What if we’re still heroes but nobody notices? — What I really need in my life right now is an interior monologue. I need a theme tune as well, of course, but a deep, thoughtful voice in my head, full of purpose, saying where I’m going and what I’m doing, would really make my day. Deckard in the first…

My friends have their names back — So I wrote a story recently about meeting two friends for coffee at the Olive Grove. We dressed up for the occasion, and talked about everything, and then it all got a bit circular because we talked about a story I’d written. In the story — the one I wrote…

You don’t need the rest of us — One thought. Just quickly. I see a lot about how “we must” change our behaviour to stop climate change, and about how “we” can do it if we “all” act now, and about how there’s still time if “we all” suddenly start doing the exact same thing that we haven’t…

Perfect day — There’s a new cruise ship at the end of the dock. It’s lit up like — I’m going to say it — Christmas. I can hear rain on the skylight. This morning I went for coffee with a woman who caught my arm on Friday and said, “I’ve been overhearing…

This won’t stop anything. But it is dangerous — Just had to go out and rescue somebody. A neighbour’s daughter, on her own, trying to get home. She got back to the car, not her own, to find that it had two, not one, flat tyres. I found out when my neighbour called me. My neighbour is out of…

The reporters, I mean. Are they all embedded? — Where are the investigative journalists? To start the day with a wild, irrational thought — in the natural world, we worry about the disappearance of the bees. In the human world, we no longer seem to have investigative journalists. Yes, I know that you can get jobs in investigative journalism…

For whom The Book comes first — Every now and then, I open my front door to find two near-identical strangers waiting to speak to me. Not the same two strangers every time, you understand, but they might as well be. …

I can take a hint — So I’ve got this friend. He’s about my age (plus), an artist, once a teacher, and he’s turned up for coffee today wearing a three-piece suit, dress shirt, matching cravatte and pocket square. Brogues. A wide-brimmed felt hat. Black long coat. Silk scarf. “Have you seen William’s latest?” he says…

I’ve woken up from it … I think — All my life I’ve chased the perfect writing gadget. At fourteen-ish, I signed up to a school typing course to get the free (loaned) typewriter. I taught myself to type one-fingered. …