• Building a Life in the Broom Cupboard

      Greetings from the edge, Things have been busy here in the broom cupboard. Between the blog, the short fiction, the articles, my computer repair work, the library, and trying to hammer my D&D setting into a professional-looking PDF, I have had very little time for anything else. So I have decided to, rather than just…

    • The Dungeon That Keeps Time (And Why Yours Should Too)

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      Greetings from the edge, I love dungeons. They are, after all, at least 50% of the game. They are neat, self-contained little slices of your world that can be as flavourful, strange, or dripping with lore as the grandest city or most lavish court. At their very best, they become complex ecosystems, complete with hierarchies,…

    • The 5-Minute Idea Test: Is This Worth Writing?

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      Greetings from the edge, Every writer eventually gets asked the same question. Not the one about when you’re going to pay the bill, sir, but the other one: where do your ideas come from? There’s a well-worn trope about “the muse.” Stephen King famously describes his as a gruff, middle-aged man who smokes, drinks bourbon,…

    • 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……