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I drink with ghosts - All Posts


No. 11 - The Case for the Explicit
Some of the many books I bought from Gay's The Word over the years. Growing up in a Saucy Postcard World The occasional sex scenes in my...
bluecity86
Feb 185 min read
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No. 10 - Bakelite Twilight
Rotary dial on a Bakelite telephone. An Uneasy Relationship During my childhood we had no telephone. I was led to believe that like taxis...
bluecity86
Feb 125 min read
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No. 9 - Sometimes it's good to be in a hole...
In the late 1980s, when I lived in Wood Green and worked at King’s Cross, the underground line I used most was the Piccadilly Line....
bluecity86
Feb 54 min read
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No. 8 - The Court of the Uncrowned King of Limehouse
Those who have read Until the Real Thing Comes Along and When Summer is Gone sometimes ask about Charlie Brown’s pub, which is heavily...
bluecity86
Jan 284 min read
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No. 7 - Addressing a Land of Promise
It is fortunate for me, that the era I choose to write about is well-covered by some wonderful documentary films, as the genre was really...
bluecity86
Jan 214 min read
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No. 6 - It's just a silent film after all.
To write about people in the 1920s and 1930s I attempt to immerse myself in the period as completely as I can. I listen to the music. I...
bluecity86
Jan 143 min read
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No. 5 - Fools Rush In...
When young people buy gifts of music for older people they often assume that if it’s from their era, then they’ll like it. My brother...
bluecity86
Jan 74 min read
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No. 4 - To See Ourselves...
My older brother Jos was writing books before I even started, having published several travel guides and articles. The real writer came...
bluecity86
Dec 24, 20244 min read
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No. 3 - Destination Cubitt Town
A few readers have been kind enough to comment that the London I have tried to recreate in the first two novels seems real - in the case...
bluecity86
Dec 5, 20243 min read
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No. 2 - People at the Edge of the Night
My second novel When Summer is Gone is published tomorrow, being the second part of The Likes of Us series covering the experiences of...
bluecity86
Nov 25, 20243 min read
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No. 1 - Fighting the Inner Curmudgeon
On social media, my eye is often drawn to old black and white images of familiar places, prompting a sense of nostalgia, often for a time...
bluecity86
Nov 7, 20243 min read
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