Saturday, August 01, 2026
The Biscuit Thief
It's a speculative romp through an ironic version of the 1970s, complete with adventures in both time and space, not to forget the ghostly dimension. To celebrate the publication, I went on a hike from Aberdyfi to Machynlleth over the hills. I took a detour to Llyn Barfog, where King Arthur's horse, Llamrei, supposedly fought the Afanc, a lake monster... But this has absolutely nothing to do with my novel.
The Biscuit Thief is a robust farce, a comedic fantasy. If any book I have written is going to get me 'cancelled' it will be this one. Not because there's anything politically or culturally reactionary in it but because it's a satire against the values of the 1970s and people often don't understand satire. They think it promotes what it mocks. This is a common problem and if I was more sensible I wouldn't try to write satires that are almost fated to be misunderstood.
However, I had a heck of a lot of fun writing this story. It moves forward through time and space but the main characters remain stuck in their own private 1970s. The Biscuit Thief delights in references to Space 1999, Doctor Who, Reggie Perrin, Conan comics, Carry On films, and dozens of other 1970s essentials.
Talking abour Reggie Perrin, I was inspired to write my book after reading the first 'Reginald Perrin' novel by David Nobbs. I was intending to return to work on my ironic thriller, Average Assassins, which has been on hold for a few years, but the misadventures of Reggie gave me the urge to write something set in the most formative decade of my life. It was all completely unplanned.
Now that the book is available to be purchased, I am really hoping that it somehow catches the attention of a readership because I really reckon it's curiously amusing. Difficult to have any clear perception of one's own work from the inside, of course!
The Biscuit Thief is published by Telos and is available from many outlets including Amazon.
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