Book Cover - The House Of Bone And Rain After a week away in the Midlands this period has largely comprised of catching up on things. Unpacking, writing up Eastercon convention files, reading through hundreds of e-mails accumulated in my absence (90% of them swiftly deleted as junk). There was was a little shopping and a food delivery from a major supermarket to replenish my cupboards for the remains of the month. Most of the time I was at home, apart from three pub visits, a

Diary Monday 6th April 2026 – Iridescence Birmingham Eastercon - The Final Day One of Emily Inkpen's Dex Legacy script books Noon – Writing And Creating Audio Drama Emily Inkpen A lovely solo presentation on how Emily created a popular radio drama-podcast show, professionally auditioning her cast, acy script books gDex Lewriting, etc. Her first season was written episode by episode which she found quite stressful, creating an episode even while the one before it was airing.

The Hilton Metropole Hotel - Birmingham NEC 1.30pm The Hay Lecture – Stranger Than Fiction – Creatures Of The Deep Shana Worthen (moderator), Tasha Phillips A look at the real denizens of the deep, by a qualified marine biologist, showing how real giant squid have influenced the krakens of mythology, and a genuine (seabed) sandworm horror that may have influenced the sandworms of Dune and the Sarlak pit entity that appears in The Return Of The Jedi. There were creatures with

One of my source books in researching Deity Of The Day I was surprised by how little I attended this year, even on a surprisingly light programme compared to many Eastercons. The Saturday was my quietest day in terms of attending panels as I was getting set for my own play performance, preparing scripts, meeting cast members to go over the text in a quick read through and rehearsal, and making sure tech knew what we might need, which was actually relatively little. Aside fro

Some of my clothes heaped a chair for the Hilton Birmingham NEC hotel lack of dresser drawers Waking in my hotel room, cluttered in clothing due to the lack of drawers provided by a 4 star hotel (see https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186402-d211158-r1055734018-Hilton_Birmingham_Metropole-Birmingham_West_Midlands_ ) I got myself dressed and ready for what proved to be a mildly disappointing hotel breakfast, with watery scrambled eggs and lukewarm sausages. At lea

Though Eastercon was not officially starting until Friday 3 rd April, I was among many attendees going on the Thursday to meet with friends old and new, potentially get early event registration before the queues for it got much bigger on the Friday, and generally chill out. Sign for The Old Crown, Digbeth. I got the bus there from near The Old Crown that had been such a lovely home for the first two days of my stay, and reached the bus station that was conjoined to the train

Street Art tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, Digbeth, Birmingham I’ve been to and stayed in both Birmingham and Coventry before but many photos I took in both were lost when my external hard drive crashed, losing me hundreds of photos. Now I had a chance to get fresh shots of many of the lost photos and photos of fresh sites too. I spent the first half of the morning covering more of Birmingham before catching a bus to Coventry, about 90 minutes ride away. I was delighted when the bu

Pub Sign - The Old Crown - Digbeth, Birmingham I was booked in to the 2026 Eastercon Science Fiction Convention, labelled Iridescence. This was the 25 th of the 70 Eastercons I have made it to, my first was in 1997 (at the Liverpool Adelphi). The con was not due to begin until Friday 3 rd April but I wanted to explore Birmingham and The West Midlands for a few days before it too, mainly in search of more pub signs for my collection. Two weeks before the trip I was hospitali

I recently staged my semi-play, Deity of The Day in which a TV presenter, Jack Luckhold, doesn't interview A List celebrities, but actual gods from World mythology. As it is a spoken word piece, or series of pieces, with each interview staged as a separate episode of the show, the cast have their scripts with them to read from and refer to, rather than memorizing the text. Me as Jack and Farah Mendelsohn as Isis (Photo curtesy of Farah) I have now performed Deity Of The Day

A poem I wrote and read at several open mic events, including one at the Iridescence Eastercon Science Fiction Convention in Birmingham in 2026. Arthur performing at The Green Room, Manchester - photo by Andy N. Sister Superior Stomps on the inferior, And gouges the Earth to get to the interior Convinced the Core is Hell. No science spouting infidel can tell Her she is wrong. Faith keeps her strong. As she smites down the sinners. There can be no winners,

2024. Titan Books. Spoilers. A crime novel, set in Puerto Rico, that gradually turns supernatural and ultimately flat out Lovecraftian. Told from multiple points of view, though mainly that of Gabe (Gabino?), this centres on five friends, Gabe, Bimbo, Xavier, Paul and Tava bonded all the more tightly when gangsters gun down the mother to one of them in what initially looks like a straight-forward drive by club shooting. With the police indifferent to investigating the case, t

Spoilers Book Cover - The Unworthy. Given that this is quite a short novel, in a genre I love, horror, and post-apocalyptic dystopia as well as touching on themes I relate to by personal experience (being ensnared in a religious cult in the early 1980’s), I found it quite an uphill slog. There are good elements to this, especially the creation of the book itself, written by an un-named unreliable narrator in secret, with whatever materials she can get hold of, from crushed in

“There’s one born every minute. (P T Barnum). Was I just gullible? Possibly, but I like to think the story was more complex than that. My father died in 1978, dropping dead instantly with coronary thrombosis a month short of his 50 th birthday. Naturally, the whole family were devastated. I took it very badly, largely as my grand-parents told me repeatedly that I (then 16) was now ‘the man of the family’. My first task as such was taking my Dad’s place giving my sist

I broke free from Maharaji’s cult in 1985. It is now 2026, (Ok 41 years but near enough to 40). The time has gone frightfully quickly. My graduation photo, taken by my step-father In many ways directly taking on cults has found itself playing second fiddle to much more in my life The anti-cult movement itself has gone much more low profile. Ian Howarth’s Cult Information Centre and Family Action Information & Rescue (FAIR) have largely become quite inactive. The interne

The origins, history and controversies of a religious cult, the Divine Light Mission (AKA Elan Vital, aka The Prem Rawat Foundation) of Guru Maharaj Ji (AKA, Goomradgie, Satguru, Maharaji, Prem Pal Rawat Sing, etc) Me, a portrait of Maharaji and a cult warning leaflet. (taken by a reporter). My own story is in truth a minor part of the cult’s overall history. It is unlikely that the Guru, Maharaj Ji before I defected and became a more outspoken critic of the cult, ever knew

1977 and 2013. Chicago Review Press Moe Howard's I Stooged To Conquer book cover Spoilers Uncompleted before his Death, Moe Howard’s wonderful, honest and touching account of his life and the story of The Three Stooges was originally to have been called I Stooged To Conquer, but the 1977 publishers insisted on renaming it simplt Moe Howard & The Three Stooges. The lavishly photo-illustrated 2013 edition fortunately restored the original title, a pun on She Stooped To Conquer.

1987/2011 DC / Vertigo Spoilers Hellblazer Origins graphic novel cover A collection of the earliest John Constantine: Helllblazer stories about a shabby Liverpudlian chain-smoking, hard drinking, womanising gumshoe who takes on Supernatural enemies, including cult leaders, demons and devils. There is a gritty realism to these very dark tales, child trafficking, hard drugs, Constantine taking down racists, and criticisms of Thatcher’s Britain abound. Constantine is often haunt

1982 2000 AD Rebellion Press Spoilers Graphic Novel Cover For Young Death An offbeat origin story for 2000 AD’s greatest supervillain, Judge Death, with Judges Anderson and Dredd relegated to minor appearances. Narcissistic about his achievements, Death shares his story as an exclusive to terrified journalist, Brian Skuter, torn between elation that Death is giving him such a scoop and fear that one wrong move will bring about his end. The unlikely duo are catered for by t

I had an opportunity recently to dress in my Satan claws and mask for the first time since about 2018. The Costume has quite a complicated history. It was created on my behalf by drinking buddy, Tom Clarke, for a Halloween party night at Satan’s Hollow, in Manchester. The costume was inspired by my short story, Blind Date, about a Lovecraftian entity called J Alfred Cthulhu, using a computer dating agency to find himself a romantic date. Me as J Alfred Cthulhu, with flo

We are always torn between individualism and conformity. We want to fit in, but also fiercely protect and develop our independence. Peer group pressure is when family, friends, society as a whole, a cultural movement, a business, religion or political group, try to manipulate, engineer, or force the individual, maverick, non-conforming,different goat to be more like the sheep and join the hive in behaviour and mentality. Pressure can come through many avenues. A child may be