An Author's Scrapbook

Just the odds and ends of a writer's life

[tykewriter]

Recently started work on my latest novel, Forever Mercy. To mark the occasion, I thought I'd share the draft of the first chapter. Enjoy…

All Gothed Up, With Nowhere to Go

Novel: Forever Mercy, Draft Chapter 1

[tykewriter]

A vinyl record made with coal dust pays tribute to Britain's mining heritage, but it also invokes a warning for the future if technological disruption excludes those at today's 'coal face' of change...

When vinyl speaks the chronicles of carbon

A vinyl record made with coal dust pays homage to Britain's mining past, but it also serves to focus minds on our carbon future

[tykewriter]

Something from the archives this week. Experts at Cambridge University warned that AI risks denying people of colour a presence in our imagined world of tomorrow...

The colour of AI

From the archive: Experts have warned artificial intelligence threatens to 'ethnically cleanse' humanity's vision of the future

[tykewriter]

What's in your loft? Probably nothing quite so kitschy or fascinating as what a Leeds museum found when trawling its storage space. Read the latest post on my author newsletter...

Guarding the home forge with kittens in cranes

A Leeds museum has unearthed some quaint but adorable artifacts in its archives, revelling in the city's industrial and commercial past

[tykewriter]

A little creative essaying from the deep archives in this latest post on my author newsletter...

Hunters of the untamed idea

Something from the deep archives, with an unashamedly idealistic venture into the meta-realms of creative writing

[tykewriter]

If you're looking for some hard-hitting near-future scifi with a contemporary edge, then check out Citizen Zero...

Find out more on my website: https://tykewriter.wordpress.com/novels/citizen-zero-novel/

[tykewriter]

A new tool is helping libraries screen historic collections to identity green coloured books that contain toxic arsenic. Read the story on my author newsletter...

Some books are just toxic

But it's not necessarily the content that makes you sick

[tykewriter]

Ilkley Literary Festival marks 52 years of celebrating great literature with a focus on 'soft power' and the soul of Northern poetry. Read the story on my author newsletter...

There's nothing soft about Northern literary power

Ilkley Literature Festival explores 'soft power' and the North's poetic spirit

[tykewriter]

This week's post on my author newsletter is a short story culled from my archives. Hope you enjoy it...

Sinners in Streaming Video

Why burn books when you can incinerate the minds that make them?

[tykewriter]

Scientists are 'fleshing' out the next stage of robot evolution by exploring the potential of lab-grown muscles, but will this bio-breakthrough cramp their style?

Machines made flesh

Robots may one day move with muscular grace, thanks to lab-grown tissue, but will these 'bio-bots' be plagued by cramps?

[tykewriter]

A tiny Saxon cross unearthed in a Leeds field is telling a story about the city's early medieval past. Read the latest piece on my author newsletter...

We've all got a cross to bear

But sometimes it's a treasure, like the 8th Century Saxon pendant unearthed in a Leeds field

[tykewriter]

It wouldn't be Whitby without vampires, so as the town prepares to host its very first literary festival has it made room for these creatures of the night? Read the latest story on my author newsletter...

Vampires can't partake without an invitation

Whitby hosts its very first literary festival later this year

[tykewriter]

Welcome to the world-sprawling city of Terapolis. Its architecture is alien, its skyscrapers are themselves living things, and in this macabre megapolis the epilogue to humanity's story is drawing to a close...

Under a sky of urban blight

Silas Morlock: Starved of starlight, Oscar Wilde would hate this city of broken dreams

[tykewriter]

Scientists propose a toothpaste made from hair could provide a more effective and long-lasting fix for enamel loss. Read the latest story on my author newsletter...

A visit to the dentist just got even hairer...

Dental scientists have proposed repairing teeth with human hair

[tykewriter]

Developers and academics are working on a new computer game intended to change our attitudes to plastic and reduce the material's impact on the environment.

Play the game to save the planet

A new computer game aims to tackle plastic pollution

[tykewriter]

It’s all about the social connection

Social reading has met social housing, with the latter offering a Liverpool charity funding support to pursue its goal of furthering culture

[tykewriter]

An avid reader of science fiction he may be, but when it comes to being a writer, Mark Cantrell is not so sure he's earned his place among the genre's stargazers...

"That sounds like science fiction"

An avid reader of science fiction he may be, but when it comes to being a writer, Mark Cantrell is not so sure he's earned his place among t