35 Years of Devil in a Blue Dress
Devil in a Blue Dress is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Walter Mosley’s bestseller broke new ground and was snapped up by Hollywood. It opened up whole new possibilities for Black writers. But do either book…
Three books for humans
It’s not easy to find an entertaining book about the way we live now, climate change and politics. Even the words seem so off-putting. But I’ve just discovered three that are great reads in totally…
Riots, politicians and tabloids
A little while ago, I told my (then) agent I was writing a satirical novel about tabloids and politicians who spark riots over knife crime. Guess what he said.
I’ve done a very silly Green thing
A very silly green thing. I’ve just done a very silly thing. A few years ago, BBC radio presenter John Humphries said in an interview that he’d “done a silly thing – voted Green!” Well,…
Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris
Why should we care? It’s probably the most important question a storyteller needs to answer. It’s particularly pressing when the story relates to events that took place around three hundred and fifty years ago, to…
Staggering Hubris by Josh Berry – review
You’re a staggeringly brilliant spad (special adviser) working in Downing Street in the early days of a new government. The world is at your feet. Brexit is oven-ready. You have a degree from Oxford. Attractive…
Alexei Sayle without the drunken lunches
In 2007, Channel 4 viewers voted Alexei Sayle the 18th greatest stand-up comic of all time. A feature of the alternative comedy circuit from the 1980s, he’s been a stand-up comedian, film actor, television presenter, Shakespearean…
Nine long years for Julian Assange
Watch now Eleven years ago, Julian Assange published the first of a series of leaks from American military intelligence, showing a US gunship killing civilians and journalists in Iraq. Nine years ago he took refuge…
Why I love writing thrillers
My twice award-nominated noir thriller The Breaking of Liam Glass officially comes out in its second edition today. And I’m delighted to announce the winner of this week’s competition for a signed hardback souvenir edition…
Everything is copy – review of Nora Ephron Collected
I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for Nora Ephron’s screenplay for When Harry Met Sally. The movie’s pretty good too, but the script is outstanding. On the other hand, I’d never…
How do we give this story a happy ending?
I want to tell you a story that I was told by a wise teacher. It’s a sad story and true, though we can learn from it. And how it really ends is going to…
Angry movies at the Baftas
We live in angry times, it seems. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I had a load of angry movies to watch for this year’s Bafta awards. Now, I don’t mean the controversy over…
A senior cabinet politician writes…
With elections that nobody wants coming up fast everywhere, people have been asking me what to do about the decline of democracy. I reply, you’re doing more than enough already. We in the governments of…
Panto season – oh, yes it is, oh, no…
The panto season has started early this year. Everyone loves live entertainment. (I’m even doing a live appearance myself on December 6th – more on this to the right and below). Here in the UK…
Ukraine elected a comedian president – so what do politicians think of voters?
Last Sunday, the voters of Ukraine elected a comedian president. Volodymyr Zelenskiy won the election despite having zero experience of politics, aside from taking the role of president in a TV series. We voters are…
How truth-telling in Chicago led to a unique new law
On February 9th 1982, a man grabbed a Chicago policeman’s gun in the street and shot him and his partner dead. A city-wide investigation led to the arrest of two brothers – Andrew and Jackie…
Word power
Last week, I watched a preview of the new movie Vice – a riveting and at times shocking dramatisation of the life of one of the most powerful men most of us have hardly noticed…