• The Warm Crackle of Nostalgia

      Greetings from the edge, As I have previously mentioned, I love music. The broom cupboard is always full of some wonderful sound, be it a classic rock album, a musical soundtrack or a little dash of punk. I love it all. It’s a pity, really, that my own attempts to make music end with me…

    • The Word for Empire is Violence

      Greetings from the edge. I finished The Word for World Is Forest, and I have to say, it is the most anti-colonial and specifically anti-Vietnam War book I have ever read. It is one of the most openly political things Ursula K. Le Guin ever wrote. Not quite fat enough to qualify as a novel,…

    • Saturday, 9th May 2026

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      I’ve taken a short hiatus from writing proper for the last ten days or so, but I’m pleased to report that the wheels are turning again, and I knocked out a treatment and plot outline for my new short story, Rare, last night. It’s about a chef at a vegetarian restaurant who gets bitten during…

    • An Antidote to Order Part 2

      Greetings from the edge, Yesterday, I began a gentle critique of 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson, picking apart a handful of ideas that sound solid on the surface but wobble when you lean on them. Today, we’re heading back into the lobster pot to deal with the remaining six rules, and to see…

    • An Antidote to Order Part 1

      Greetings from the edge, I make no secret of the fact that I’ve been wrestling with my mental health for a while now. For further reading, see… well, anything I’ve written. At my lowest ebb, a few years ago, I picked up 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson. I can safely say it changed…

    • Five Songs I Absolutely Butchered (And Improved, Frankly)

      Greetings from the edge, In the words of Joan Jett, when she was still ripping it up with the Blackhearts, I Love Rock ‘ n ‘ Roll. I was born at exactly the right time to have the very best music assail my ears and permanently rewrite my eager brain, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Nirvana, Guns…

    • Roll the Bones: d20 Tables for Building Better Starting Settlements

      Greetings from the edge, Got a new article live, and I thought it would be a good idea to expand on it here. The piece is all about how your starting town is the welcome wagon for your entire campaign. First impressions matter. If the village is memorable, the world feels memorable. If it’s bland……

    • Everything You Need to Know About Writing (According to Star Wars)

      Greetings from the edge, It’s that time of year again. The good geeks gather, bathed in the glow of their extraordinarily expensive lightsaber replicas, to celebrate all things Star Wars. No matter your feelings on the prequels’… ambitious love story, or the sequels’ enthusiastic habit of resurrecting old villains like some kind of Force-powered game…

    • Friday 24th April 2026

      Greetings from the edge, I have decided to take a week (and a bit) off from blogging every day. I’m still working out what I want to do with the site in general and the blog section in particular. I’ll still be working on articles and content, but I won’t be posting daily updates for…

    • The Graveyard of Bad Ideas

      23-04-26 Greetings from the edge, I’ve been digging through my deepest, darkest of desk drawers, looking for anything worth saving from the tepid bathwater of my early attempts at fiction, and, as it turns out, there was a very good reason I shoved them into an oubliette in the first place. Every writer has one…