A review of two books, Courses for Horses and Frankel — I remember wet Easter school holiday afternoons when there wasn’t much to do other than sit in front of horseracing on TV. That was OK with me. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of watching horses and their jockeys galloping towards the winning line. And the race commentary is an…

Medium is already great but here are 10 suggestions to make it even better — I’m an evangelist for Medium. Its genius subscription model (one payment supports all) will prevail over the individualistic approaches of Substack, Patreon, YouTube et al. You can read more about why I think this here: Why Medium beats Substack and Patreon hands-down It’s all in the monthly costachuka.medium.com But I also acknowledge in that piece that:

The art of editing is like brass shining. It takes a dull, lifeless surface, marked with blemishes, and rubs it all up bright and clear. — When I was a boy I loved to sit at the kitchen table with a bottle of Brasso and various golden household objects in front of me. A couple of heart-shaped ashtrays, a domed tin that contained old keys and other mysterious bits and bobs, a pair of candlesticks, and…

Claud could not sleep. He felt Lindsay had taken his announcement as an affront to her hospitality. 71 It was late when Claud and Lindsay got in from the music gig. Lindsay poured them both a glass and nodded toward the balcony. “Put that down over there.” Claud had been…

Chapters 61–70 — This is a novel in progress, being posted chapter by chapter and in occasional weekend omnibus collections. Here is the seventh such collection (Chapters 51–60). If you haven’t been reading from the beginning, begin with the first 10 chapters: Chapters 1–10 #61 Jamie rang Yulia immediately after the meeting in…

Tina took one look at what her mother had decided to wear and said, with a big grin on her face, “I remember where you wore that last.” — #70 Arabella and Tina were having a particularly busy Saturday at the cafe. They had both been rushed off their feet since opening. “Sit down for a bit mum, you look shattered.” “I’m fine. Honestly.” “We’d sold the last of those delzina in the first hour today.”

But has another episode of knocking things flying — #69 Claud didn’t know how long he had been asleep. His eyes were still closed and he could hear two indistinct female voices. Probably someone from the parish W.I. updating his mother on the latest marital split. He reached out with his arms. That was odd. His bed wasn’t this…

She visits the island’s main tourist attraction and has an unpleasant cab ride en route. — #68 Amalia had taken a day off from doing field research. She had slept in late, missing breakfast, then spent the rest of the morning slathering on body butter and generally giving herself the personal spa treatment. The companion she had been on the island with the previous year had…

It is all a bit too much for him! — #67 Sharna clapped her hands. “Now…” She took a pen from a hip pocket, grabbed a cardboard drinks mat and began writing. “Yvonne would like to see you.” “She has mended the sunglasses?” Sharna clicked the pen and put it back in her pocket, standing up straight and offering Claud…