Words on a Page

Richard Salsbury is a novelist and award-winning short story writer based in the south of England. His work has appeared in   Artificium ,   Flash Fiction Magazine ,   World Wide Writers ,   Portsmouth News , the   FairlightBooks   website and on BBC Radio. He is an editor and website designer for environmental writing project   Pens of the Earth . He also plays the guitar and brews his own beer. Loree: Richard, welcome back to my blog, and congratulations on the publication of your second novel. Richard: Thank you. It’s good to be back. Loree: Both of your books deal with some pretty weighty subjects – Mute was all about threats posed by Big Tech and toxic masculinity. And Gifts of Anger is about … what exactly? Extrajudicial justice? Or possibly a comment on the criminal justice system? Richard: I would say it’s about the difference between legality and morality. The desire to do something significant in a world where power is vested in the few....

 I took a break from this blog during 2024, and now I find that we’re already a quarter of the way through 2025. So, I thought it was time for a check in. During the time I've been away I haven't been sitting back twiddling my thumbs. Instead, I’ve been busy organising book markets for the Portsmouth Authors Collective, presenting our weekly Book Club on VictoryOnline.com and, more importantly, finishing up my ‘big’ novel. More on that later. Now though, I'll share a few photos from our fabulous PAC markets and from our monthly Speak Volumes evenings. Speak volumes, which takes place at The Hideaway, a friendly local café in Southsea, is where we get together to read from and share news about our current writing. It's a great way for PAC members to gain confidence reading to the public and talking about their books, and each month we welcome new members and hear new stories. Christine Lawrence, Derek Nudd and me with a table full of books by local authors Dave Flint, ...