Category Archives: Pet Peeve

It gets my goat!

“Which Battle of Britain?”

… said the shop girl to Ronald Tooke, World War Two RAF veteran See more here

Posted in Pet Peeve, The hard slog | Leave a comment

Oh, sod off

It is because we don’t have one of these that English is the global language. In the English language, the rules are, as often as not, more honor’d in the breach than the observance.

Posted in Analysis, Pet Peeve | 1 Comment

5 things that Science Fiction and Fantasy could do without

1. False moral quandaries. The ability of SFF to distort reality and then claim to be addressing real-world issues is rarely raised, but it can lead to false morals being drawn. Say our hero uses a spell to kill all … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis, Pet Peeve, Technique | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Rage Against the Xmas Factor Spoiler Campaign

People who know me might not be surprised to find that I have an opinion on this! You can read it at the Musicbrick website.

Posted in Film & TV biz, Film and TV scriptwriting, Film and broadcast, Life, don't talk to me about life, Passing fancies, Pet Peeve, Radio | 10 Comments

Words Count

Well, my last post seems to have been a conversation stopper … let’s see what this does. Recently my daughter went on a residential school trip on the Isle of Wight. They took part in may activities, including one that … Continue reading

Posted in Pet Peeve | 3 Comments

Meaningless?

I love the way that advertisers play with language, especially those who promote unhealthy stuff as if it were the best thing for you to eat. This week’s prize goes to WALKERS SENSATIONS, who proudly announce on their packets … … Continue reading

Posted in Life, don't talk to me about life, Passing fancies, Pet Peeve | Leave a comment

Oh great. Just great.

So what brain dead halfwit thought this would be a good idea? Fantasy author to write ‘new’ Asimov novels

Posted in Analysis, Pet Peeve | 1 Comment

Time and money wasted …

Getting published, we are told, is almost impossible without a literary agent. So poor me: I sent out a whole load of samples to agents and have had mixed responses – some saying nice things, others giving bland, stock rejections. … Continue reading

Posted in Agents: can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em, Pet Peeve, The hard slog | 2 Comments

Is this the end for the printed word?

Today I heard that Philadelphia is closing all its libraries. We also hear regularly of book shops closing with huge amounts of sales these days going to the likes of Amazon, Waterstone’s and even the major supermarkets. Meanwhile gadgets for … Continue reading

Posted in Life, don't talk to me about life, Pet Peeve, The Industry | 2 Comments

The name game (how not to play it)

Amid the horror emanating from Mumbai, it is nice to see The Times maintaining a sense of proportion. Apparently the only thing needed to prompt respect for local name choices is a terrorist outrage. Setting aside the crass insensivity of … Continue reading

Posted in Pet Peeve, State of the media | 1 Comment