Let's do cool stuff together.

Somewhat geeky father of a beautiful cat, but also… Improviser, compere, tetrarch & graphic designer at MissImp: Improv Comedy Theatre Nottingham. Creative mentor – using improv and writing to bring out the best in people. Proofreader and master of ebook conversion. Storyteller, and occasional scribbler of words about beers, whisky, books, films, Lego, Transformers (and other things made of plastic). Editorial team at ANGRY ROBOT, world publisher of SF, F and WTF?!

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Captain Pigheart’s Pirate Stories

Ahar! My name is Captain Ignatius Pigheart and I welcome ye to me tales of misadventure, mirth and piracy on the high seas. Perhaps ye likes pirate stories of the beasts of the sea, or romance midst the ocean’s spume. Mayhap tis yarns o’ family and the bonds twixt one…Continue reading “Captain Pigheart’s Pirate Stories”

4Dec 201516 Aug 2017

Watchers – Read The Thing

Winter Time And The Living Is Easy I have been taking it nice and easy since completing my NaNoWriMo novella…

29Oct 201316 Aug 2017

In Memory: Sadness and Laughter

Funeral Review? Well, the funeral and memorial service for my uncle, Colin Barnfather went well last week. It’s a strange…

18Jul 200629 Aug 2017

Captain Pigheart’s Mermaid Adventure

Gaargh, me britches’re stained with the love juice of an impudent mermaid. ‘Twas but four moons ago. We were sailin’…

Testimonials

Refreshing, and wide-eyed Nick Tyler is an energetic and uplifting compere who ensures that the pace never slackens.

Three Weeks @ EdFringe

Assorted Ramblings

A Whistle-Stop Tour of Worldcon75, Helsinki Day Three

Day Three - Aug 10: Immerse Penny and I developed our morning routine: I'd get up, Penny would roll around on the air mattress making terrible sounds of woe, like…

Assorted Ramblings

A Whistle-Stop Tour of Worldcon75, Helsinki Day Two

30 Aug 201729 Aug 2017

Day Two - Aug 9: Back to Work More cycling and not quite getting lost. THE CON IS LIVE! Thousands of charming geeky types swarming the venue. We have to…

Gigs

SMASH NIGHT at The Angel Microbrewery – Wednesday 30 August 2017

One of the most fun gigs of the monthly calendar. I'm delighted to continue with my role of marshalling the Smash Night Social Club team. The line-up changes every month,…

Assorted Ramblings

A Whistle-Stop Tour of Worldcon75, Helsinki Day One

I got to go to a cool thing: Worldcon75, the global convention for SFF, this year based in Helsinki, Finland. In a dangerous move, Angry Robot sent just me and…

Assorted Ramblings…

Beer Review: Another Three Alcohol Free Beers

11 Jun 201728 Jun 2017

A Time for Compromise I know, I know, I'd sort of promised myself I'd give up on alcohol free beers, but the recent appearance of a vast beer belly has…

Assorted Ramblings

An Occasional Entry in a Dream Diary: Change, Maps and Attack

15 May 201728 Jun 2017

I don't often recall my dreams these days, blessed be the drugs. When I do, I haven't slept well, and they've been exhausting. Since last night was unusually intact, even hours…

Lego Blog: Illustrating Flash Pulp episode FP0022

20 Dec 201628 Jun 2017

If you go down to the woods today... I've had the pictures for this build for a while now, but failed to find the time to crop and select them.…

Open Boxes – Part Twenty-Six (The End) – NaNoWriMo 2016

27 Nov 201627 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 I did not feel afraid; perhaps I…

Open Boxes – Part Twenty-Five – NaNoWriMo 2016

26 Nov 201625 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 I’d hoped for answers, but expected that our…

Open Boxes – Part Twenty-Four – NaNoWriMo 2016

25 Nov 201625 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 We were being herded. The corridor had crumpled like…

Open Boxes – Part Twenty-Three – NaNoWriMo 2016

24 Nov 201623 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 We shared an anxious pause. Behind the door was the…

Open Boxes – Part Twenty-Two – NaNoWriMo 2016

23 Nov 201623 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Into the dark. The fading purple light from the surface was…

Open Boxes – Part Twenty-One – NaNoWriMo 2016

22 Nov 201621 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 Walking is difficult. According to the manual it's an especially complicated mechanism,…

Open Boxes – Part Twenty – NaNoWriMo 2016

21 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 I fly towards a face, at incredible speeds, the fabric of space vibrating…

Open Boxes – Part Nineteen – NaNoWriMo 2016

20 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 We were surrounded by a ring of dead children, their mouths open on crackling…

Open Boxes – Part Eighteen – NaNoWriMo 2016

19 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 The crackle of flames reached us before the thick smoke struggled through the mass of…

Open Boxes – Part Seventeen – NaNoWriMo 2016

18 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 Charlie’s head was nestled into my elbow, the tubes sticking out of his neck making my…

Open Boxes – Part Sixteen – NaNoWriMo 2016

17 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Shaking off the dreams is how we begin every day. If you can’t, if you let them…

Open Boxes – Part Fifteen – NaNoWriMo 2016

16 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Nothing much happened. Charlotte and Charlie finished sealing the doors that led out of our little community. We…

Open Boxes – Part Fourteen – NaNoWriMo 2016

15 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 How much of my life have I spent unconscious? The days were so similar for so long that they…

Open Boxes – Part Thirteen – NaNoWriMo 2016

14 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 The garden was peaceful. The green leaves were like renewed life and hope. I felt the tension leaching out of…

Assorted Ramblings…

Meta NaNoWriMo 2016 – Day 13

13 Nov 201618 Nov 2016

I'd totally planned to babble alongside my NaNoWriMo writing again this year, but weirdly, having a full time job again and a stupidly busy week has made that difficult. With…

Open Boxes – Part Twelve – NaNoWriMo 2016

13 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 We walked around the inside of the globe. No matter how far from our apparent flat ground we strayed, we always…

Open Boxes – Part Eleven – NaNoWriMo 2016

12 Nov 201628 Jun 2017

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 The room was in disarray. We had ended up shoving the tables and chairs into a jumbled heap at one end, while…

Open Boxes – Part Ten – NaNoWriMo 2016

11 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 We fled. Have you ever been so spooked that the only thing you can do is run? After we woke I dreamed often;…

Open Boxes – Part Nine – NaNoWriMo 2016

10 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 We must have stood like that for a while, Chelsea pressed to my chest, my head resting on hers. Apart from that first night…

Open Boxes – Part Eight – NaNoWriMo 2016

9 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven With two doors between us and the great dark stalking shadows I felt a little better. “That was close,” muttered Chelsea, “I’m so glad I…

Open Boxes – Part Seven – NaNoWriMo 2016

7 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six. From the outside the installation looked even worse. On the inside you got used to the higgledy piggledy floors and bent walls. It’s easy to…

Open Boxes – Part Six – NaNoWriMo 2016

6 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five. We picked our names while we sat cross-legged in the middle of the garden, the benches forming a protective cocoon while we changed into something new.…

Open Boxes – Part Five – NaNoWriMo 2016

6 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Open Boxes - Part Five Parts One, Two, Three, Four. Not knowing anything makes it hard to connect with the world. I misspoke, perhaps. It became clear in the hours and days after…

Open Boxes – Part Four – NaNoWriMo 2016

5 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Open Boxes - Part Four Read Part One, Part Two and Part Three first. Part Four We spent the first day that we were together in that cracked and tossed dome. An upside…

Open Boxes – Part Three – NaNoWriMo 2016

4 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Open Boxes - Part Three Read Part One and maybe Part Two first. A skein of scarlet splayed across the sky, it drips, incandescently glowing, a ghostly shadow of failure hovering…

Open Boxes – Part Two – NaNoWriMo 2016

2 Nov 201620 Nov 2016

Open Boxes - Part Two Read Part One first (it may make slightly more sense) Prioritisation is a serious business. It’s another ranking system – which thing is more important than…

Review: 'The Clue's in the Title' for Plastic (DVD) (06.09.2017)
FILM ONLY REVIEW Four university students make their money by engaging in low-level blackmail and credit card fraud. But when they unwittingly steal from a dangerous European gangster, they get in way over their heads. With only two weeks to come up with...
Review: 'D'readful' for Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie (DVD) (23.08.2017)
FILM ONLY REVIEW Mrs Browns fruit and veg stall comes under attack from unscrupulous property developers and their bully boys, not to mention the taxman. But she isnt going to give up without a fight. Surprising as it may seem, I had never seen Mrs B...
Review: 'Suicide Squad is Brainless' for Suicide Squad (DVD) (22.07.2017)
FILM ONLY REVIEW US intelligence officer Amanda Waller is given the unenviable task of bringing together a group of the most dangerous super villains, arming them with the most powerful weapons at the governments disposal and sending them off on a missi...
Review: 'Finally, a FUN Batman Movie!' for The Lego Batman Movie (DVD) (08.07.2017)
FILM ONLY REVIEW When Gotham City is under attack from The Joker and his huge team of supervillains, Batman decides to take him on alone. But Joker has more tricks up his sleeve and if Batman wants to save the city from his hostile takeover, he might jus...
Review: 'I Wouldn't Bleed For This' for Bleed For This (DVD) (30.06.2017)
FILM ONLY REVIEW Vinny The Pazmanian Devil Pazienza is a small-town boxer from Rhode Island, who makes a name for himself after winning two world title fights. But after a car accident leaves him with a broken neck, it looks as though his career is ove...
Review: 'A Pain in the Assassin' for Assassin's Creed (DVD) (23.06.2017)
FILM ONLY REVIEW Criminal Callum Lynch is captured by a secret society, who want to use revolutionary technology to unlock his genetic memories. In doing so, Callum discovers he is descended from a member of a secret society known as the Assassins. He ex...
Review: 'I Didn't Go Ga Ga For La La Land' for La La Land (2016) (DVD) (14.06.2017)
FILM ONLY REVIEW Mia is an aspiring actress working as a waitress in a film studio coffee shop, while Sebastian is a jazz musician scraping a living playing in bars and at cocktail parties. Circumstances keep bringing them together and they finally fall ...

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