Journalist, author and Star Wars fan.
If, as Churchill proclaimed, “history is written by the victors” then any account accepted by a cultural majority is a prescribed and biased narrative. Individual accounts of the same events rarely align, but on the national scale this becomes much more sinister. Taking charge of an information stream […]
When Elisabeth and I get married next month, we’ll have been together seven years. We met as teenagers at university, where we were both studying creative writing, and now our daughter is almost a year old. But, if I’m honest, we didn’t have all that much in common […]
It’s become a yearly tradition in the build up to the release of a new Star Wars movie that leaked snippets and set images will find their way online for fans to analyse, pick apart and otherwise salivate over. As we inch closer to Episode IX – and […]
Since that first viewing of The Last Jedi in theatres, I’ve had no doubt the title for Episode IX will be Spark of Hope. Not only does any prospective title need to inspire optimism, being the end of a new trilogy, but also imply a fitting end to […]
Recently watching Rogue One, I was struck by its style and storytelling chops as if it was the first time but then its deeper themes and devices become more apparent to me than they ever had before. I tweeted as much at the time and while the replies […]
Parting with all possessions that don’t spark a sense of joy is the quintessence of Marie Kondo’s career, a Japanese author and consultant who has taken the western world by storm with her self-styled ‘KonMari’ method. Drawing from the tenants of mindfulness and eastern […]
There’s a lot to look forward to when your baby starts walking but, I confess, one of the things I’ve most been looking forward to is being able to quote Obi Wan from Rey’s vision in The Force Awakens. So, without further ado, I can finally say: “These […]
Since starting Raising a Rebel some ten months ago to coincide with the birth of my daughter, I’ve integrated myself into the Star Wars community like never before. While I’ve always had a special place in my heart for this fairy tale family saga, my interaction as a […]
Documentaries, interviews and opinion pieces capturing a slice of Star Wars fandom tend to have one thing in common – showcasing that first crop of fans from 1977. This, we’re led to believe, is the golden generation, fandom’s year zero, and with it comes a kind of superiority, […]
Being a parent is a learning curve, a slow study in how to look after a vulnerable little person. As they begin to crawl, climb and stand, the home becomes its own obstacle course with accidents lurking at every turn. It’s like living in a trash compactor with […]
