A few uncensored thoughts about Dorian Gray…

The Picture of Dorian Gray has always been, for me, a disappointing novel. Oscar Wilde is one of my favourites, and his importance should not be under-estimated, but there is a distinct dearth of great works from the man. (There are reasons or excuses for this, and he did die young, I know, I know. […]

Things that make you go boom

Being a Monday, this should be a leftovers for lunch segment. But there are leftovers in the form of intentions to write some posts, and failing to find time. Settling into a new country is fun, but instead of banging on about that here’s the first of the reviews I promised earlier in the month: […]

What pisses me off most about Jessica Rudd’s book …

What pisses me off most about Jessica Rudd’s book is that I don’t hate it. Not that I love it, either, mind you. Campaign Ruby annoys me in many ways. Mostly because it’s not shit. Okay, bits of it are. (Not that I’m perfect.) But it’s a well-built, if slow to start, model that navigates […]

Crime writers are people too …

Crime writers are friendly people. At least, the ones I met today are. Here’s how it all unfolded…

By the bar at #mwf …

Quite a few of the free Melbourne Writers Festival (hereafter known only as #mwf) events are at Feddish, awkwardly located in part of that awkward part of the city, Federation Square. Plonked, I found myself this afternoon, on an unfortunately shaped, and disconcertingly high, wicker chair by the bar. Soda water with a hint of ginger […]

The Birmingham issues …

Without warning, the rain fell as I was on my way to the designated target. The Wheeler Centre, to see John Birmingham on a cold and bitter Melbourne evening. But my wimpishness was only reinforced when, having braved a bit of winter rain on the arduous trek up the hill, the man otherwise known as […]