about me

Writer and sometime performer of short stories. Winner of 2008 Frome Literary Festival short story competition. Day job: picture framer. Abode: a country cottage in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire.
Having spent my youth and much of my middle-years in the unsuccessful pursuit of hedonism and successful avoidance of responsibility and achievement, Acts of the Servant is my first major venture into novel writing. It is now almost complete and I have sketched out the next volume in the series, Works of the Master.

Unmarried, I appreciate beautiful women, wood-burning stoves, red-wine, old boats, lithology, conversation and starlight.

Note to any looking to swap reads etc.
I will look at your book if it is the sort of book I would normally consider reading. Essentially this includes historical fiction, literary fiction, and grown-up fantasy. At a stretch I can do YA fantasy as I enjoyed Pullman's DM series. For a clearer idea look at my favourite list below.
Thrillers, children's books in general and pretty much anything about ordinary people just struggling to lead their ordinary suburban lives (AKA the Irvine Welsh, Nick Hornby, school) leaves me cold. That said, if your novel is set on the side of a nice green hill or in a wood I will look at it since setting is a big thing for me.
On a more positive note, when I do get interested in a book I give a decent crit.

favourite books

French Lieutenant's Woman, Fowles. Cloud Atlas, Mitchell. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Clarke. The Shipping News, Proulx. The Owl Service, Garner. Rings of Saturn, Sebald. Waterland, Swift. Castle Keep, Eastlake. Another Roadside attraction, Robbins. Sailing Alone Around The World, Slocum. Passage to Juneau, Raban. Coasting, Raban. More Than Human, Sturgeon. Voyage To Arcturus, Lindsay. Forest Of Hours, Ekman. Titus Groan, Peake. Lavondyss, Holdstock. Cryptonomicon, Stephenson. Solomon Gursky Was Here, Richler. The Last Voyage Of Somebody The Sailor, Barth.

my websites

http://bardoftweedale.wordpress.com/