Lynx
Cool Reads
A superb sight, run by fans of children’s books for fans of children’s books – or indeed any kind of fiction. Easy to use, extremely well designed and full of reviews that tell you what actual readers think. The way the reviews try to follow a set format gives them the edge over Amazon reviews (although it can be restrictive in some cases). Generally the reviews give you a very good idea about whether you’ll like a book or not (though you do see the occasional undisputed classic given a three-star rating!). But that’s a great thing about the internet – people telling you what they think, not what they ought to think.
Jackie Morris
Breathtaking children's picture books and other wonderful art, often with a faintly mystical, dreamlike atmosphere about it. Highly recommended.
www.myspace.com/croftville
Croftville is the source of the music on my homepage, and of the track 'The Light on the Loch' on my Glimpses page. Croftville is my friend Alan Cumming (not the actor) who makes wonderfully atmospheric guitar music for next to no money at all. Alan also gets to read my stuff before most other people.
Bjorn Lynne
An independent musician with a surprisingly large fanbase, considering he produces and sells all his albums himself. His day job is writing music for computer games (‘Worms’ and its sequels being a famous example). His ‘real’ music is even better, ranging from dance and trance to epic, melodic soundscapes that sound like no-one else. He’s even written a soundtrack to a trilogy of fantasy novels. I live in hope that someday he’ll do one of mine. It’s a great idea: books with music.
Bjorn also has a great site HERE if you're into really cool sound effects...
Porcupine Tree
The best band you’ve never heard of. Maybe. I put them in here in the hope that a few more people will discover them. They’ve changed over the years: when I first went to see them, they were playing a sort of ambient rock that made you drift off in a trance, before waking you up with a mind-blowing guitar solo. These days they tend to sound a bit like Radiohead (but less gloomy) and have got louder. Most often compared to mid-period Pink Floyd.
Battersea dogs’ and cats’ home
Yes, they do rehome cats as well, though this has been one of their best-kept secrets. My own cat Red came from there – in fact he was sent there twice, being a bit of a thug. Cats and dogs can stay there as long as they need to, and even if they’re hard to re-home they’re never put down, so long as they’re healthy. You can go to Battersea and just look around – but be warned, it’s hard to leave empty-handed.
