The Perils of Original Spark

I've become enchanted by something called "The Voice / Kids". It's about talent, mostly, and it's about showbiz, definitely, but most of all it is about ratings. Sure: everything on TV is about ratings. It's a jungle out there and good ideas don't survive alone. They need a fancy vehicle with bells and whistles. They …

Lone Genius Makes Epic Discovery:

Yeah - so that's my click-bait headline done. Now for the article in which a certain highly observant individual discovers the secret of a tragically mis-designed automotive engine ... and is ignored. What follows is the magazine article I wrote some 10 years ago - which has been widely rejected (or just straight-out ignored). Here …

UFOs … Game On!

So ... it's all out in the open now. The US military has shared a lot about their experiences - and it certainly seems legit. Radar records, cockpit recordings, video, and all those monogrammed alien handkerchiefs found washed up on Miami Beaches. Piles of solid evidence that UFOs are real, that they've been jerking us …

Random acts of writing …

I keep forgetting to write new stuff. But in fact - I've a ton of 'old stuff' that'll be new to you. RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS - I'm guilty as charged. I Paid for someone's groceries, one day. Her card wasn't working ... there was a long queue building up ... "Here, use my card." …

My Most Hated Word:

From the famous manga Azumanga Daioh. Incidentally, The Japanese have 'PANTSU' which is at least gender-neutral. Call me Mr Crabby. Go on. Let it rip. Enjoy it. Because I am. I have become a 'Grumpy Old Man'. "Yay, I've made it at last!" And now (proudly weary my shiny new GOM badge) I'm going to …

Statistics, damned statistics, and total BS

So I belong to this huge online art community. There are many, but this is apparently the biggest: DEVIANT ART. some people sneer at it. And; yes: it is riddled with porn and fetish-art too. You can find me RIGHT HERE. [ No, no, no, it's not MY porn and fetish-art!] It's no big deal. …

“Yet the Town Moves” Manga review.

I used to think I didn't like a manga because of the style, the layout or the look of the characters ... but I was wrong. It was my failure to engage. Hotori Arashiyama as depicted in the Anime Put differently - it was the artist's failure to deliver characters and a story that engaged …

A Bride’s Story (Otoyomegatari); Review

Not like me to review stuff, but THIS! This is a work of genius, it really is. Put aside all your attitudes towards Japanese manga. ALL of them, and check this out. Regard it as a graphic novel - for that's what it is. No 'anime eyes', no panty-shots, no mecha or magical girls or …

3 *More* New Books, FYI!

Y'know, there are just days when you publish ten books. Happens to the best of us. TEARS BEFORE HALF-TIME:  Twelve-year-old Jamie gets swept into the world of his soccer-mad father and elder brother, but it soon becomes a nightmare for useless left-footed James Wigram. His heart and his mind are often far from the sportsfield. …

Announcing Yet Another Book!

QUICK LINK [go on; you know you want to read it!]: https://books2read.com/u/bOG8P9 Huddled in a dying town far from the pulse of Galactic civilisation, a sad and surly community of crims, losers and tough-arse truckies are saved by the 'miracle' of an old piano and a moody geisha, while the same Fates relentlessly flay a …