn I joined a local writers group. It is something that I’ve meaning to do forever. Then two events coincided, giving me the necessary kick in the butt to walk the walk… and anymore cliches, step this way. Firstly my retirement awarded me with more hours than I knew…

We have lost what once ruled us — For most of our time, we have lived half of it in darkness. Only during the 19th century did gas lighting begin to illuminate our streets, cities and towns, finally driving back the darkness. …

Heard the hanging — So this is where I hang. The people of the living and the dead come and go. I see their trails, wispy vapours, move over and across time, it’s great beautiful stagnant pond, so never one moment is there alone. They move together. I see them together. This is where…

Consistently top ranking on any list of best prog album — We are coming to the 50th anniversary of this all time great album, first released in September 1972. It has the classic line up of Jon Anderson (vocals), Steve Howe (guitar), Rick Wakeman (keyboards), Chris Squire (bass) and Bill Bruford (drums). Bill Bruford left the band shortly after its release…