Introduction by Mark: The full title of this blog is ‘Eating the livers of my lovers and other poems I now have to write because Mark gave me a title’ Which was a writing prompt I gave to the ever wonderful Nimue Brown when she asked the world to do so. Having supplied this title I abdicate all responsibility thence*. The rest is all Nimue… *I’m always delighted to use thence in a sentence, its one of my favourite words… ‘Eating the livers of my lovers and other poems I now have to write because Mark gave me a title’ By Nimue Brown As it happens, the current work in progress on the poetry fron ..read more

Fellow author, blogger, musician, poet, worshipper of trees, insightful guru, druid, and all round wonderful person,Nimue Brown started a Facebook group called Pagan Book News. If you are interested in paganism, belief structures, and humanities connection to the wider universe, its a great group to be part of. Currently they are running a poll for pagan book of the year. So go have as look , maybe vote if you have read any of the books on the list and have a favourite . If not just have a look at some books in general that you might otherwise never see. (I have voted, but as I had only read ..read more

A couple of short reviews for sequels to books I have previously reviewed. That is the brief here. No waffling on about anything, just do the reviews… Have I ever mentioned I hate sequels. As a writer that is, not as a reader. As a reader I love them, usually, depending on the book. But I hate writing them. The reason being that if you write something that for some god-only-knows reason people love and value, writing a sequel can only go one of two ways. It can be as good or better, taking the story and the characters forward in new and interesting ways your readers don’t expect. Or its a desp ..read more

For want of a better definition I am a Quantum Pagan. Which is to say I have a workaday understanding of Quantum physics, and I believe both science and pagan spirituality to be in a quest for answers and the underlying truth of the universe. One approaches the questions of reality and the universe through the pursuit of testable facts, thesis, and theories, the other through the pursuit of faith, our connection to the natural world, ritual, and the commonality of ancestral experience. I am not going to go deeply into the concepts and ideas of my personal faith in this particular blog, but I t ..read more

The original Sir William Nettleton, served the court of Queen Elizabeth the first, and dreamed of holding the distinguished rank of as lord warden of the water closest, but sadly he never advanced beyond his post of holder of the royal wet cloth on a stick. Sir William managed to explored no where, didn’t discover a vegetable, was crap at bowls and when the Spanish armada was spotted off the coast of Plymouth he was sharing his bed with a lady of negotiable pleasure. In fear for his life he ran trouser-less to catch the coach to Exeter deserting the Plymouth hoe, upon whom Drake was playing wi ..read more

Probably because there was no one competent available I was asked to record the Ominous Folk of Hopeless Maine performance at Rising Steam 2023. So I did… The first song is about demonic devices, which is to say it is a song form the perspective of a demon forced to power a device. Possibly a steam roller, may be a kettle, or possibly a really over engineers rotary washing line. Please remember not to try this kind of thing at home unless you have a 5th level summoning circle and an emergency banishing spell to hand… Next we have a song about sea monsters, that is perfectly rehearsed and the ..read more

Hello, how you doing? Yes I know that is an odd way to start a blog post but its the most important question we can ask each other, even if its the one that normally elicits gentle lies rather than uncomfortable truths. Also I am not the greatest at small talk, but I am trying to get better at it. Or at least less awkward. And sure there is probably a point to me asking beyond that which may becomes clear, or not as the case my be, but enough of that… Regular readers of the book reviews I post will be aware of two things. The first being that I never give bad reviews, if I don’t like a book I ..read more

Names are funny things. My name for example is derived from Latin and means ‘Consecrated to the god Mars’ and ‘warlike’, those that have met me may scoff at this. Other names can be a bit odd too. While other are a perfect fit. Take Alyssa for example… Alyssa is a feminine given name with multiple origins. Alysa is an alternative spelling. As used in Western countries, the name is usually derived from the name of the flower alyssum. The name of the flower derives from the Greek ἀ- a- (“not”) and λύσσα lyssa (“mania”); the flower was formerly thought to cure skin diseases. It shares many varia ..read more

I had occasion over the extended May Day weekend to put some thought in to the basis of my belief system. That is, what I believe and feel to be the truth of it all. What it all mean and our place as individuals within, well everything… When I say I had occasion to put some thought into this, I had a long drive back from the sunny green lushness of a country park in Gloucestershire through the darkening hours of the creeping twilight until the witching hour found me amidst the burning towers of Teesside once more… On such occasions its is perhaps only natural to start to wonder what its all ab ..read more

Somewhere along the banks of the river Severn there is a small tumbledown stone cottage, with a patchy thatched roof which I suspect the local swallows have been stealing away for nesting material for a decade or so. A small plume of wood smoke from the crooked chimney lets you know it’s occupied rather than abandoned. You know there is a stove below that chimney and something is slowly bubbling away on it… The garden that has lost a battle with weeds and brambles, if not the war, made it hard to be sure if that was the case. Though the trio of large sunflowers, tied to bamboo canes, should ha ..read more