Shadow of the Tomb Raider was free on Playstation a few months back and as I had loved the first two, I thought I would give it a go. I would have bought it at some point but there was no real hurry and as sometimes happens (like Days Gone, Final Fantasy VII, or Star…
I fancied reading a classic Bond, and Moonraker was particularly appealing as I had heard it differed from the film. That turned out to be an understatement. I was prepared for some minor changes but it is in fact utterly, completely different. The similarities are that Bond, M, Moneypenny and Drax are in it. Oh,…
I have never believed in UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) or UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) stories until now. My stance has always been there is definitely life out there in space, but the aliens haven’t yet made it to Earth. Or if they have, they’re just watching us undetected. If we wanted to watch cavemen without…
I adore Kurzgesagt. Unfortunately, it is hard to recommend to others in real life as I can never remember its name. It means “in a nutshell”, which I can remember but is a bit weird to get people to look that up when you’re trying to persuade someone to check it out. Also, if you…
Haunted Thailand now has a new book cover! You probably guessed that from the headline and above picture. It was a necessary purchase as the old one made me cringe every time I looked at it. I consider myself a creative person, I write and draw, but creative or graphic design is sadly not one…
I finished Ghost of Tsushima recently and it has stuck with me ever since. It is a superb game that I thoroughly enjoyed playing, with memorable characters, and a surprisingly good story. The combat was also incredibly satisfying, which is fortunate as you kill a ridiculous amount of people. What is Ghost of Tsushima about?…
I started blogging and this website for a few reasons. One was that it was cathartic. I write for a variety of clients and they all require different tones, writing styles and some even have really specific style guides. All of which is totally fine and, at times, kind of helpful. But it does feel…
I am obsessed with Taskmaster right now. I was listening to BBC Radio 2 recently, and Greg Davies and Alex Horne came on to talk about the new series. It sounded intriguing and I am a big fan of Greg Davies. (And now, Alex Horne.) I heard some of the comedians that had been on…
I have either worked full-time or freelance as a writer for most of my life. My first ever proper job was writing for a magazine as a reporter when I was 18. I was shiftless and lazy back then and when I discovered I would get laid more working as a barman, I switched jobs….
I finally got round to getting a new book cover done for my ‘Australia, Morocco, Thailand’ travel stories collection. The previous ones I did myself and I am not ashamed to say, were bloody awful. There is a very talented lady on Fiverr who does them and it’s amazing what she can do with some…
I was playing Ghost of Tsushima last night and it led to me watching the movie Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa. This turned out to be a great, great act of randomness. In Ghost of Tsushima, there a mode that switches everything to black and white. This was to mimic classic samurai films, in particular, those…
Writing about going viral on Medium isn’t all just a big gloat, I swear. Not entirely, anyway. It is to encourage anyone who might be on Medium that one random unpredictable story can suddenly go viral. There is no way to predict this, so the only thing you can do is just keep plugging away….
As someone who writes for a living, I spend a ridiculous amount of time looking for music I can work to that isn’t too distracting – and Nordic dark folk bands like Wardruna and Heilung (pictured above) are new additions to my writing list. Procrastination and searching Spotify are parts of my creative routine. This,…
If you are interested in ghosts, spirits and folklore, then I have something to recommend. Yes, it is time for a bit of self-promotion for my Haunted Thailand ebook. I haven’t done this in months and months. I am also thinking of getting a better cover for it. Because the current cover is awful. Enjoy…
First things first – Happy New Year in Lockdown! Good times to be had by all. Except, you know, covid and isolation and general misery. I thought I would start the new year with an amusing meme but it feels somewhat flat as we are in 2021 and it is worse than this time last…
I just finished Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child about an hour ago. I hate the cliche of describing something as a ‘page-turner’ but sometimes it really does apply. First, a synopsis: Some anthropologist and explorer types are in the Amazon rainforest in the middle of nowhere. They find a relic in a hut…
I recently wrote about which was better – Medium or Fiverr. My opinions have changed recently but partly that is because I am idle but also because the income from both has suddenly flipped. What happened? My gig was doing well on Fiverr and I was posting the odd thing on Medium. On Fiverr, I…
I live in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. I have worked here as a journalist for the last 8 years. If you visit, it is likely that the city you will arrive in is called Bangkok. Except, technically, the capital of Thailand is actually called something else. Let me explain… A very brief history of…
Tea!!! Everyone loves a cuppa, right? This article originally appeared here on the Medium website but I thought I would share again as it will surely be of benefit. Tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world and continues to grow in popularity. In 2013, 234 billion litres of the stuff was…
I have watched so many tech reviewers recently that I reached critical mass and bought a MacBook Air M1. But is it any good? At least, is it as good as the reviewers say? Will you notice any difference if you have an old MacBook Air? Quick recap Ok, a brief bit of history is…