It's All In The Mallet

Added on 08 January 2009

The following article first appeared in Douglas Lindsay's Letter From Belgrade on 12 September 2003: There is a raw, unfettered excitement about diplomatic life. It's got that whole edge-of-your-pants, adrenalin-pumping, energy-sapping, testosterone-spawning, life-could-change-at-any-second, you-nev...

The Cult of Barney Thomson

Added on 07 January 2009

I was at a dinner party some time before Christmas. The dinner party, the very essence of diplomatic life. I prefer dinner parties to regular parties. For a start there's something to do. Eat dinner. And then there's always a reasonable chance that the people sitting either side of you will get into...

The Blissful First Day of School

Added on 05 January 2009

The blissful first day of school. -10 degrees outside, quiet as that house on the night before Christmas inside. There's a natural rhythm to the school year. School runs for a couple of months, the kids get fed up with it, the parents get fed up with the morning rush, the frantic battle against time...

Getting Away With Murder

Added on 03 January 2009

The following piece appears in Mike Ripley's Getting Away With Murder column this month in the on-line Shotsmag. As well as being the author of the Angel series of crime novels, Mike is also obviously a sage and a man of great vision... One of my most interesting Christmas presents arrived in the Di...

The Last Judgement

Added on 02 January 2009

Michelangelo's Final Judgement. Have been examining it to see which part I might use for the cover of The Final Cut, as it'd be a bit messy or unclear to use the whole thing. This is premature, as it'll be a while before I get around to the commissioning process, but it's easy work f...