I’m going to make a big claim here: Sherlock Holmes is the forerunner of Harry Potter. And of Katniss Everdeen. And of Percy Jackson, Edward Cullen and Alanna of Trebond. Like the other characters I’ve listed, Sherlock Holmes has leaped from the pages and become more than a fictional...

A  couple of days devoted to books, reading and writing and talking about books, reading and writing can’t be a bad thing, can it? The ‘A Thousand Words Festival‘ (yes, that’s actually correct) is on this Friday and Saturday (23 and 24 September) at the Northcote Town Hall. Lots...

It’s poorly appreciated, but writing is an occupation which has hazards. Most writers, at one time or another, will suffer from at least one of the following diseases, conditions or injuries. Most are treatable and with appropriate therapy writers can look forward to living relatively full and normal lives....

I lie, of course. It’s the Enlightenment Room at the British Museum. But if I had a library in my home, it’d be something like this. With ladders to reach the books on the second floor. Of course....

‘To an exponent of anti-incarceration, a trap was not a trap: it was a challenge.’...

I’ve just come across the remarkable Jay Kristoff and his entertaining look at the evolution of Steampunk. It’s as good a potted history as I’ve seen, and well worth a look....

I love this one....

‘Self-defence? All this is for self-defence?’ She shrugged. ‘I got carried away.’...

Just to let you all know, next week I’m part of the Voices on the Range festival at Fairholme College, Toowoomba. A great line up of authors, too, and I’m looking forward to catching up with them. If you’re in the neighbourhood on August 17th, pop in and say...