The Language Of Olive Oil: A Personal History

MikeachimItaly7 Comments

Ready?

Bite.

Your first few seconds inside a dolmadaki are all-important: it’s the home of that first intense pop of freshness, a blast of rice, mint, lemon juice, pine nut and whatever else has been added to the mix. It’s probably best to ram the whole oily parcel in your mouth before you bite down, unless you’re tackling the larger variety, the spring roll sized dolmades…

In which case you spear it with a fork or pick it up ‘twixt fingers, and bite it in half – and olive oil runs down your chin, every damn time.Read More

Freelance Writing: Don’t Do These 5 Things

MikeachimWriting6 Comments

Last year I wrote a couple of posts about what I’d learned so far about being a freelance writer.

As expected, the one where I listed my faults got more traffic than the one where I paraded my triumphs (perhaps my “I’m a klutz” personal branding thing is proving a little too successful). But it was a fun exercise, and it was good to find out what I thought I was doing.

A year later, I have a few other points to make – for freelance writers in particular, but also for anyone attempting anything creative.

Whatever you’re doing with your life, I suggest you don’t do these things.Read More

Ghost Town, Halfway Home

MikeachimEngland9 Comments

He points the gun in my face.

I’ve no idea how to react. I fall backwards on the grass, not because I’m scared (it’s all too sudden for that), but because falling over is about the only thing I can think of doing. Down on the ground, it occurs to me that if this was a movie, I’d now be in prime position to kick his legs away – but I just sit and look at the gun pointed in my face. It’s an unscratched silver revolver – I don’t know my guns so I don’t know the make. Like all real guns, it doesn’t look real. I later discover it’s loaded.

Read More

How To Fight Crime With Crap

MikeachimTravel13 Comments

My rucksack top is open. I didn’t leave it that way, so…someone else has.

They’ve pulled my bag under the chair I’ve been sitting on, and they’ve opened it. Mere curiosity? Alas – my travel wallet is gone, along with my passport, EastJet boarding pass and credit cards.

I slump against a wall. I have 5 hours before my plane leaves.

Ah, travel.Read More

Where The Shadows Lie: 3 Fantasy Authors For Fans Of “A Game Of Thrones”

MikeachimLiterature12 Comments

So, HBO’s Game of Thrones…

Politics, sex, treachery, violence, more sex, more politics, urinating off the edge of the world, intrigue, betrayal, Sean Bean dead yet again, yet more sex, and then a lovely sexual torture scene to round things off. (Look, are you sure there was this much sex in A Game Of Thrones, because…? Well, yeah).Read More