Such a great book and that moment... I still remember going cold all over and that is the power of exquisite timing inside exquisite story-telling.

Anecdotal 'Elemental' positive out-in-the-wild news for you... Old gent opposite me on a train was reading it so I asked him what he thought. 'Well,' he said. 'I saw it in Foyles and it looked interesting so I bought it. I've read chapter one and I am captivated.'

This is the round up on the insanity that you need for your sanity.

The Iron Code Original Stories in Honour of David Gemmell.

The Iron Code - an anthology edited by Ian Whates, is a tribute to the late, great and much missed David Gemmell. The list of contributing authors is stellar and the kick starter has gone live today! Please back it, it's going to be very special...

www.kickstarter.com/projects/igw...

I feel this is a very important article. The vulnerability of our food chain is shocking. I've always been a bit of a prepper but I do think that if you can afford to keep a week (at least) of shelf-stable food in your house, you should. And maybe some more for those that can't...

.@thenotoriousguy.bsky.social I think it's probably time to have another listen to The Fall... Guardian reporting this morning on our vulnerability to a food crisis in the even of conflict. Those wise words of yours and JPs to keep a week of shelf-stable food in the house ring truer every day.

I mean, are you bored of being right all the time, Al? I know I am.

I am also an expert on world energy supply and prices, security in the Strait of Hormuz and how easy it is to achieve unconditional surrender while having no troops on the ground.

A typically incisive analysis laying bare the moral vacuum and wilful ignorance at the heart of the discourse on Iran.

More and more we need people like @iandunt.bsky.social and @mrjamesob.bsky.social to provide some balance to counter the unending insane drumbeat of right wing voices. @lbc.co.uk

I think you'll find, Guy, that further warming the planet by drilling out the North Sea, then buying that energy on the international markets because, y'know, Thatcher, is actually the better play here. Kemi Badenoch said so (well, except the Thatcher bit).

Obviously listening to Simon Marks live on James O'Brien's show is the correct way to go but if you haven't come across him before, Simon's analysis is brilliant every single time. Should be compulsory to hear it.

I’m really happy for ex-Tory aid James Price that he has such a nice relationship with his American mother-in-law…

but frankly I don’t think that’s enough for us to be unquestioningly following Donald Trump’s America into another illegal war🤷‍♀️

It is a mystery that will never be solved.

This is excellent timing. As it happens, my birthday is on the 15th. Not expecting you to but me a copy, Arthur (although...), there are more likely candidates.

Essentially labelling the Greens as extreme left does not just signify a complete ignorance of their broad policy platform but it crystallises exactly why Labour is haemorrhaging support leftwards while they chase Reform votes they will never win. A baffling strategy.

The correct space to inhabit.

Genuinely offensive too. And he wonders why progressive votes elude him...

This is the bit that drives me nuts. I presume it was a McSweeney policy but how they couldn't see that chasing after racists would alienate their core and, beyond that, any progressive left-leaning voter is completely baffling.

Anyway, how are you, Nick? Well, I trust.

Astounding, definitely. Deranged and deluded, certainly. Dangerous and divisive, without a shadow of a doubt.

I think it's very encouraging that Goodwin, Farage, and the Daily Telegraph, to name but three, have taken the result with such grace and humility.

JFC, the state of these headlines.

Rob Grant's death has hit hard. He was a lovely man, an incredible writing talent, a good friend and the purveyor of sound advice.

When I first met him, I asked him advice on how to cope with going full time as an author.

'Get dressed in the morning,' he said.

Very wise words.

RIP mate.

Listened to this fascinating piece on the dog walk this morning. Another great policy subverted by right wing nutjobs. What fascinates me is how the nutters manage to persuade anyone that if you live in, say, Kingston, you won't be allowed to drive to Richmond. The logical fallacies are endless.

These people are poison. They will unleash racist thugs on the streets of this country and call it security. They will subjugate us to the US and call it patriotism. They must be stopped. There is no more important task in politics.

Well, I saw a bird today
Flying from a bush
And the wind blew it away.
And the black-eyed mother sun
Scorched the butterfly at play
Velvet-veined, I saw it burn.
With a wintry storm-blown sigh,
A silver cloud blew right on by.
And, taking in the morning
I sang, O Requiem.

Jethro Tull, Requiem.

When I'm imagining a fight for a novel, you need to know these are EXACTLY the images rattling around in my head.

That's kind, thank you. Dave was such a lovely man and a peerless mentor. I still miss him, still want to run passages and ideas past him.

Yes, tragically, it's me, jawing on for ages. On the other hand, Nasrullah is a lovely human being.

This was such fun to do. Watch. You know you want to.

I listened to this on my dog walk this morning and it is horrifying.

Brilliant but horrifying.

Honestly, I can't believe that RJ Dark bloke is given house room at all. WHOEVER HE IS.