Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 373

Last Riviera Report

After owning a house in France for ten years, a prolonged stay in England eventually leaves you longing for an escape plan again. My friend Polly says 'run away and you run to seed', and I see her point; the French Riviera, the Spanish coast, the Greek islands and Italy's 'Chiantishire' Tuscan hills are overrun [...]

Pernicious Muck For Kids

PS Publishing has just released 'Black Cat Mysteries', a Harvey Comics anthology for which I've just written the forward. In the 1950s, EC Comics caused a sensation for their horrific content after Dr Fredric Wertham published damning pieces about the corruption of innocents, and there was a moral panic.

Wertham described comic books as 'cheap, [...]

Report From Cannes

This morning's view from my phone shows the easing of the torrential returning blue skies and – just out of shot – the first of the obscenely giant cruise ships to Cannes (average on-board age; 72). Like Berlin, Geneva, Venice, Taormina and er, Birmingham, Cannes is a trade show town; visit it in a different [...]

Stabbed With A Pen

According to today's 'Independent' an author who launched a libel suit over a series of unfavourable reviews on Amazon is facing a huge legal bill after a judge struck off his case.

Chris McGrath, an 'online entrepreneur', tried to sue Vaughan Jones over a series of reviews on the Amazon website about his self-published satirical book [...]

Doing The Riviera

My brother said 'You don't have a normal life, you know.' Being my brother, he says this without any jealousy or sarcasm, but with a vague sense of wonder and concern, as if he is commenting on a nature programme in which the animals regularly do odd things. He said this because I'm throwing my [...]

April Fool's Map

What is it about the London Underground system that makes it so prone to practical jokery? 'Mornington Crescent' was the ultimate practical joke game, but over at Diamond Geezer they've taken things further in one of the more complicated practical jokes built around the underground.

There are an enormous number of parody maps wherein the tube [...]

Never Mind The Dialogue, Look At The Cutlery

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the icy water, James Cameron is rereleasing 'Titanic' in 3D with a revised night scene, after an American astronomer accused the original film of having the wrong star field for the time and date, 4.20am on April 15, 1912.

Cameron is a famous perfectionist, and [...]

The Truth Hurts

Hilary B Price nails it on the Rhymes With Orange website (thanks Jennifer!)

The Spark Of Life

Let's have a column that's actually about writing for a change!

Everyone has different methods of working, but I've noticed that mine confounds a lot of people. My enthusiasm for writing a new book starts high – I have the concept and I'm very excited. Then I have to flesh it out into an outline; the [...]

Re:View – 'The Most Incredible Thing'

Pet Shop Boys are not to everyone's taste – I appreciate that many people find house music unsubtle, but it was always my brainless sound of choice. However, Pet Shop Boys are far from brainless; their score to 'Battleship Potemkin', performed in Trafalgar Square, was excellent, and pointed the way to new avenues, and this [...]