Thanks, HSBC UK customer support: your rude and unhelpful chat operator has just lost you a customer of several decades.

Lovely to see Wormhole nominated for this award in the US: slcolibrary.org/we-recommend/r…

No, @DPD_UK, you didn't miss me. You didn't bother to try.

Well that was spectacular. A lengthy mid-air scrap between a peregrine and three marsh harriers, watched from the office window. #amwriting

So I wonder why DPD_UK and their parent company Geopost make it so hard to find out how to contact them and make complaints? Is it because they provide such an appalling service?

Winter at the Broom. thebigoutdooroffice.wordpress.com/2024/02/01/win…

PARSEC #9 is the first issue of 2024 and judging by the stellar lineup of contributors that Ian Whates has assembled, he's certainly raised the bar. It's going to be a tough act to follow! Here's editor-in-chief with all the info in this week's newsletter: preview.mailerlite.com/m9n6x5o6b4

I do love that I can glance up from my desk and see two marsh harriers quartering the meadow. When I did volunteer work at Minsmere in the 1980s we monitored the harrier nests in the reedbeds because there were only a few breeding in the entire country at the time. #rspb #UKbirds

Now available for pre-order: To the Stars and Back: Stories in Honour of Eric Brown ericbrown.co.uk/2024/02/27/to-…

Brooke'n'Brown publishing news: keithbrooke.wordpress.com/2024/05/24/bro…

So the Nationwide approach to accessibility for even a very basic request is to tell a disabled person to get someone who's not disabled to deal with it on their behalf? How utterly patronising and offensive.

Out now: my first story in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. How cool is that? alfredhitchcockmysterymagazine.com/current-issue/ #mystery #crimefiction Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine

My first contribution to the Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine blog, Trace Evidence: a piece about the importance of not writing for writers. trace-evidence.net/2024/11/11/not… #WritingTips #mystery #crimefiction Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine

It's been a while, but we have a new post at the Big Outdoor Office blog: thebigoutdooroffice.wordpress.com/2025/01/20/cha… #writing #creativity #art

Thanks, Specsavers for a complete waste of a day. Utterly useless.

New on the blog, prompted by Tony Ballantyne's recent blog post on AI and office software. "No, I don't want MS, or anyone else, trawling unasked through my work to train its 'AI' models to put me out of work..." keithbrooke.wordpress.com/2025/01/29/pre…

My favourite line when I'm fleshing out plot notes: "More stuff happens..." #amwriting

An audio version of my story "Protection", published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine last year, is now up at Rabia Chaudry's podcast, The Mystery Hour: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pro… #mystery #crimefiction Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine rabia O'chaudry

We’ve just sent out the first issue of the Dead East newsletter: news and exclusive content from crime authors based in East Anglia, in the UK. open.substack.com/pub/deadeast/p… #mystery #CrimeFiction #writing

New: the July issue of the Dead East newsletter, a free monthly email offering news and exclusive mystery and crime fiction content: deadeast.substack.com/p/dead-east-ju… Sign up for free at deadeast.substack.com