Mark Speed's Blog, page 3

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

This is the fourth Neil Gaiman novel I’ve read in as many months, and it’s noticeably different in style from American Gods and Neverwhere. I recall watching the first few scenes of the movie on TV and switching over. The novel is– as is so often the case– so much better than the movie. If you’ve seen it, then I suggest you read the novel.

The story is bigger and better than the movie because Gaiman begins with a broad brush of life in the (fictional) Victorian village of Wall a couple of deca...

Independent author, or independent publisher?

Self-publishing as an independent author is so much easier and rewarding than going down the traditional route, isn’t it? No agents, no publishers, better margins, choose your own cover artwork rather than have to put up with something dumped on you by a stranger who’s not even read your novel. Life in the freewheeling and carefree world of the indie is, well… freewheeling and carefree. Isn’t it?

If only.

September was the month I had to submit my accounts for the first year’s trading of the co...

Edinburgh Fringe Festival – nine reviews and some thoughts

After three years in a row as a performer, it was strange to attend as just an audience member. For one thing, I kept encountering other performers (usually flyering) and greeting them by first-name and receiving confused looks. I’m generally better than most at identifying the odd face, and I guess if I’m not wearing my trademark suit it’s a bit more difficult. Other comics never managed to see my show, since I was in a ‘family’ venue nearly a mile from the main strip. The anonymity was quit...

L.S. Lowry at Tate Britain – Grim Viewing

As a Scot who was brought up on Tyneside in the Seventies and Eighties, I feel more qualified than most to commentate on matters pertaining to the Grim North. Critics might object that I’m middle-class, and that twenty years of living in the South have made me soft. I did manual labouring jobs as a teenager, and as a student worked at Pizza Hut in the Bigg Market – probably the toughest drinking hole in the Britain. And if I wanted to be a geographic snob about it, I could challenge Lowry’s N...

Stag beetle fights for life on mean streets of south London

On my way back from the shops this morning I came across a stag beetle scurrying across the pavement. Its head was severely damaged– the front having been severed in what looked like a clean cut with a sharp object. At first glance I could see he had lost his antlers, and was probably blinded. I managed to scoop him up into my shopping bag. The photograph below was taken in my back garden.

Injured stag beetle

What you can’t see is that his left antler is trailing below his body. I’m hoping that...