From 7th-9th August this year I’m going to be at Nine Worlds in London, the self-proclaimed ‘London Geekfest.’ I have never been to a convention before, ever. Why? Because from what I’ve seen, most of them in this country consist… Read moreNine Worlds, And What I Will Be Doing There

Last night I went to a Harry Potter birthday party, because I am definitely thirty-three years old. It was fancy dress but I didn’t have anything particularly school uniform-ish, so I improvised and went as an oversized house elf: I… Read moreHarry Parter Potty?

It’s been a busy week. Not necessarily due to the whole authoring thing, more because the day job is still a bit crazy. But there you go. Anyway, on Saturday 6th June, two days after DARK RUN was published, I… Read moreAdventures in Authorism (and Birmingham)

It’s actually happened. Yesterday my debut novel Dark Run officially went on sale (I say ‘officially’ because some people had got theirs a day or so early, not counting the ones who received one courtesy of the box of freebies… Read moreMike Brooks, Sci-Fi NOVELIST

I was a scout actually, right through from Beaver to Venture. I think they’ve changed that nowadays and have strange, new-fangled delineations. Piffle, I say, piffle. But this blog post isn’t actually about scouting, it is in fact a brief… Read moreScout’s Honour

This past weekend I went to London for four days. It was a very welcome break anyway, as the day job has been somewhat frenetic of late, but quite apart from that I was there to celebrate my wedding anniversary…. Read moreA weekend away

In a development that has come as something of a surprise to me, I have been asked to appear at Forbidden Planet in Birmingham (see my brand new ‘Events’ page, which I honestly wasn’t expecting to need yet). It’s on… Read moreWatch out, Birmingham! (and London)

On Thursday 7th May, and over into Friday 8th, the UK made what I can only consider to be a very, very bad mistake by voting in a Conservative majority government. I’m aware it’s probably not good business sense to… Read moreReflections and Reviews

Randomly paraphrasing Lord of the Rings for the win. So today I came back from giving talks on criminal justice to fifteen year-olds all day (don’t ask) and found this beauteous thing waiting for me: I have, in my hands, a… Read moreAi ai! A book-rog! A book-rog has come!

When I’m not working, writing, playing in my band, clubbing, DJing, wargaming or providing a comfy resting place for cats, I sometimes go walking. This is usually in the Peak District, and it was to there that my wife and… Read moreDovedale, Wolfscote Dale, Beresford Dale