Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society

Whenever someone pops into their library and borrows a book, the author receives 6 pence. This is a legal right. But the coalition government, as part of wider cuts, is considering cutting this by 3%, which would make it a 10% cut over three years, in real terms. For many authors, the library is the […]

Gamescon News: PS3

I know this blog is supposed to be about writing, but I’m allowed to talk about what inspires me right? At the moment, its videogames that seem to be inspiring me, so shut up and let me talk. Okay, I’ve spent some time to read up on the latest announcement that have come out of […]

Goodreads | Noor Jahangir’s review of The Sea-Hawk

Sir Oliver Tressilian is the elder son of a man remembered by people as a foul-tempered despot and some of that bias has passed on to his son. Sir Oliver has paid of his father’s debts and made his fortune by privateering in the name of the Queen, piracy by a gentler name. Now he […]

Goodreads | Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

Perhaps the most well known work by Rafael Sabatini, this book recieved the big screen treatment several times, including the 1935 version starring Errol Flynn. The book was orignally published in 1922 and is set in the historical background of the 1600s, opening with the Battle of Sedgemoor and ending with the Glorius Revolution in […]

The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain: by Maria Rosa Menocal

Once again the lines are blurring between my different identities, and by that I mean in every sense. Today I was approached by a former mentor and a former employer to begin a task that requires all my past and current experiences to merge together. The task is to tutor a group of Pakistani scholars […]

Islamic Art – Windows Live

Writing is really busy at the moment but I’ve found time to start a new hobby (in addition to reading books and playing videogames). Originally, the idea was to find my wife something to help distract her from the tedium of housework and child-rearing. See expressed an interest in art so I went out an […]

The author’s lot | theBookseller.com

There seems to be a growing sense of resentment amongst authors and agents toward the publishing industries heavy handed approach in dealing with writers. There are a few articles and a couple of blogs on the Bookseller website that voice these concerns, including Tom Holland, the chair of the Society of Authors. This leads […]

Poetry

Poetry Workshop To mark the annual occasion of the Islamic Night of Ascension, I led a creative writing workshop (as part of my day job) with a group of Year 6 students (erm, aged 10?) from two Burnley primary schools, St Peter’s and St Johns. The group was a mixture of boys and girls […]

Endless Pursuit of Distraction

No doubt the economic pressures of the new budget will spark off a fresh round of mental health problems. Job losses like our generation has never seen are about to land very soon; mostly from the public sector and the not-for-profit sector. Even without these extra stress factors people seem to be geared towards depression, […]