by Derek | Apr 13, 2020 | The Isolation Diaries, Writers Life, Writing
Well this is unbelievably weird, isn’t it? I nearly titled this piece “Seasons greetings from The Masque of The Red Death,” but was worried about whether my humour would be misconstrued. By the time you read this I will be starting my fifth week of lockdown. And it’s...
by Derek | Feb 23, 2020 | Reading, Reviews, Writers Life, Writing
It’s often commented that the classic American Noir is basically a Western retold: That the lone Gumshoe making right in a corrupt and lawless world is Shane, strolling into town and restoring fairness. It’s also been noted that crime fiction, in it’s purest, is a...
by Derek | Jan 24, 2020 | Art, Travel, Uncategorized, Writers Life, Writing
When I was – well, let’s say younger, because ‘young’ would suggest I’m now old, and I don’t feel old (though I am old enough to remember New Order when they were called Joy Division. I prefer The Order. More fun.) Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, not being old. Well,...
by Derek | Dec 7, 2019 | Food, Memories, Writers Life
I wrote this piece four years ago. It’s become a tradition to repost it at this time of year, so I’m sharing it again with some updates. I hope you enjoy it. When I was a child – without fail – November smelled of cinnamon, nutmeg, jewel-bright candied carbuncles of...
by Derek | Nov 22, 2019 | Memories, Writers Life
Me, in the late seventies. Re-enacting a scene from “Whatever happened to Baby Jane?” with my father. It would be twenty years before I’d drive again. Noticeable is the open doors of some of the houses; nobody locked their doors then. Also the almost total absence of...
by Derek | Oct 6, 2019 | Travel, Writers Life, Writing
It’s the law, apparently. Well hello there. Just thought I’d drop you a note to bring you up to date on what I’ve been doing, am doing and am going to be doing soon. Last weekend I hoped on an Edinburgh-bound train from London Euston station and headed North...
