Scrivener Tip – progress at a glance

Scrivener's Project Targets tool is great for keeping an eye on word count, especially if you're writing something to a prescribed length. On a Mac, to set your targets and check progress call up the Project Targets window using SHFT+CMD+T. However, you can also get an idea of your progress as you write with a … Continue reading Scrivener Tip – progress at a glance →

Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week – Graeae’s Midwich Cuckoos

Graeae's Midwich Cuckoos is a fresh take on a science fiction classic: the English village of the title has a "day out", following which all the women of child-bearing age mysteriously become pregnant, with the resulting infants developing at an unnatural rate and demonstrating mysterious powers. She makes me do things. Do things? With her eyes. … Continue reading Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week – Graeae’s Midwich Cuckoos →

Mart’s Movie of the Month – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool

When I first heard about this film on The Jonathan Ross Show I was a bit meh. I mean, it's a romance innit. But Mrs S was keen, so off we went. Now, having seen it this afternoon, I can safely say Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool is everything a movie should be: great … Continue reading Mart’s Movie of the Month – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool →

Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week – A Badge, written and directed by Tony Pitts

When I learned another play by Tony Pitts was due for broadcast I knew it would be a belter. His previous plays Pact and Monster were incredible: the former, the darkest radio play I've ever heard; the latter, a skilful examination of the secrets lurking behind so many ordinary front doors. Written in Pitts’ unique, … Continue reading Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week – A Badge, written and directed by Tony Pitts →

Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week (x2) – Tommies, and Home Front

BBC Radio 4's World War One drama series are back on air this week, with 45-minute episodes of Tommies on both Friday and Saturday, and Home Front returning to the lads and lasses in Tynemouth. The characters in both series continue to develop as a result of the ongoing conflict. In Tommies, Captain Mickey Bliss is … Continue reading Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week (x2) – Tommies, and Home Front →

Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week: Velvet Blackout by Vincent O’Connell

Vincent O'Connell's Velvet Blackout, directed by Marc Beeby, is an unusual drama set during World War Two London. In 1942 a young woman with amnesia is pulled from a bombed building. A doctor and a policeman think she may know something vital to the British war effort - and they use some unorthodox techniques to … Continue reading Mart’s Radio Highlight of the Week: Velvet Blackout by Vincent O’Connell →

Trans-Europe Express: A Break in Bruges

My wife and I recently took a short break in Bruges. (It's in Belgium.) A wedding anniversary treat. We travelled on the Eurostar from St Pancras to Brussels. This was partly because Mrs S is a nervous flyer, and partly for reasons of cost. We both had reservations about the subaquatic rail tunnel, but the … Continue reading Trans-Europe Express: A Break in Bruges →