My 10-year-old son came home from school today with this Ouija board. He made it himself during lunch break. My thought process went something like this: • That's so cool! I'm so proud! My kid's an original! • Love that his Ouija board has a space bar, some basic punctuation and a back button #ipadgenerationouija • Flashback to my own … [Read more...]
Happy birthday Haruki Murakami, and the year so far…
Today is Haruki Murakami's 65th birthday. Happy birthday, sir. I discovered Murakami the same way I discovered Kafka - via MTV. There was an MTV spot called 'An A to Z of Japan', and the letter M was, 'Haruki Murakami, Japan's coolest writer', or something like that. I Googled him and read about his books, and the plots appealed to my love of the … [Read more...]
One of my favourite Christmas decorations
When Naomi and I bought our first Christmas tree together, we only just had enough money for the tree itself, and not for any decorations. Rather than buy a whole load of crappy cheap ones, we bought two or three pretty ones that we liked and had a very bare tree that year. Since then, everywhere we've travelled together, we've bought a new … [Read more...]
Guardian piece about my son.
My worries for my son became metaphors in my writing … [Read more...]
My day at the Manchester Literature Festival in bullet points
Had a blast at the Manchester Literature Festival, even if getting there was hell. Here's my report. • Naomi and the boys give me a lift to the train station. • There are men in luminous jackets all over the tracks. • This station is closed today. Eeek. • Naomi and the boys come back, drive me the first 20-min leg of my journey. • Discover … [Read more...]
Pencil case envy
It’s the last weekend before my kids go back to school. When I was a kid, this was the most dreaded weekend of the year. I loathed school, and that loathing was never more acute than after six weeks of summer holidays. They say you can’t remember pain, but I very clearly remember the fear I felt the day before I started secondary school as a … [Read more...]