Well, I’m back in Japan and bed-bound with a fever, no doubt worn out by all the travelling, reading, chatting and, dare I say it, drinking over in Scotland. While I’m lying here wishing for a swift and painless death I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to update you on a few things.Continue reading “Sunday Herald Essay, a Glowing Review and a New Poem”
Tag Archives: Eastlit
Nothing in the Rule Book Interview
Recently the kind folk at http://www.nothingintherulebook.com contacted me about doing an interview and writing an article for their site. The article will appear later in the year but the interview is live now. They asked some tough questions about the ethical responsibility of writers and the realities of life as a writer while the publishingContinue reading “Nothing in the Rule Book Interview”
Articles and Shorts: Update.
It’s been a while since my last post because I’ve been as busy as a millipede’s chiropodist. I’ve been hard at work on novel three, edits have just come in for novel two, writing regularly for the Japan Times and I still have the day job. I’ll be off on holiday in three weeks, headingContinue reading “Articles and Shorts: Update.”
Turnstile, The Making of …
The evolution of a short story can be a bizarre path. This month a flash story I wrote, Turnstile, is included in Eastlit Magazine. I’m really pleased to finally get this story accepted because it’s been with me a long time, and not always in a good way. When I first came to Japan in 2005Continue reading “Turnstile, The Making of …”
J David Simons Interview
The September issue of Eastlit Magazine is out and it features an interview by me with J David Simons, primarily about his book An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful. I’m a big fan of this book, a moving story spanning decades and continents, and I hope you’ll check it and his other novels out onceContinue reading “J David Simons Interview”
Eastlit Interview
Graham Lawrence, editor of Eastlit, interviewed me for the July 2014 issue of the magazine. We spoke about my book and the Asian writers that have influenced me. You can read the interview here.
This Too Shall Pass
Halfway through the book tour, waiting to fly to Belfast for the next event (Saturday 31st at 4pm, No Alibis Books since you ask). I’ll do a proper post once I stop moving and get a minute to think but it has been fantastic so far – meeting old friends and new, selling books, buyingContinue reading “This Too Shall Pass”
Kyourai’s Hut
I’ve been pretty busy on the writing front recently, unfortunately none of it is in any state to discuss here. Until it is, here’s the latest issue of Eastlit magazine, which contains a rare poem by me. It was initially inspired by visiting the home of haiku poet Kyourai in Kyoto, then grew from there.Continue reading “Kyourai’s Hut”
Eastlit
Some of you may already have visited Eastlit, a newish online magazine. They published an excerpt from my novel Dog Mountain in their February 2013 issue and my short poem sequence China in the April 2013 issue. The aim of the magazine is to publish new and interesting writing about or from East / SouthContinue reading “Eastlit”
China
About two years ago I went to China for three weeks. I spent the first week in and around Shanghai with my wife then, when she had to return to Japan for work, I met up with my friend Robert and we visited Beijing, Xi’an and Nanjing before I returned to Shanghai and flew home.Continue reading “China”