Archetypes in Eurovision
Carl Gustav Jung is famous for his listing of human archetypes. He listed four main ones. No he didn’t; it was seven. No, it was twelve....
Kings Lynn Literature Festival, 2022
Another great Kings Lynn Literature festival last weekend, despite the hugely regrettable absence of Tony and Lizzie due to Covid (Rob...
Pater and hedonism (continued)
The psychologist can also enter the argument. How does the human pleasure system actually work? ‘How to live a pleasurable life’ is as...


Walter Pater
Watching a documentary last night, where someone quoted Walter Pater. I was intrigued, and did some research. He was a Victorian academic...
2020 Eurovision
Eurovision, lockdown style. No celebrating crowds, no dancers or pyrotechnics, no voting... The EBU could have chosen to keep as close to...
Another great Lynn festival event
Lynn 2020. A memorable Saturday afternoon session – they’re all good in their own ways, but this one was special. A fine turnout, despite...
What makes a really great crime novel?
In the end, however, what drives a great crime novel is a sense of ever-rising puzzlement in the reader. Every lead seems to make the situat
I didn't sign up for this!
I’m currently working on reviving four crime novels I wrote back in the 1990s, for republication. Most of the time this is a delightful...


Live at Lynn, 2019
Just back from the 2019 Kings Lynn Fiction Festival. Another great weekend immersed in the world of books, stories and writing, with...
Another light goes out
I don’t want this blog to become morbid, but another once-bright light has been extinguished with the early death of Keith Flint. I’m...