As the storm rages outside here's something to listen to. Robert Macfarlane and I were invited on to Backlisted Podcast to talk about The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. I've had a wonderful few weeks lost in these five books that make up the sequence. Now the pocast is live. So get a cuppa and settle in by the fire, because, outside, the dark is rising.

For Christmas I was given a copy of Piranesi. Loving being lost in its Halls. There's a taste of The Starless Sea in it, an echo that I love. Borrowed Robin's compass, but wanting to get myself an old one. I feel I need help to navigate through the rest of my days.

Today I listen to the wind, breaking in the beech trees. Tomorrow I will listen to the song of the sea.