Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 512

The Myth Of The Lone Writer

A Garrett Yesterday

Once upon a time there was a garret, and in it sat a writer scribbling away, only to emerge once every three or four days gaunt and hollow-eyed to eat a few crumbs before returning to his lonely calling.

Not any more.

Thanks to social networking and writers' groups, we now have busier social [...:]

How Local Government Works

I thought my local borough, Islington Council, was less crap than Camden, my last borough of residence, where councillor Frank 'Dobbin' Dobson has had his feet firmly wedged under the table for centuries and will probably be carried headlong out of his office, but now I'm not so sure. Through my mailbox comes notice that [...:]

Olympics 2012: Start Cringing Now

Wenlock and Mandeville, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic mascots, elicited baffled reactions at their unveiling today, when they were photographed standing next to a drainpipe. They are due to become a range of cuddly toys, including versions based on celebrities and sports stars, as well as adorning badges, T-shirts, mugs and more. Among the [...:]

Expect More Historical Novels

The British Library is putting more than 40 million pages of newspapers online over the next two years, including coverage of the Crimean and Boer Wars. The archive contains about 750m newspaper pages, including 52,000 local, regional, national and international titles. Before I'd ever written a book, there was a common-held fantasy among would-be writers; [...:]

Wish You Were Here, Love Dracula

Artist Graham Humphries has been staying in Dracula's holiday town of Whitby, North Yorkshire, where he has been casting a painterly eye about the Abbey – this is what he came back with. Sometimes I wonder if Yorkshire isn't more sinister than Transylvania. For me, Bram Stoker's Dracula remains the only big gothic novel that's [...:]

Wish You Were Here, Love Dracula X

Artist Graham Humphries has been staying in Dracula's holiday town of Whitby, N Yorkshire, where he has been casting a painterly eye about the Abbey – this is what he came back with. Sometimes I wonder if Yorkshire isn't more sinister than Transylvania. For me, Bram Stoker's Dracula remains the only big gothic novel that's [...:]

The Return Of The Toff Thug

It's been reported that the headmaster of Lord Wandsworth College, a £20,000-a-year boarding school in Hampshire, has suspended 10 per cent of his upper-sixth after spotting pictures on Facebook of them fighting and damaging property at a party in a country house hotel. In recent weeks, three former boys from City of London Freemen's School [...:]

Feeling You're Behind

You know the feeling – things are moving faster around you and it's just not possible to keep up. I look at my unread copy of Time Out (I've been buying it since the first issue, it's a habit like heroin) and realise I've been blind to what's been happening in the capital over the [...:]

Master Of The Routes

London's Mayor had to come through with his promise to get rid of bendy buses and bring back the Routemaster, as it was just about the only plank upon which he was elected. The issue is an emotive one and comes at a hefty price just as London braces itself for devastating cuts, but there [...:]

Can't Stop The Music

Liam Gallagher, here seen on a Cannes beach looking alarmingly like Mireille Mathieu conducting an exercise class, has announced his intention to make a film about the Beatles. As he is the former member of their tribute band he is well-placed to do this, but I hope he remembers what happens to other British musicians [...:]