Mark My Words – December 2025
A Curate’s Egg – and Then Some!
Dear Friends, New and Old,
The first quarter of the year was pretty much wiped out by my encounter with prostate cancer. I’ve gone on about that quite enough already (although I will be talking about it on Substack, see below), so I’ll just say what a boost it was to appear in print twice in quick succession soon after my op – first in issue 11 of Friends on the Shelf magazine with my chronicle of transition from Punk to New Romantic, and then almost simultaneously in Longtimber Tales, an anthology of stories from Devon with my prize-winning tale If You Go Down to the Woods.
It was so good to then have a pretty healthy and active summer doing lots of events and readings, mostly down in the South West. I felt really blessed to be back on the road. Thank you particularly Grace at Fresh Fiction, David and Pippa at Word Kitchen and the two Elaines at Read With Yeovil.
The year has finished on a high note with work in two more publications; I have two poems in the Dialect Writers anthology, Notes from the Edge, and a short story in Beach Hut, a story collection helping to raise funds for the Seaful marine charity. Funny how they’ve come along in pairs! I have all these books available if anyone would like a signed (or not!) copy. Now I’m trying to finish off one novel, start another one, and work on a short story collection. As if that won’t keep me busy enough next year, the calendar is already filling up with readings and Lit Fest appearances.
Thank you everyone who has supported me through what has undoubtedly been a challenging year, especially the first half of it. I really do feel that I have come out stronger, both as a person and as a writer, and that is undoubtedly partly due to the support I’ve had from the writing and reading communities. I am very grateful.
Bring on 2026!
Wild Words
The launch of Wild Words in Ashburton on the edge of Dartmoor was amazing. I admit, when I first arrived I was unsure if it was going to have been worth the trip on a typically damp and cold moorland night, as camping-style chairs were being unfurled into a relatively confined space at the Field System gallery, but when the readings began a powerful aura of magical nature imbued the room. The standard of reading and performance was exceptional, and I felt privileged to be there, let alone be reading my work.
You can read the Wild Words digital magazine on the Dartmoor Preservation Association’s website here, or if you’d like to sit back and relax and be read to, the DPA has posted on their YouTube channel another South West writer Victoria Regan reading my piece ‘Scatter’ in situ at Sheep’s Tor (pic above). Wild Words: Scatter by Mark Blackburn read by Victoria Regan She does so brilliantly, thank you Victoria.
Prostate Substack
This newsletter coincides with the start of my daily Substack column recounting my prostate cancer experience. You can read my first entry here: Mark Blackburn | Substack and then relive my journey daily through diagnosis, treatment and recovery. I say recovery – I have my next PSA test over the Christmas/New Year break, as I do every three months, but so far they’ve all been clear. Long may that continue!
Book Review – Things Don’t Break on Their Own, Sarah Easter Collins
I first met Sarah down on the South West writers’ circuit – I think we were both at an event hosted by the wonderful Read With Yeovil. She’s been very supportive of Final Approach, so it was only fair that I read her book. Sometimes, these things can get awkward, especially if you don’t actually like it! This definitely wasn’t the case here.
This novel surprises. Again and again. Reading the first chapter, Supper with friends, I thought I was in for a Sally Rooney-esque comedy of modern manners. But oh no. We’re quickly drawn back into the past, a shadowy and often cruel past, which then pervades the cosmopolitan contemporary lives of the characters.
To delve deeper into some of those surprises would risk spoilers, and I would not wish to do that, as this is a highly original novel where the tension genuinely builds as the book nears its conclusion. Looked at in isolation, some events might stretch credibility, but the calm authority and control which the author brings to bear in presenting these harrowing scenarios makes them all too believable.
There is certainly suspense in Things Don’t Break, but it isn’t necessarily a ‘suspense’ novel. It certainly is an examination of toxic masculinity, and the harm it causes to women and by extension wider society. Perhaps the novel does defy genre classification, but often the best writing does. It’s just a damn good book, and well worth reading.
Here’s a link:
Things Don’t Break On Their Own a book by Sarah Easter Collins – Bookshop.org UK
And Finally…
When you receive this, there might still just be time for you to order one of my books in time for Christmas, but hurry! All Brian the Bear books come with a lovely Brian Christmas card while for the older reader there’s also Final Approach together with a free ‘vintage’ aeroplane postcard!
All books can also be dedicated in whatever way you wish. Please do leave a review on Bookstore UK/Goodreads/Amazon or wherever you can if you read one of my books and like it – it makes a massive difference.
That’s all for now; you can view all my my work here.
markblackburn.co.uk 