19th Century
I never meant to write a novel
Today A Bear’s Diary is published as a hardback. It has been available as an ebook for a couple of months. It’s a shortish novel at 65,000 words, decorated with old engravings which give it [more…]
Articles by Tachybaptus
21st Century
Boris, how dare you?
Locking our people into subjugation, Ruining businesses throughout the nation, Stealing the future of a generation, Boris, how dare you? Carrie instructs him, he obeys with gladness, Plunging us into zero carbon madness, So we [more…]
21st Century
Fred and Doris
Doris said, ‘I heard on the BBC that us old folk are going to be confined to barracks because of that virus. They said it’s for our own safety,’ Doris was 83 and her husband [more…]
21st Century
Pandora’s Bug
How long ago it seems! But it is barely four years since I was a senior researcher at Porton Down, sitting on a shiny chair at a varnished desk and tapping the delicate keyboard of [more…]
21st Century
Kazoo Solo
with acknowledgements to Louis MacNeice’s ‘Bagpipe Music’ It’s no go Jeremy, it’s no go the commies, But all we’ve got is a dodgy deal served up to us by Boris. It’s no go the EU, [more…]
19th Century
When Popes Took Coke
The rise and fall of coca wine Coca leaves have been used as a stimulant in South America for over a thousand years, especially in the Andes to overcome the fatigue of living and working [more…]
Conservatives
Dead in a Ditch
You could have been the man who saved the day, And won renown and everlasting fame. Instead of that, you ducked and ran away: Ten years from now, no one will know your name. [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 30
September 3rd, 1811. I have been too much occupied to keep up my diary for several months. We have all been toiling on the improvement of the Bear Inn, which had fallen into some disrepair [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 29
June 9th, 1811. At sea once more, we discovered that two of our crew had deserted, preferring the fleshpots of New York to their homeland and what will certainly be a more than generous reward [more…]