Goodness, Amazon categories are odd ... #Spycraft finally appears in one - it's #33 in Historical biographies. Take out the kindles and audiobooks, mind, and it's #9. Hardback only, it's #4 ... Not bad for a Tuesday morning!

Off to see our agent in Soho. Expecting heroic levels of alcohol-fuelled debauchery. That’s what happens, right?

Listen to me talking about Arthur Gregory, aka the early modern Q ...

Today's (non-fiction) #FridayReads recommendation is Spycraft by Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman (As selected by the Sword Books team: "An intriuguing insight into the art of espionage.") Professor Nadine Akkerman Spycrafty

Spycraft Yale University Press London📚 opens with 'a superbly vivid account of the contents of the workshop of Walsingham’s “master artificer” Arthur Gregory’ as ‘expert guides’ Akkerman & Langman take the reader on a tour of espionage techniques- Jonathan Bate in The Telegraph telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…

Need a narrative accompaniment to the full English as you wonder whether failing to score Oasis tickets isn't actually a blessing? Well, it appears to be the weekend of the podcast! This time, we're talking with Al Zambone Albert Zambone of HistThink ... historicallythinking.org/episode-373-sp…

Next up in the 'everyday things that Parkinson's turns into a trial of will', I present you with 'duvet covers: insertion of duvet therein'. It's enough to drive a man to drink ...

Have I got this right ... one of Ticketmaster's explanations of its use of surge pricing is that it cuts down on ticket touts ... er, what? 'We saw how much money they were making and thought to ourselves, we'll have some of that!' ...

One of the (many) wildly irritating and debilitating aspects of Parkinson's is that intellectual graft seems to drain the body of dopamine, and thus control over movement, and is sooooo draining. Three and a half hours of bibliographising and I can barely walk ...

Ah, university payment portals for freelancers. Someone remind me next time to add an extra 5 hours for dicking around with their stupid systems and all the mental distress it causes. Or just process an invoice in the usual manner ...

'None of you is going home until I find out who stole my toad'. #Spycraft from Yale University Press London📚 is an 'apprenticeship in the arts of deception.. recipes for invisible ink and deadly poisons are included in an appendix, just in case’ Lucy Wooding London Review of Books lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/…

We are excited to announce the latest short story anthology from the Breakthrough Books collective, Elemental. From the ephemeral to the earth beneath our feet, seventeen authors explore 'the elements' through the form of the short story. Available September 26th.

Chuffed that #Spycraft , the Yale University Press London📚 I co-wrote with Spycrafty , got another amazing review ! 🥂🍾 This time in the @lrb no less! Apologies to Prof Lucy Wooding Lincoln College Oxford that the glow-in-the-dark cover & our uncanny attention to deadly poisons spooked her somewhat

#Spycraft - tonight! 👇

Not enough Spycraft in your life? Listen to us talking with the marvellous Jo on Jo Durrant's Beautiful Universe from this Wednesday!

Parkinson's demands good planning. My dopamine levels plummet and I go 'off' anything up to half an hour before my next dosage, and it can take an hour before I am back 'on'. That means that I am often non-functioning (if not actively sabotaged by my own body) for half the time.

For my followers living in the Netherlands: why not support a truly fantastic bookstore in Rotterdam, AND enjoy a deep dive into the world of early modern espionage? Come on, treat yourself, you know you want to …

Interesting feature on Parkinson's and appendicitis/the gut on BBC Radio 5 Live ...

Today, the OED gives you 'scoterloping' ...

Ooo, what's this? Another collection of stupendousness? How excellent ...