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What The F... (Really Means)

7/8/2026

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My guest writer today is Jaye Troop, an award-winning blogger who has just published her debut novel.
 
She started her first blog, Tweetables.com, to support authors by reviewing their books. From fiction to non-fiction, indie to traditionally-published, she was happy reading anything and everything! And by hosting interviews with each author, the blog quickly gained a following.
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However, as much as she loved blogging and reading, Jaye had always nurtured the dream of becoming a published author. She took some time away from blogging to write’ My F in Life’, a funny story about the challenges of middle age. Now she’s outlined a series and is busy beavering away on book 2, but today she chats about her journey.  
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by Jaye Troop
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I’ve always loved reading and my favourite family outing every month was a visit to our local library. I’d return with arms full of exciting adventures, from Enid Blyton's Famous Five (I quickly became a fan of ginger beer!) to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (which had me begging for a white rabbit; that was a firm no - we had cats!).

I fell in love with the magic words could weave, and that feeling’s never left me. Even now, if I find a new author who I’ve enjoyed reading, I have to tell everyone!

But writing’s something I’ve always done, from short stories to plays, some of which were performed by amateur actors, but I only started dabbling with full-length novels twenty years ago. I loved doing it, but life was too busy to pursue it seriously.

Now I’ve gotten to the age where a bucket list seems mandatory and as publishing is at the top of the list, I decided to find the time and fulfil my dream. And it’s been a blast! 
Picking the subject-matter was easy, because middle-age was proving somewhat challenging to many people around me. I was watching friends’ break-up with long-term partners and seeing the impact on their families, fragmenting, re-blending, falling apart. Then there were aging parents, and illnesses that I’d heard about becoming a reality for loved ones. At times like that, you do face your own mortality.

But, as is my way, I found myself joking about it to friends, family, strangers in the street, basically anyone who would listen. It can be a tough time, but it can also be joyful too.  Liberating, even. Not everyone sees it that way, so I knew this was what I had to write.

And I’m glad I did, because it’s been a great vehicle for humour. I mean, online dating at 50? Who wants to do that? Well, me, but only in the sense of subjecting my poor protagonist to the horror! It’s fun putting her outside of her comfort zone and seeing what happens. And she has surprised me, quite often!

The problems my lead character, Jaye Mackay, faces all revolve around the letter F, an issue which started in her teens. Now she has problems with her family (her main F) because her kids are fleeing the nest and her husband’s fathering his mistress’ baby. Yikes! 

Luckily she has great friends, although her bestie, Didi, is hellbent on getting her dating again. New fellas? When she’s about to turn fifty? What a nightmare!

Add into that her finances, which are in a mess; her fitness, which is poor; and food, which is fast become her new love, although her expanding waistline is making her feel fat… 
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The joy about Jaye is that she might be fed up and frustrated, but she’s also very funny.

She handles everything with such humour and it doesn’t seem to matter what I throw at her, she rises to each challenge and is an utter joy to watch!  I wish I was that resilient.
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I’ve set the novel in the Scottish Highlands, as it makes for a stunning backdrop. From Urquhart castle (top photo) overlooking Loch Ness, to the NC500 (photo immediately above), and dolphin-watching from the shore at Chanonry point, Scotland really adds its own charm to the novel. 

I’ve loved writing this, but one of my Goodreads reviews summed up my story brilliantly:

‘What makes the novel especially powerful is that beneath all the warmth and humour lies something much deeper. This is a story about a woman gradually rediscovering who she is after spending so much of her life defining herself through the people around her.’

I’m delighted, because that’s exactly what I was hoping to achieve. So many women give themselves to their families, and this story is about the transition from mum and wife, to something new, but what is it? That’s what I get to explore.

If you’d like to know more and follow my journey, please visit my author website (https://www.jayetroop.com/) which has the latest news about my books, as well as author interviews and talks with industry professionals.

You can also follow me on X (@JayeTroop), Instagram (@jayetroop) and Bluesky (@jayetroop.bsky.social)

My F in Life is available as an ebook on Amazon KDP and Kindle Unlimited: 
https://amzn.eu/d/09r6GGb3.

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How I Became a Film Director

7/1/2026

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My guest blogger today is Debbi Mack, the New York bestselling author of the Sam McRae and Erica Jensen mystery series, along with other novels and story collections.

Her first Erica Jensen novel, Damaged Goods, was nominated in 2021 for a Shamus Award.

A retired attorney with degrees in journalism, law, and library science, Debbi is an avid reader and movie lover, who hosts the Crime Cafe podcast and co-hosts a podcast on film noir. She is also a screenwriter and slowly emerging director of a couple of short films, in association with Charm City Filmmakers in Baltimore.
A stroke survivor with dystonia, she has been an advocate for medical research and a mentor to writers. Originally from Queens, NY, she now lives in Columbia, MD, with her husband and at least one cat.
by Debbi Mack

​Believe me when I say that the last thing I ever expected was to have the words “film director” apply to me. Here’s how this weird development came about.
 
I’ve been a self-published author since 2009, when I re-released my out-of-print first mystery novel, Identity Crisis. 

This was followed in 2010 by a second novel in the Sam McRae mystery series, Least Wanted. During this time, my marketing consisted of near constant blogging, on five different blogs. Some better maintained than others.
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In 2011, through a unique combination of low prices, newish market, good reviews, and the occasional promotion, I sold enough downloads to make the New York Times bestseller list. That, alone, was a jaw-dropping moment for me. This seemed like a really significant event, but it turned out to have little value in terms of either notoriety within the publishing world or book sales, in the long run.
 
During 2012, my book sales were dropping at a somewhat alarming rate. Having chosen not to make my books Amazon-exclusive more than likely contributed to the collapse in my income. That along with the Amazon ads some authors paid for, which had the tendency to bury similar books which weren’t getting “paid placement” on Amazon’s website, i.e., virtually buying visibility for anyone searching for books on Amazon. But I’d never intended to be exclusive to any one platform. And I wasn’t thrilled with other things the company was doing.
 
But that year I also made the quarterfinals of a screenwriting contest. That was yet another thing I never thought would happen to me. So, I blogged about it. And a commenter who happened to be a script doctor said (in effect) that this was a good sign and it was the kind of thing that impressed agents and managers, etc.
 
So, at this point, I’m thinking, “You’re gonna write novels and screenplays? What are you, nuts? You can barely manage to peck out a novel once or twice a year.”
 
At some point, I decided why not? What did I have to lose? I’d nearly given up on books as a source of real income after a while.
 
Well, it only took a decade or so to get even halfway good at being a screenwriter. In other words, I expended a substantial amount of time and effort in the screenwriting process, and the community that’s out there. After a certain point, you know it’s about more than just the money.
 
And, as a result of concentrating on that, rather than book marketing, I’ve been able to engage in a number of interesting projects with supportive people who have boosted my confidence enough to keep me engaged in more than just writing. Through one group, I learned about an opportunity to have a short film produced by a local filmmaking studio and submitted a short script to them.
 
It wasn’t until I was on the first Zoom call with them that I discovered I would also be directing the movie. “Okay,” I thought. “Am I doing this?” And, the answer was, “Of course I am. When have I not wandered into situations where I’ve had no clue and figured things out as I went? Or screwed up, but was forgiven? Besides, these people will teach you what you need to know.”
 
That was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
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So, it was in 2025 that I wrote and directed my first short film with the help of Charm City Filmmakers in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s called “Absolution” and it’s about a priest hiding from a dark past which comes back to haunt him when a stranger comes to make a confession.
 
It’s in post-production and, I swear, it’s coming out. Eventually. Really. This year even.
 
My second short film is in pre-production.
 
Did I mention that during the time I was doing all that, I was working on a second series of mysteries? The Erica Jensen mystery series, to which I most recently added a third book, Past Imperfect. The series is about a female Marine veteran, who works as a “researcher” who aspires to get her private eye license, after weaning herself off opioids and managing her PTSD.
 
It’ll be out in print soon. I swear. Really.

* * * * * *
Connect with Debbi:

Website

Insta

YouTube

Substack

Patreon page



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This Series Finale Bows Out In Style

5/31/2026

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My 5-star ***** book review of The Cruel Sky, by Tony R Cox
The Cruel Sky marks the end of Tony R Cox’s superb ‘Simon Jardine Investigates’ series, while showing the beginning of the end for the golden age of newspapers.

The five previous books are set in the 1970s, and all feature Simon’s adventures as a young reporter on the Derby Evening Telegraph. By 1981, this final story sees him having his achieved his ambition of working for a national newspaper in London. But lovers of Cox’s unique mastery of Derbyshire nostalgia, heightened by vivid descriptions of numerous real locations, needn’t fret.

All the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and pubs, along with the villains and corruption of bygone Derbyshire, are still there, so once you turn the first page and read the opening sentence which is so typical of this renowned crime author: ‘The knocking was getting louder and ever more annoying,’ you’ll soon be rekindling your fix of everything that makes this whole series so memorable.
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Because, while Simon may now be making a name for himself in London, he’s soon on a train heading back up to Derbyshire to report about a light aircraft that’s crashed on the M1 motorway.

And then the cauldron spills over, with murder, mayhem, threats, and violence aplenty, all rattling along through Cox’s perfectly paced fine storytelling and biting dialogue. In between all that, of course, nostalgia weaves its way in, giving us a loving glimpse back into those days when Derbyshire had a respectable façade, but a richly contrasting underbelly.  
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As well as the old characters, we’re introduced to a fine array of new ones, including a truly evil villain, Andrija Novak. The way the author skilfully develops Novak’s personality and our perception of him, which then turns to a slow mental disintegration, makes The Cruel Sky all the more nerve-jangling.  
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The story drops hints that the old days of newspapers, famed for hacks crouching over large ancient typewriters, and the thunder and smell of the hot metal presses, are on the way out, bringing an end to the era that makes Simon’s adventures so wonderfully nostalgic.

My five-star ***** verdict: What’s that old adage – “Go out at the top of your game, leaving them wanting more”?   Tony R Cox has certainly done that with this poignant closure of Simon Jardine’s adventures.  
 

Purchase The Cruel Sky here

Connect with Tony R  Cox on Facebook
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Haven is Wren Willoughby’s Remarkable, Thoroughly Entertaining, First Novel

5/25/2026

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My 5-star ***** book review of Haven, by Wren Willoughby

Haven is an extraordinary debut novel from Wren Willoughby.

While many first books can often tell a good story, most aren’t particularly well written, as they tend to ignore so-called “writing rules.” Not that I gatekeep such snobbish rules – if it’s a good story and I’m entertained by it, I don’t judge the writing.

But my point with Haven, is that as well as telling a great story, it’s also spectacularly well written. It follows the “show, don’t tell” ethos, so beloved by traditional publishers, all the way through. Wren Willoughby effortlessly achieves this with a simple technique of all chapters being in the first person, alternating viewpoints between the two main characters, Jack and Willow, skilfully describing action, thoughts, and feelings from the perspective of each individuals – so we’re always seeing everything unfold through their eyes.
Willow Thornton is desperate to escape the clutches of an abusive relationship, but when her options run out, the only person who can help is her boss, Jack Lambert. With nowhere else to turn, Willow moves in with him, seeking refuge from a life that’s become too dangerous to endure.   

Jack has been quietly in love with Willow for years, but he’s never crossed the line – until now. When he opens his door to her, he has no idea of the dark secrets she’s hiding. But as the truth about her past begin to unfold, the tension between them grows, and Jack’s protective instincts shift them into something deeper, more passionate.

While Willow is able to trust Jack with her heart, her past isn’t finished with her yet. Threats linger over them both, and even the safety she’s found in Jack’s arms may not be enough to protect her from the chaos. Can Jack and Willow find happiness in each other, or will her past destroy the haven he’s offered?
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In places, the vivid descriptions of domestic abuse make for a difficult and unsettling read, but it’s all handled powerfully, responsibly, and sympathetically, with the author providing a number of trigger warnings at the front of the book.

The pace is perfect throughout, with a constant hint of menace not far below the surface, provided by Willow’s ex-partner Cain, which grows to a shattering climax.

Handling explicit sex scenes is another of Wren Willoughby’s professional triumphs. In many books, particularly debut novels, writers try to pull readers in with gratuitous sex content that is only there to titillate without driving the plot forward. In Haven, however, while extremely explicit, they’re also essential in helping us to understand Jack and Willow’s deeper feelings: a vital part of character development in this character-led novel.

My five-star ***** verdict: Wren Willoughby’s Haven would be a major success as any author’s third or fourth book – the fact that she’s created such a well-crafted, well-written, entertaining, novel as her first, is totally remarkable. 


Purchase Haven here

Wren Willoughby’s website


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Combat Grumpiness About the Government's Performance

5/2/2026

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Wouldn’t it be great if the UK Government made a bold move to combat the nation’s collective grumpiness about its performance, by unveiling its latest brainchild: the Joyful Optimism Yield (J.O.Y.) Agency.

Picture this: a grey Monday morning, rain pattering on your window, and your news feeds overflowing with stories about tax rises and the failing economy. Enter J.O.Y., a government initiative tasked with injecting positivity into every corner of British life.
From organising impromptu street tea parties to distributing free umbrellas with sunny slogans like “Keep Calm and Beam On,” J.O.Y could remind us that life’s not all doom and gloom.

They could even get me to front it. My first campaign would be to set up “Smile Booths” at railway stations, where commuters can grab a free biscuit and a joke to brighten their journey.

Then what about “Giggle Grants,” to fund local comedy nights, and a national “Compliment Day” to encourage kind words between strangers.

Critics will argue it’s a frivolous use of taxpayers’ money, but supporters will say J.O.Y.’s mission to foster community spirit is worth every penny.

And I’d tell the news media at our launch press conference: “A chuckle shared is a burden halved.” So, next time you’re stuck in a queue, look out for a J.O.Y. volunteer. They might just hand you a reason to smile.
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AI Can't (And Never Will) Write Good Books

4/1/2026

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My guest blogger today is Joe (JCM) Berne, a software developer who began studying neural networks and the philosophy of cognitive science in the 1990’s, when the discussion around artificial intelligence was blessedly theoretical.

In his spare time he writes fantasy and space opera novels, the best known of which is The Hybrid Helix, which answers the question you’ve been asking for years: “what if DBZ and DS9 had an MCU baby?” Yes, it’s funny but no, it’s not a comedy.
by JCM Berne
There is a lot of alarmist thinking around artificial intelligence (AI) and the way it will disrupt various industries, and while concern may be warranted in many cases, AI as we know it will never be able to write good fiction books, or even assist dramatically in writing them in generative functions (by this I just mean that AI tech may help us with spelling or grammar checking, but will never compose good prose from scratch, in response to a prompt).

The reason for this has nothing to do with the true cost of running AI or its environmental impact: it has to do with the technology itself.

AI are, at their core, digital simulations of a neural network. They ‘work’ by creating vast matrixes of numbers that can convert input to output - you put something in, and based on the values of those numbers, they output different things in response to those inputs.
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Those numbers, and the way they interact, aren’t planned out by programmers. We don’t start with the arrays - nobody sits down and figures out first what array of numbers will result in output that looks Shakespearean. Instead, they are derived by training the model.

What does that mean? Let’s look at a simple example.

Suppose you want an AI that’s good at predicting the next word in a sentence. You set up the array of numbers with some default, pull up a random sentence from the internet, feed it the beginning of that sentence, and have it guess the next word.

It will fail - and you know it failed, and you can tell it that it failed, because YOU KNOW the next word. You already have the sentence.

Repeat thousands or millions or billions of times.
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Each time, randomly tweak the matrix so the predictions come out differently, and favor the changes that result in the model making the ‘correct’ predictions. You’re not tweaking them intelligently - you do it randomly, and just re-run the simulation over and over again, (which you can do because these are computers, and they’re very, very fast).
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Over time, with enough numbers in those matrixes, you’ll get a matrix that is better and better at getting the ‘right’ answer.

How do we, or the AI, know the answer is ‘right’? Because we already have the sentence! We know, beforehand, when training, what the next word is.

​Now we can feed the AI the beginning of a brand new sentence, one not in its training set, and it will give us the next word - a ‘next word’ that is very likely to be ‘correct’ as long as that sentence is expressing things roughly similar to other sentences in the vast training set used to build the AI. 

This is important: if that sentence is conveying some new idea, is unlike the other sentences in the training set, if it’s original and interesting and thought-provoking, the AI will give you the wrong next word, because the AI only produces results based on its training set. It has no inner life, no understanding. It will never look at the beginning of a sentence and think of something new or innovative, because that’s not how it works. That’s not a matter of scale - faster processors and more training data won’t make the AI innovative, it will just it better and better at spitting out what it’s seen before.

Writing full paragraphs, chapters, or whole books is the same sort of thing. I bet AI could take an existing book and write something VERY SIMILAR pretty well. I bet, very soon, an AI will be able to do that with almost no editing required after the fact. Change the names, rewrite the sentences to similar sentences, that sort of thing - AIs are great at that.

And, if you hadn’t read the original book, you might think the AI had produced something wonderful (assuming the source book was itself very good). But it’s still just a plagiarism machine. It will have added nothing to the value of the original book, just created a new iteration of it.

If your prose is derivative, if your stories are derivative, if your books are formulaic, then yes, AI is a real threat. It’s going to be able to rehash and recombine what’s been done before faster and cheaper than a person.

But if you ask the AI to do something new, to innovate, to write something clever, it can’t. Not because it is incapable of randomly putting new words together (it can), but because it can’t ever know when those new word choices or those new structures are actually GOOD. It only ‘knows’ what’s typical, not what’s high quality.

You could certainly get an AI to spit out a thousand (or a million or a billion) weird sentences, but only a poet could tell which one(s) are weird AND good. That matrix of numbers can definitely tell you if the sentence is new and different from what’s in the training set, but it can’t tell you whether it’s different in a good way or just gibberish.

Now, a tool that can generate derivative, crappy books very quickly can seriously disrupt the marketplace. I’m not saying AI tools will have no impact on the world of publishing. But the way they are built means they can never produce a fresh, exciting new thing that will engage us.
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AI might kill bad pulp fiction, but it’s not going to replace good human writers.

JCM Berne website

Connect with JCM Berne on X
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Flight Safety on Time Travel Flights

3/12/2026

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​To commemorate the 10th anniversary of my time travel thriller, Timeshaft, being published this year, I thought I’d take a flight on ChronoAir, where they zip us through the centuries faster than you can say “paradox.”

I was particularly impressed with their flight safety card, to help us enjoy a smooth journey across time.
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“First, secure your temporal tether. Your wristband keeps you anchored to the present. Don’t fiddle with it, as nobody wants to be stuck debating philosophy with Socrates forever.

Before takeoff, stow all anachronistic items under your seat. That smartphone? A dead giveaway in 1347. Our timecraft is equipped with paradox-proofing, but don’t tempt fate by handing Cleopatra a vape pen.
Check your language settings; our universal translator ensures you won’t accidentally insult a medieval knight by calling him “dude.”

Emergency exits are located at each end of the timeline; they’ll pop you back to 2025, but you might smell like Victorian smog.

Should you encounter your past self, smile, wave, and move on. Engaging risks a temporal tantrum, and those are messier than a Renaissance feast.
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Finally, enjoy the view, whether it’s pyramids rising or flappers dancing, but keep your hands off the timeline. Souvenirs are limited to memories, and maybe a Roman coin, if you ask nicely. Thank you for choosing ChronoAir.  Now, buckle up and let’s make history. Literally.”

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Has Chris Vobe Created a New Set of Free Form Poetry Rules Here?

3/3/2026

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My 5* review of Twelve Valentines, by Chris Vobe
Free form, or free verse, poetry is increasingly popular nowadays, because it breaks all the rules of traditional poetry. Generally, I don’t like it, simply because I don’t understand it.  

I’m not overly keen on traditional poetry, either, if truth be told. With trad poetry we’re constantly searching for the poet’s one meaning in their verses.

Presumably the same is true of most free form poetry, too, is it? Is there a meaning in the apparently haphazard style of writing?

Well, in Chris Vobe’s eBook, Twelve Valentines, I didn’t have to go searching for his meanings. Because each of the 12 poems can mean whatever I want them to. In his introduction, the author says “Whatever you want it to be, it is. Whatever you take from it, is yours. Whatever it means to you, is real.”

So, why did I give Twelve Valentines five stars, if I don’t like free form? Because this is different. Very different. 
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And I discovered a reading technique that aided tremendously in understanding the unorthodox, but carefully selected, line breaks of sometimes just two or three words: and that was to read it aloud! This helped to find the natural flow, and fully appreciate the flexibility of the language, and, indeed, sometimes, its musicality.

This made me wonder whether Chris Vobe wasn’t just using free form to break the rules of traditional poetry, was he actually creating a new set of rules? I don’t know. But it worked for me, in that I understood the depth of feeling and emotion he successfully conveyed with ever-changing line-length and speech rhythm. Dynamic and expressive, and filled with imagery, this takes the reader on a stimulating journey that I would defy any traditional poetry to travel with such great and memorable effect.

The beauty of it is, that whenever each and every one of us arrives at the destination – namely the last page – we’ll have seen very different scenery along the way.
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For me, personally, I found that many individual lines, rather than the whole poems themselves, are haunting me after I closed the last page; lines such as these from Your Tears:

They fall without sound,
The way snow sometimes settles
On a grave that no one visits anymore.
Quietly, deliberately they come,
Carrying the small pieces
Of a life that almost was.

 
And these lines, from the final offering, The Last Word:

You are the melody that keeps arriving
After the song has ended,  
An after-image burned behind my lids
When I close my eyes and find you still there.  
My verdict:  5*


Purchase Twelve Valentines here

Connect with Chris Vobe on X

Connect with Chris Vobe on Facebook
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Another Timeless and Fun Story From Graham Hyman

3/3/2026

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My 5* review of Tug & Acorn, by Graham Hyman
Tug & Acorn is another charming young children’s tale from Graham Hyman, telling how a playful fox cub and mischievous squirrel strike up a friendship from unusual circumstances – namely when Tug the fox rescues squirrel Acorn who’d got stuck in a hole in a tree.

Overall, the easy-to-follow storytelling stimulates imagination and supports vocabulary development, with two wholly memorable and easily-relatable, adorable characters.

Illustrator Mike Halsall’s expressive pictures on the right-hand pages support and enhance the narrative and emotions of the story in a simple and effective way, capably enhancing the young reader’s enjoyment.

The words and images combine to keep the action moving along at a playful pace, which defines the book as both entertaining and educational, meaning that Tug & Acorn is likely to be demanded again and again by discerning youngsters at reading time.   
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I’d say Tug & Acorn is most suited for children aged two to around seven, as it’s perfect for read-aloud sessions which will help to develop listening skills and literacy.

Another timeless and fun story from Graham Hyman. 
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My verdict: 5*

Purchase Tug & Acorn here

Connect with Graham Hyman on Facebook

Graham Hyman’s website 
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Graceful Imagery, Spellbinding Work, Heart-on-the-Line Stuff

2/17/2026

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My guest blogger today is Sophie Lyon, with a review of Chris Vobe's latest ebook - a collection of 12 poems, entitled Twelve Valentines.

​Sophie lives with her husband, Martin, and their pet labrador Ronnie, in Cheshire. She has always enjoyed a lifelong love of reading, and recently invested in a Kindle to stop any further family rows about how much space her books are taking up!

Sophie is a teacher, and in her spare time enjoys yoga, long-distance walking, and finding new, previously unexplored coffee spots!

In Twelve Valentines, Chris Vobe surrenders To Honesty With A Deeply Affecting Collection

by Sophie Lyon
The one thing you can guarantee when it comes to Chris Vobe is that you never know what he's going to come out with next.

For months, his social media has teased a forthcoming novel – entitled The Birthday Party – then he goes and springs a surprise on his readers by dropping a new poetry collection unannounced.

I was braced for a novel on the same scale as The Water Tower (his absurdly ambitious five volume debut), full of pathos and mixed motivations, shock cliff-hangers and heart-stopping conversations.

​Instead, here I am, sobbing like a baby after turning the last page (well, via my Kindle, the collection is being released as an eBook only) on the final entry in this spellbinding work.
I've never wanted to scoop an author up and hug them before. Partly because I doubt they'd relish the experience all that much, but chiefly because I'm not usually so emotionally invested. This time, all my carefully practiced self-control went out of the window. Vobe's work is vivid, alive, and utterly heart-breaking; a complete surrender to honesty in a collection that more than holds its own in a crowded field.
 
Characteristically cryptic, Vobe has dropped very few hints about how exactly Twelve Valentines came to life. He revealed that he wrote the body of the work in early 2025, but held off on publishing it, believing for some time that it would never see the light of day at all. One of the entries was (to my disbelief) written, at least partly, at a Lancashire train station while Vobe was waiting for his journey home.

I don't know what it was about the quiet corner of a somewhat dilapidated town that led him to pen the lines “And I am left holding / The salt and silence / The unfinished sentences of us” in an entry titled “These Tears”, but where Vobe is concerned, there are no surprises anymore, only best guesses.
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There’s a short introduction which leaves the entire collection open to interpretation. There’s even (harking back to the format-stretching techniques of his last release) a verse in Morse code which, when translated, left me with more questions than answers!
 
Deftly avoiding platitudes (“It's a cliché to say you complete me,” he muses) before, on one occasion, doubling back (“The truth is wilder; I’m overflowing with you.”), Vobe is often at his most effective when he dips into a more sorrowful state (“I was never more than pieces before / A handful of habits, a ledger of hours”), but he's not afraid to dabble in the profound too (“Every heart is a clock that's cheating on time”). If this doesn't melt even the hardest of hearts, then I've lost all faith in the world. It’s a love letter in twelve parts, a form of easy conversation that opens a door and says “here I am”. I can't think of a more sincerely delivered reflection on love, sorrow and atonement. This is a declaration etched in perpetuity, a kind of eternal offering. As I told my husband (frankly and unflinchingly), if Vobe had written this about me, I think I might have had to marry him!
 
Often it's the simplicity that's startling. “Quiet” begins with a single-line verse, two words in length (“I'm sorry”) and ends with a question (“Will you let me in?”). “Loving You”, meanwhile, serves as a tender contemplation on what it means to cherish someone, to witness them at both their best and most vulnerable, where the subject's laughter lives “in the pocket of [my] ribcage / Like loose change [I] never want to spend”. Elsewhere, the “thunder of old grief” rolls out of an open window, while the “soft topography of half-closed eyes” is a country only his muse inhabits. He tells us this before diverting into a recollection about the pair making a cup of tea at 2am because “sleep lost the argument”. Here, the mundane and the extraordinary sit side-by-side, as Vobe steers us in a direction that allows his readers to lap up both in equal measure.
The little details really help to bring Vobe's writing to life; small near-irrelevances woven through the tapestry of his work, like a reference to still wearing pyjamas as he reads a text message early one Valentine's Day morning, or a dream he has about a couple traversing the crooked cobbles of Montmartre, the woman's hand slipped inside the pocket of her lover’s coat for no other reason than they “like the secret of it”.
 
The broader strokes aren't lost here either. The selection bows out with one of his most affecting pieces. It’s a typically emotional final flourish, filled with the familiar brand of heart-wrenching imagery that has long punctuated his work. “I was driftwood on the shoreline,” he says, in one of the few occasions he reverts to traditional rhyme, “Lost to shades of grey / Until your siren song, like a homeland beacon / Called my soul to stay.”
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The graceful imagery comes thick and fast at this point. The poem’s subject is told: “Your silhouette’s a sonnet”, while their laughter is “a holy hymn”. It’s the same blend of the spiritual and the serene that characterises the work of an author who once confessed he believes every story, in its own way, to be about “the search for God”.
 
I cried at this collection, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Vobe went for broke here. A swift, unannounced drop has given us perhaps his most intimate work. This is heart-on-the-line stuff, filled with the kind of sentiments it would be difficult to see anyone expressing through everyday conversation. In his last ‘full stop moment’, evoking Sade's 1992 hit, we're told “This is no ordinary love”. Touché.
 
Whoever the beneficiary of these twelve valentines is (he resolutely refused to tell me), I hope they hold on tight to him. I don't know if they'll ever read the collection they inspired, but I hope to heavens they do. So seldom is love expressed as authentically and painfully as this. (“Still, I am the same flawed sum / Of reason and bones and doubts” is an admission of fallibility, stealthily placed amid lines which showcase someone striving to be worthy).
 
Either way, my heart's breaking for him.
 
Yours should be too.


Purchase Twelve Valentines here

Connect with Chris Vobe's Facebook page here
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The Tithe Barn, Cosby - The Perfect Place For Breakfast

2/7/2026

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My breakfast review of The Tithe Barn, Cosby
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With breakfasts available from so many different types of outlet, it can be difficult to know where to go for the best ones.

Do you choose a garden centre, or perhaps a department store? Or, if you’re like me, you’ll opt for an establishment that focuses on food full time, and doesn’t just produce meals as a bolt-on.

For our breakfast experience, we went to The Tithe Barn, at Cosby, a Grade II listed restaurant and cafe, which dates back to the early 15th Century - circa 1450.
My Church Lite Breakfast comprised a perfectly-cooked rasher of bacon and Lincolnshire sausage, one hash brown, mushrooms, baked beans, tomatoes, eggs of my choice, and toast and butter.  Not being an egg-lover, I traded the eggs for a double portion of mushrooms.  
And then there’s the offering my companion selected – tasty and colourful crushed avocado served on toasted sourdough with houmous, topped with chilli roasted tomatoes and onions marinated in balsamic vinegar. 

Instead of standard tea and coffee, we opted for luxurious drinks to accompany our breakfast treat.  My frappé was a perfect blend of Vanilla, ice, milk and a shot of espresso, topped with fresh cream. Pure decadence in a glass.

My companion’s equally delicious Signature Hot Chocolate was served with marshmallows and an exceptionally generous helping of cream. 
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www.tithebarn.com
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Who's With Me On Creating The SOEBUIK Pressure Group?

1/27/2026

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For several years when I was an associate director with a Public Relations company, one of my clients manufactured PVCu window extrusions. It was a German company called Kömmerling.

At the time I had no idea what the two dots above the o were for. I knew they were called umlauts, but didn't know what they meant. I learned that an umlaut, usually on an o, u, or a, signified a missing letter, normally an e. So, in Kömmerling's case, the company name was really Koemmerling.

So, why don't we do away with the letter e altogether, and put an umlaut over the preceding letter? A simple additional key on our keyboards could insert the umlaut over any letter, just as the shift key does to make a capital.

English is quirky enough to take this in its stride. After all, a language that pronounces cough as coff, and plough as plow, has a head start in idiosyncrasy. As Homer Simpson would say: "D'oh." Or should that be "Dough?"

Who's with me on creating the SOEBUIK pressure group?

That's Scrap Overrated E Because Umlaut Is King. And if any clever Dick suggests the acronym should be SÖBUIK, I'll politely tell them where said umlaut can be not so delicately placed.

All this reminds me of the days when encyclopedia was written as encyclopaedia with the a and e joined up in some peculiar way. I think the widespread use of typewriter keyboards instead of pens finally did away with that eccentricity.
​
But this is different - SOEBUIK aficionados unite - may the force of the ö, ü and ä be with us.
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Fires Up Children’s Imagination, And Leaves Them With a Lasting Legacy

12/16/2025

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My 5***** review of The Imagination Tree, by Graham Hyman
Watching George, my two-year-old grandson, play, is a wonder to behold. Whether it’s with his cars, trains, football, farm set, or even driving his motorised truck around the kitchen island, his imagination is in top gear.

It just goes to show there really is no limit as to where imagination can take a child.

And popular children’s author Graham Hyman’s latest novel, The Imagination Tree, explores this fully.

Told over 39 pages, each one beautifully illustrated by Michael Halsall, the story rocks along in a more adventurous way than his previous books, which I suspect will also make it more attractive to older toddlers.

The postman gives our hero, Jack, some letters addressed to his favourite author, which he decides to deliver to her, as he feels they must be important.  
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​As his journey continues, the letters turn out to be magical, converting his bike into a sports car, then a camper van so he can sleep overnight, and even a speedboat to take him to his final destination. The neat and simple language used throughout is easy for little ears to understand, and for older children to read themselves, probably out loud, as this adventure really needs to be told aloud.
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As well as depicting each scene in tandem with the words carrying the plot along, the illustrations add another layer, by inviting the reader to point out bystanders such as badgers, squirrels, deer, foxes, cats, butterflies, hedgehogs, birds and rabbits.   As soon as each page is turned, George likes finding them before we continue the story.
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He frequently brings the book to me and asks me to read it to him: surely the finest accolade for any children’s author!

Through its engaging plot, highly-relatable main character, and a theme that easily resonates with its target audience, Graham Hyman has created a book which is not only entertaining, but also educational and impactful, with the reassuring and developmental long-lasting message that imagination is within you, and can take you anywhere. 
My rating: *****


Purchase The Imagination Tree here


Graham Hyman website
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A Modern-Day Aesop’s Fables

11/29/2025

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My 5* review of Welcome To The Zoo, by Paul Smith
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At first, I didn’t know what to make of this book, because I was confused as to who its target audience was.

The overview on Amazon claims it’s an anthology for all ages, and one review says it’s for kids between 6 and 12. But the language used, and sentence construction, along with the style and content of the 30 stories themselves, would indicate it’s aimed more towards older teenagers and young adults.

Apart from one story, they all follow the same five-chapter formula. Generally, Chapter One sets the scene and introduces the all-animal characters; Chapter Two expands on those, and develops the plotline; Chapters Three and Four provide the thrust of the action; with the final chapter often being more of an epilogue.
Once I’d finished the book and fully digested the stories, everything became clearer, and if the author set out to portray the beauty and diversity to be found in the world, and how harmony can overcome a variety of problems, he certainly succeeded.

Although the book is called Welcome To The Zoo, almost all the stories are actually set in the wilds of the jungle, and each one imparts an important moral about gender, religion, love, courage, friendship, inclusivity, and other emotionally heartwarming and educational messages.

In many ways, just as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is also known as A Modern Prometheus, this book could readily be seen as a modern Aesop’s Fables, with the animals portraying human behaviour which conveys a life lesson, in an entertaining and often humorous way.

Each of the 30 stories only takes a few moments to read, making this book perfect for a month of bedtimes.
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So, the big question – four or five stars? In my opinion, Welcome To The Zoo is a book to be savoured. A marathon rather than a sprint. Which is why I suggest just one story a day for a month. The formulaic style might be a bit too much for any more. But, if handled in this way, the human values portrayed in these delightful tales will be successfully drip-fed to your child, meriting the full five stars.

My verdict: *****

Purchase Welcome To The Zoo here

Connect with Paul Smith on X

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Cross Genres, as Horror and Sci-Fi Meet

11/3/2025

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My 4* review of The Van Helsing Resurgence, by Evelyn Chartres
The second book in Evelyn Chartres’ Clara Grey Adventures, takes place around 90 years after the first, but time is immaterial to Clara, who is an immortal angel, now fighting the good fight as an emissary of Heaven, against a variety of foes.

This story cuts across a couple of genres, as traditional horror mingles nicely with a sci-fi element.

The first couple of chapters set the scene with a trio of aliens before Clara puts in an appearance in Chapter Three. Coupling the aliens with altered realities, give a real sci-fi feel, combining with the vampire aspects.
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The author’s trademark touches of understated humour litter the book wonderfully, including some delicious asides, even during the action of battle, such as: “That’s going to bruise,” and “I’ve been hit harder by an eight-year-old girl,” which made me smile during those otherwise tense scenes.
But that almost became a parody of itself, with this line: ‘Before Clara could make a witty remark, a member of the pack pulled out his pistol and fired off a clip.’

A number of well-written erotic scenes creep in, and are tastefully done – but whether they’re vital to the story is a matter of opinion.  A penchant for euphemisms for parts of a woman’s body steered a scene between Clara and another main character, Elizabeth, to comedy instead of smut, to which it could otherwise have succumbed.
 
As with its predecessor, the word ‘alas’ features many times, but overall the author’s narrative voice isn’t as prevalent in this volume, giving the storytelling more show than tell, so we see much more of the action through the protagonists’ eyes and thoughts. I much prefer that, even if we do get more than one point of view in a scene sometimes.

The narrator’s voice was strong and assured, but perhaps utilised just a little too much, meaning there are several scenes which would have been better for readers to have been shown instead of being told. Hence, me docking a star.
 
My verdict: ****

Purchase The Van Helsing Resurgence here

Evelyn Chartres website

Connect with Evelyn Chartres on X
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Five Stars For Jesta, The King’s Hero

10/11/2025

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My 5***** review of Jesta Has Tea With The King, by Graham Hyman

There’s surely no higher accolade for a children’s book than youngsters asking for it to be read to them time and time again.

My two-year-old grandson, George, loves the original Jesta story, and was delighted to receive the second one in the series from author Graham Hyman, Jesta Has Tea With The King. George was captivated by the colourful,vibrant, and nicely-detailed illustrations, which make this book a real feast for young eyes while we oldies are imparting the words into little ears.

All of this author’s children’s stories are based on characters sharing Love, Peace, Happiness, Understanding, and Hope, through their words and deeds.   

The excitement builds in a very short time, which is essential in keeping young children interested right from the start – and just watch your child’s eyes sparkle when the excitement takes a new turn as Jesta is suddenly called upon to be a hero, And his kindness is rewarded by the King. 
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The interplay between Graham Hyman’s words and the accompanying pictures unfold the story page by page, but the illustrations go well beyond that, and can help with a child’s development in a fun way. For example, George loves me asking him to find the pink cushion, the purple lampshade, the blue trousers, the yellow buttons, the red shoes, the cups of tea, the cakes, and the King’s beard, etc., every time he has the story.  And that’s been a regular occurrence ever since we first put this paperback onto his bookshelf.

​So, five stars all round – for telling an enticing story with-easy-to-understand words, captivating illustrations, and seamlessly combining entertainment with education. Let’s hope the brace of Jesta books soon becomes a trilogy.

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My rating: *****

Purchase Jesta Has Tea With The King, here, from Amazon

Purchase Jesta Has Tea With The King, here, direct from the publishers, Austin Macauley

Graham Hyman website
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Paramount Skill in Communicating With Toddlers

10/4/2025

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My 5***** review of Findlay The Fox, by Graham Hyman
I was delighted to be given an advance pre-publication copy of Findlay The Fox, by its author, Graham Hyman.

The story of a young fox cub who’s growing up fast, and faces the independence of going out searching for food by himself, could be a psychological mirror to a toddler leaving the warmth, safety, and security of home, and settling into a childminder or nursery school.

It’s the fifth of this author’s children’s books that I’ve read, and like the others, I’m impressed by how he uses carefully chosen words crafted into meticulously-constructed short sentences to provide a learning experience disguised as a compelling and fun-to-read story.

Combining the message of staying safe, with giving the freedom to do something by yourself, the story weaves its way towards a satisfying finale of friendship and happiness, which all children will identify with.
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The author’s skill in communicating with toddlers is paramount here, as every child will be able to think of themselves as either Findlay, or the little boy, either through the words or simple pictures – or both – on the final double page spread.

All of this talented children’s author’s books feature characters sharing Love, Peace, Happiness, Understanding, and Hope, through their words and deeds, and Findlay The Fox is another five star offering in that series.   

My rating: *****

Graham Hyman website

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A Good Story, Well Told

9/29/2025

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My 4* review of The Van Helsing Paradox, by Evelyn Chartres


​This book has much to commend it to lovers of the horror genre.

The name Van Helsing in the title tells us immediately that vampires will feature heavily, even if the Van Helsing character himself doesn’t.

Finding herself in an orphanage at a young age in 1903, Clara Grey has early experiences with the supernatural, and becomes a member of the Tower, a religious order of creature-hunters who work outside the confines of the Church, countering such threats.

The excellent story is told in no-frills, straight-forward prose, a lot of which is where the author is the narrator, a powerful voice heard loud and clear, albeit with a fair amount of exposition.
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Everything becomes more meaningful when we’re shown what’s happening through Clara’s eyes, rather than being told by the narrator’s words. For me – other readers may disagree – the balance weighed a little too heavily in favour of the narrator, which is the sole reason I’ve docked a star, but this is just personal taste.

The underlying theme throughout, is the value of friendship and a true bond between the main characters, who are interesting and well-fleshed-out.

Spanning the decades from Clara’s childhood, through World War l, and her time spent as a flapper in the Roaring Twenties, to the epilogue in 2017 (yes, you’ve guessed it; Clara is immortal, but I didn’t see the reason for her immortality coming at all – nice work there from the author).

The whole plot weaves together well, and is hard-hitting, with a degree of humour thrown in to bring a smile amidst the chaos. Some unexpected characters make an appearance, such as the Greek Goddess Hecate, Saint Peter, and even the Angel Gabriel.

But as the book moves towards its end, we readily accept those mythical icons, and, indeed, begin to see that the hidden realm that lay beyond much of the storyline, is absolutely vital to this series of books.

Which all means that the ending ties everything neatly together, and sends Clara on her way to her next adventure.       

​A good story, well told.

My verdict: ****

Purchase The Van Helsing Paradox here

Evelyn Chartres' website

Connect with Evelyn Chartres on X

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Combined Learning With Entertainment

9/27/2025

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My 5***** review of Mohammed the Squirrel, by Graham Hyman

A delightful adventure story for toddlers, telling of Mohammed, a clever, but cheeky, squirrel, who becomes separated from his family, and sets out to find them.

Using well-written language which little ears will easily understand, author Graham Hyman’s 32-page tale combines adventure with emotion, which will have toddlers hanging on to every word.

All of this author’s children’s stories are based on characters sharing Love, Peace, Happiness, Understanding, and Hope, through their words and deeds. 
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Mohammed the Squirrel introduces toddlers to characters having a personal taste in food – Mohammed likes jammy dodger biscuits, but not the jam in the middle, as he finds it too sticky. And, horror of horrors, he doesn’t like chocolate biscuits!   
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At its heart, this little gem is all about kindness; the kindness shown by the little boy in giving Mohammed biscuits, and the kindness of the old couple who go on to give him, and later his whole family and many other squirrels, - even nicer ‘beautiful’ plain, crunchy, biscuits. And contrast this, with an unkind, grumpy, old man, who chases Mohammed away.

The book is also a study in patience and perseverance, showing that success comes if you keep working at it, as Mohammed tries again and again to get the old couple to understand he’s hungry.

While the story will appeal to young children’s sense of adventure, the bright, colourful, pictures will be as veritable a feast for their eyes, as the old couple’s biscuits are for Mohammed’s tummy.

A great combination of words and illustrations to combine learning with entertainment.

My rating: *****

Purchase Mohammed the Squirrel here

Graham Hyman website
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The Fun Never Ends!

9/20/2025

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My 5***** review of Jenny’s Pond,  by Graham Hyman
Author Graham Hyman uses gentle, easy-to-understand language in this heartwarming story which introduces young minds to the concept of the environment, as well as modern diversity and inclusiveness.

This is done in an entertaining manner, telling a lovely little story across 24 pages, which will both delight and excite toddlers.

All of this author’s children’s stories are based on characters sharing Love, Peace, Happiness, Understanding, and Hope, through their words and deeds.  

In Jenny’s Pond, Jenny loves going fishing at her local pond with her two Daddies, and watching all the little creatures swimming around. Wanting to know more about the biodiversity in the pond, leads to a trip to the local library, where Jenny learns about the fascinating creatures sharing the pond with the fish. 
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The beautiful pictures are a stunning accompaniment to the author’s wise, entertaining, and easy-to-understand words. A nice little ploy by the illustrator, who’s credited in the book only as Mike, shows Papa Lewis in the library, looking at two more of Graham Hyman’s wonderful children’s tales, Waldorf’s Sore Feet, and Mohammed The Squirrel, while Jenny finds books on rivers and ponds.  

Just as Jenny’s library books open her eyes to what creatures live in a pond, Jenny’s Pond shows toddlers the concept of learning about the world around them.    

The bright, vibrant pictures don’t only illustrate the story, but each one contains a lot of additional aspects that toddlers will love looking for with a little initial prompting, and encourage more learning through entertainment. For instance, can they spot the mouse sitting by its hole; can they find the  purple flowers;  can they see the boy sliding down the  banister and his Mum shouting at him from the top?
With Jenny’s Pond, the fun never ends!

My rating: *****

Purchase Jenny’s Pond here

Graham Hyman website
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    Author

    Stewart Bint is a novelist, magazine columnist and PR writer. 

    He lives with his wife, Sue, in Leicestershire in the UK, and has two children, Christopher and Charlotte, and a budgie called Sparky.

    Usually goes barefoot.

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