The fire and the pen

Friday 7 February 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye The blank page is cold before the writer’s touch, a winter’s field before the kindling of thought. But then — ah, then! — the first spark, the strike of flint against stone, and a small ember glows in the mind’s cavern. A phrase, a character, a scene — it… Continue reading The fire and the pen

Canada Slim and the Elastic Novice

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 17 September 2019 Damn that man! One man’s writings has had and continue to have a major effect on my life and this has been reflected in my travels and I have already spoken of the man previously in this blog.   Above: Charles Dickens, New York, 1867   (Please see Canada… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Elastic Novice

Canada Slim and the Outcast

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 13 November 2017 Maybe it´s the endless days of grey skies outside or being restless with being confined indoors by illness that has got me feeling morbid of late. Perhaps my ghastly mood has been affected by the topics I have written about recently: ghosts and corpses on the London Tube (Canada Slim Underground) and the… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Outcast

Canada Slim and the Dickensian Moment

Two days ago my hosts in England and I did a very English thing… We visited the Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum, at 393 Old Commercial Road, in Portsmouth. “He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His work enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Dickensian Moment