|
|
| RAILWAY |
|
| VOLAPÜK |
|
| ELEPHANTINA |
|
| NOVGOROD |
|
| STORIES |
fed on the sorry left-overs of
Fact
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fiction fed on the sorry left-overs of Fact |
What I'm working on just now? A bit of this and, really, a bit of that. I'm in the process of writing a tale set in 17th century England, where, contrary to popular belief, Charles II never got back on the throne - rather, the Revolution continued apace, and men set foot on the Moon... I have also Oh, and then the classically-annotated Highway Code - road-safety for the Gods. |
I am a native of Edinburgh: that says much, but not everything. I studied Modern Languages at Aberdeen University and at the University of London wrote a post-graduate thesis on the German Radical Reformation. Having returned from exile in London many years ago, I now live in Edinburgh and work for Midlothian Council. Throughout the long days of my working-life, I am a software engineer and database designer by trade ... Ah, but by night ... I am a barely tolerated writer of slightly dodgy fiction, and will talk about my writing to anyone who makes the mistake of sounding politely interested. I write because I can very rarely find a good book to read; between times, I worry about the state of humanity, and wish my writing could change the world. Pause for a moment: what does it take for the human race to realise that we only ever got given one planet, and when we've finished trashing it, then there's nowhere else to go? The capitalist system has brought us thus far, and can take us no further, except - unplanned - into a watery and lifeless abyss, driven by profit, inequality, war, waste and over-production (and don't argue with me about the failed Stalinist economies - one day, should you have time, read Trotsky's My Life or his History of the Russian Revolution: it could have been so different.) And, in the light of recent events, we have to ask: at what stage will people start seriously to question the viability of capitalism and unlimited economic growth? Certainly, let those we have exploited in Africa, India and Asia catch up; but let them show us how sustainability works - both ecological and economic, and let's learn how to limit our greed, and live with our planet. You'd have thought someone would have learned something from the Gulf of Mexico oil-spill - but, no: they're out there, drilling off the Falklands, off Greenland, off Shetland, deep-water areas with plenty of bad weather... How hard does the lesson have to be, before capitalists learn it? I know this sounds a bit like a woolly liberal rant - it's easy for me to say. But let's face it, the present system is not working, however much they tinker with it. How long before the Eurozone falls apart? (I asked this question about a year ago: looks like the answer is now "not long"...) LOOKING FOR A JOURNALIST IN THAILAND? I was at first rather excited by the number of visits to my web-site made by people in Thailand: Volapük and railway-building had clearly made it big in S.E.Asia! Alas, I then stumbled across the truth, which was the existence of freelance journalist Andrew Drummond, based in Thailand. So if you have strayed by accident into the wrong web-site, please feel free to stay and browse; but if you're in a hurry, click here to visit Andrew's web-site - and goodbye again. Come again soon. Blurbs...and honesty? I saw in the shops the paperback edition of Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle. This is not the place to put forward my view of the book - we authors should stick together, even if we are appalled by each other's works. Suffice it to say that I was much astonished and greatly amused to read on the back of this edition an extract from a review from The Observer: 'Wildly imaginative...It's bound to be an international bestseller.' Great blurb. The only problem is that the original review in The Observer read as follows: '...undoubtedly a wildly imaginative collage of stories, but it is almost certainly one of the worst pieces of writing you will come across this year.... A truly pedestrian effort that would have benefited from some serious editorial debridement. It's bound to be an international bestseller.' It does make you wonder, doesn't it? Or am I just naive? (Don't answer that) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||||||
|
INTERVIEWS:
Lee Randall of The Scotsman interviewed me at the time of the publication of Novgorod - click here to read her article. You can read an interview with me on the Books From Scotland web-site: click here to link to it I was interviewed, by email, by Jim Henry of the Esperanto movement in the USA - click here to read the interview. |
Bibliographical stuff
Novels Short Stories Translations from German Articles on the Thomas Müntzer and the German Reformation, in: Article on Sir Thomas Urquhart and Universal Languages in:
| ||||||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||||||
|
My email address... |
How to contact me
|
|
| |