I'm embarking on a drive this month to promote my one and only Christmas book, Presence (not to be confused with the Soderbergh movie of the same name). It's time, in this horrible era, to remember the true meaning of Christmas. "Tonight thank god it's them instead of you", etc. The idea of being in a fortress, taking shelter in warm and kindness while outside darkness rages. In the eighties, in the era of Band Aid, Presence is a satire of well-intentioned do-gooders accidentally waking The...

Suspension's title story is the first one up. I must admit, the inspiration for this was watching a recent production of The Girl on the Train . There, I got to thinking, "what would the infantile male version be of this story?" If a woman, elegant, introspective, sees and then solves a murder on a train; well, a hopped-up male version of that would be a on a rollercoaster! As soon as I came up with that idea, I loved it. This story, even, didn't entirely get rid of the itch for me. I love...

It’s a time of joy and sadness Joy for the hostages who have made it back alive, their parents, friends, and loved ones. Joy for the Palestinians left alive, crawling out of the rubble. Sadness for those Israelis who will not see their abducted loves returned home. Sadness for the Palestinians killed in genocide. The Israel-Gaza War (2023-2025) is not the moral crisis of the twenty-first century. It is only the most publicised, most news-heavy, most divisive and button-pushing one. There have...