Upcoming readings

I've got three readings coming up in the next two months:

23rd September: Glue Velvet I'm reading at Glue Gun 91's David Lynch-themed special. My story (which doesn't have a name) is inspired by Twin Peaks and features a musical soundtrack. I'm very excited about this piece and can't wait to see how it works live. The event starts at 8:30pm in the Victory and is absolutely free.

6th October: Sparks V I'll be reading my short story about vegetarian bondage, 'Meat' at the next Sparks event. I'll publish full details of the night nearer the time.

29th October: Telling Lies – Fear of the Dark. I'm helping organise a Halloween spoken word night at the Marlborough next month. There are some exciting acts lined up, and the night be far more than just another spoken word night. I'll do a full post on this once I have the flyer but, meanwhile, put a note in your diary.

A day-trip to Dungeness

On Sunday, following in the footsteps of the Lost promenade, Joh, Sophy and I made an epic journey to Dungeness. The drive there was fantastic, through some beautiful villages, and Dungeness itself was as flat, desolate, beautiful and as windswept as I'd hoped.

The scenery reminded me a little of a western in places, and the atmosphere was heightened by the people dressed up for a wedding at the lighthouse. Our group might have been a little over-dressed for Dungeness – Joh was asked if she was attending the wedding since she was "all dressed up", and my black jacket apparently made me look like some rock-star.

Here are some photos:

Dun1 

Dun2

Dun3 

Dun4

I’m reading at Sparks on October 6th

As the Sparks Blog has just announced, I will be reading at the next Sparks night on October 6th. I assume this will be happening at the 3-and-10 again, but I'll post again when I know all the details. Sparks is a night of flash fiction, with each story illustrated by a specially commissioned photograph. It's a lovely night and well worth a visit. Also reading on October 6th are Tim Wells, Wendy Greenhalgh, Sarah Charsley, Nik Perring and Jon Heath.

New post on literaturenetwork.org: Ideaspace!

I'm a little late posting this, as I've had a very busy couple of weeks. (I'm writing a post about some of the things I've done, but who knows when that will appear?). During the whirlwind my new post was published on literaturenetwork.org. This one touches on ideas, mathematics, plagiarism and magic:

Writers are often asked where they get their ideas. Their answers are sometimes glib – Harlan Ellison once replied “Poughkeepsie” and Neil Gaiman used to suggest ‘from the Idea-of-the-Month Club,’ or ‘a little ideas shop in Bognor Regis’. My favourite reply is one I’ve heard attributed to Arthur Miller: “If I knew, I would go there more often.” Wouldn’t it be something to visit the place ideas come from?

Please click through and read the full thing. I'd be very interested in knowing what people make of this one as it took in some strange topics.