Actually, my apologies, I think I’ve transposed the headline; maybe it should be The Year of the Book, since 2023 was when I completed and published my first spy novel, Unity. Thank you, thanks. Wonderful. No really, there’s no need. Oh all right, keep going… (takes a bow, accepts flowers) Was Unity a success? Well, that's a good question, but it might not be the best way to ask it. I’m reminded of when Bilbo wishes the wizard Gandalf good morning: Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat. “What do you mean?” he said. “Do ..read more

Mike Bodnar ponders the frustrations of gaining an endorsement for his debut novel while facing the big problem of all self-publishers... Caution: Analogy Ahead! I have been given a valuable jewel, a shining faceted trinket, worth - in certain circumstances - a great deal, and yet also possibly worth nothing. I am in a dilemma. But let's do a quick recap first so you can better understand where I'm coming from... I self-published my first novel (through Amazon KDP) in April this year. It's a spy thriller in the classic Cold War genre. I may have made a mistake tying it into a popular 1960s B ..read more

Mike Bodnar reveals how his research into 1967 Britain delayed finishing his book by a year... An organic thing I  started writing my spy thriller Unity in February 2021. The date is etched in my memory - all authors remember when they started a work, and what it was like to get those first few words on the page, knowing that the other 200 to 300 pages to come were still blank. Emptiness stretched before me; it was literary high-diving into the unknown. But while every author starts with a blank page or screen, authors en groupe do not share a common way of working. Some plan an ..read more

Like Tolkien's diminutive hero Bilbo Baggins, Mike Bodnar goes on an adventure - to Middle Earth... Hobbiton, Middle Earth, New Zealand It's a well-known fact that New Zealand provided the backdrops for Peter Jackson's epic Tolkien movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings, and later The Hobbit. Aotearoa take a bow. Nothing is more testament to this starring role than the influx of tourists New Zealand experienced once the first films were released; people from all over our own earth were desperate to see Middle Earth for themselves. Wikipedia notes in reference to the LOTR m ..read more

Writer Mike Bodnar is publishing his first novel, Unity, knowing that no matter how popular it becomes he will not make a penny from it... I've recently finished writing my first novel. Thank you; a hat will be passed round shortly. Image of Patrick McGoohan courtesy of Cultbox However, to be clear, I had a springboard to leap from, and I can't lay claim to the original idea on which Unity is based. That, dear reader, is all down to one Patrick McGoohan (see pic), and if the name rings a bell it's because in the 1960s he was famous for playing agent John Drake in the British TV serie ..read more

 Mike Bodnar adds another string to his bow and spends a day with some Surrey archers…   Katniss Everdeen on target in The Hunger Games. Image: fencing.net Archery is something most of us know about only from films and television. John Rambo, Katniss Everdeen, William Tell or Robin Hood, they’ve all pulled a bowstring for our entertainment, and maybe to save the world while they were at it – or in the case of the elf Legolas, Middle Earth. As a result we know only that arrows are deadly, are shot from a bow or crossbow, and either find their target accurately or rain terrify ..read more

Mike Bodnar reflects on a couple of years of online auction hunting - the bargains and the booby prizes - and shares some top buying tips... Image: The Drinks Business We all had to fill in our lockdown time somehow didn't we? Yes, I drank more than I should have (still am TBH), binge-watched many a TV series, and - like so many others - started writing a novel. I'm still only half-way through; watch this space and form an orderly queue. But I also started going to auctions, at least virtually. To go all historical for a moment, I'm not entirely new to the auction game. Back in ..read more

The gardener's friend. Image: Mike Bodnar It sounds like a line from an old folk song: 'Where have all the birds gone, long time passing?' Which would be cute if it weren't for the fact that in the UK an estimated 38 million birds have disappeared over the past fifty years.  I feel somehow responsible, since it was just over fifty years ago I left England and emigrated to New Zealand. Coincidence I hope. Please don't shoot the messenger. I have a solid alibi: I wasn't here, but for me it's become something of a reversed imposter syndrome. So when I returned to England almost te ..read more

 Mike Bodnar highlights why some media science is just astronomically wrong...  As you can see from the headline of my opening image, someone has captured brilliant photos of Comet Leonard 'streaking' through the night sky.  And sure, it really does look like it's hurtling through space, what with that long elegant tail streaming out and all.  But I have to disabuse you of something: comets don't streak, at least not in our skies. They move infinitesimally, incrementally, night after night. (Unless, of course, you're watching Don't Look Up, in which case it's time to ..read more

Mike Bodnar has memory problems, but still remembers the punchline... Maybe it's because of my advancing years, but I cannot for the life of me remember accurately whether or not I interviewed Bishop (as he was then) Desmond Tutu on telly back in the mid-80s. He definitely visited New Zealand, and I have a distinct memory of him, but whether it was from the studio or from seeing him on the TV I don't know. I also therefore can't recall whether he told me this joke personally, or whether I heard it from someone else, but here goes... B​ack in the early to mid 1980s South Africa's Prime Minist ..read more