THE UNIFIED FIELD OF ME (BLOG)

Tae be yersel and tae mak that worth bein
Nae harder job to mortals has been gien

So wrote the Scots poet Hugh MacDiarmid. To be yourself and to make that worth being…

But just as Keith Richards has called Mick Jagger ‘a nice bunch of guys’, I’d suggest much the same could be said of most people.

Here are some pieces I have written – past and present – that give clues to my own assortment of interests and selves. More importantly, they show what a big, deep cultural pond this small Piscean finds himself swimming around in.

PS to Ballad Update 6

For those who for perfectly-understandable reasons don't pay a subscription to the Times Empire, and so can't read my full TLS review (see yesterday's post) here is a photo of the whole thing.

read more

The Ballad of Syd & Morgan (Update 6)

It has been said (by me) that when Henry Layte launches a Propolis book, it stays launched. I am confident this will prove to be the case with my own novel, now that Syd & Morgan’s fourth and final launch event has been and gone. I had no clear idea how the...

read more

The Ballad of Syd & Morgan (Update 5)

There’s an old Monty Python sketch about a fellow called Arthur ‘Two Sheds’ Jackson (because - well - he had two sheds). Thanks to the tireless promotion of my latest novel by Propolis Books, I am coming to be known within my immediate circle – not without a raised...

read more

Radio Oxford Interview

This interview from 2 Nov 2018 should be accessible for the next three or four weeks. It was part of a show called Time Out with Laurie Bailey, and I come on during the last half hour, starting at around 2 hrs 22 mins. Quite a personable young man. (Him, not me.)...

read more

Proud Author Photo!

Couldn't resist putting up this pic. For those who don't already know it, this is The Book Hive independent bookshop in Norwich, which doubles as HQ for Propolis Books. What a fantastic window display!  

read more

The Ballad of Syd & Morgan (Update 4)

There were fireworks in Norwich city centre last Friday evening when the Ballad was given its Norfolk launch at The Book Hive. The fireworks weren’t actually in The Book Hive, but exploding in the night sky overhead for the entertainment of anyone who hadn’t seen fit...

read more

The Ballad of Syd & Morgan (Update 3)

In my last update I wrote, “I’m told reviews will be appearing in various eye-catching organs, though I won’t tempt fate by itemising which ones – I’ll believe them when I see them, and give links in subsequent posts (provided they don’t turn out to be hatchet jobs,...

read more