Ex

Before Drake became a zoo keeper in the gorilla enclosure of London Zoo he had spent quite a long period of time in prison. Drake was in prison for two reasons - firstly he had helped George Skin save the world (for the first time) and secondly they had been caught. 

Tiberius Drake’s formative years were relatively uneventful. After making an exquisitely imperceptible impact on the world of…

I cannot believe it but I sent the final edit of Ex to Luke last night having written an extra chapter. There is likely to be a little bit more editing to come I expect - we still have to send it off to the wonderful people in the good ship Unbound for their approval but Luke is talking about the cover designer reading it now so this is getting real. 

Now, Slaughterhouse-Five came in at…

So, I finally met the wonderful Kate from Shooting Star. M y dear friend Lee Playle  - a brilliant graphic artist,  wrote out the giant cheque and we trooped down the road with Catherine my wife. The local press were there - they  can't resist a giant cheque.          

We are getting close to the final edit. Luke has sent another version back to me and we are getting really close to…

Hi all,

When I first decided to start working with Unbound I had in mind to try to provide an image of what M would look like to me and to do so in the form of a short film showing him in action. We know he is a 32 stone police officer and I was close to using a man who was over 30 stone who was also a sumo wrestler before I was introduced to Good King Hal who is an official Henry the VIII…

The wonderful Oliver 'my son' Breckon has finished his work on our promo film and the link is below. 

Thanks again to the big man himself - King Hal who plays Ex and to my nephew Sam and his wonderful lady partner Caroline. 

My role in this film is on the cutting room floor which is bloody typical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pAulqhJEDU&feature=youtu.be

On the day that Rosalind died

my sisters and I

stood in straight alignment 

like 3 celestial bodies in syzygy 

My brother-in-law

Brian

and I

carried the void she left in our lives

on our shoulders 

to my airing cupboard 

where we hid it

in the snicket 

between the bath towels

and the torn curtains

we do not have the heart

to throw away

I felt…

Hi all - those generous people at Unbound will enter anyone who pledges now into a free prize draw to attend the launch party.  Please help me over this final hurdle.

Laurie xxxx

Her voice was like 

the Siberian air masses 

which chill 

the eastern slopes of the Urals 

She worked the tables 

in the kind of bar 

which claims to be in Gdansk 

but isn't in Gdansk.

It had been fashioned from the 

hollowed out 

exoskeleton 

of a giant beetle 

with toilet facilities 

in the tip of the carapace 

I was on my way to Kyiv

to give…

Well, the promo film has been shot. Ollie who is a producer from Channel 4 did the filming,  Mike - the big man who is playing 'M' and my nephew and Caroline his lady-person all played their roles and there is a cameo from yours truely.

The wonderful Ollie (not to be confused with the wonderful Marcia) (not that you could confuse Ollie, a Channel 4 TV producer who lives in London,  with my cousin Marcia an artist who lives in New York but since they both have 'wonderful' in their names I did not want to take a risk) and I have been planning to make a short promo film for Ex for some months now. There were a number of issues. Firstly…

She wore red sequinned shoes

and every now and again she

espied them

and part of her right eye

grinned

When she sat down beside me

in the train carriage

she was like an occupying army

laying siege to the armrest

erecting pontoon bridges

across my leg space

My fingers were forced to abandon my laptop to an uncertain fate

and retreat

until I gave the impression

of a man in prayer

Congratulations Marcia Miller for making the pledge that got me down to 99 pledges required - you now have a character named after you in "Ex". All I am going to say is, I hope you don't like ant eaters. Marcia has become pledge obsessed and lets me know whenever we gain another percentage point. Quite simply, her support has kept me going whenever I have flagged. She is currently in Cape Cod with…

I am still adding material to the book and am currently writing a new chapter. I will name a character in the book after the person who gets me down to 99 pledges -  I an either use their name or a name of their choice (their child, dog, llama - there are llamas everywhere you know - open your eyes - I saw one today in Hounslow town centre sitting on a park bench playing a viola) (although to be fair…

We have managed to raise over £600 for the hospice in five weeks! The money raised so far could pay for a sensory day for children with very complex needs. Both the family and the child can experience a range of themed sensory activities. Those of you who have pledged have paid for this and Shooting Star have asked me to thank you all for your incredbile generosity and kindness.

For those of you…

I returned home on Christmas Eve

to find the house

which had been punctuated by a thousand

astral semicolons

when I left

was humbled

by darkness

I reached for the light switch

but there was only your hand

and your embrace

It was the gateway to a garden

where every living thing

has perished

from insouciance

“When we were first together”

you told me

your eyes as dangerous as feral…

"Don't fuck with me or I will hurt you."

Her voice was grey green

like the bruises

the rain leaves on a forest floor

She pressed the tip

of her home made shank

against

my trachea

just beside my oesophagus

until butterfly kisses of blood

tattooed my collar

I could grasp

only a snapshot of her face

through the corner of my right eye

it was cratered and indistinct

as if it were a facet…

The day before

the day before

you died

I was the charismatic but ruthless leader

of a hundred thousand

mogul warriors

as they battled

a rag-tag mercenary army

of astronauts, medieval knights and GI's

for supremacy over our

settee and coffee table

You were not witness

to this senseless internecine carnage

because you were at the office

where

it latterly transpired

you lived

You…

Hi all,

I thought I would share a bit of my work  - I write music, take photographs and write poetry and I wanted to share some of this with you.

I have attached a sound file of "World of Fantasy" a song written by myself and the very wonderful Mark Donegan, sung by Thea. 

This is a photograph taken in Porto earlier this year which I was pleased with. 

This is a poem written in 2011…

She has the kind of

immutable

throat burstingly cruel

beauty

that makes men's eyes bleed

and women strafe their faces

with their

claws

You need a shot

of pure hypoxic helium nitrate

just to speak to her

and when her eyes

fall upon yours

it is as if you are being

disseminated

atom by atom

like the febrile

mist

rising from a

battlefield

She does not have a name

it is not necessary…

Well we are getting there - day 9 and I can see what my life is going to be like - at court today I approached a solicitor and a Barrister and got them to pledge as I was standing over them. I only have to do that another 243 times!!!!!  

She has contacted no less than 37 friends and encouraged them to pledge. She has a heart the size of a mountain and she is really my unnoficial third sister. Marsha is in New York but when my mother passed away in April she was by our sides in under 24 hours. This process is really showing me how special some of the people I know are.

Well week one has come and gone. The generosity and support from places and people I had never expected has been incredible. I will go in to my local Shooting Star Hospice shop to say hello this weekend and arrange to visit the Hospice itself. 

My cousins have been amazing - Marsha from the USA, Louise and Louis - he has started a campaign on Facebook. This process really does encourage special…