Derek McMillan's weblog

Thursday, May 07, 2026

Second Hand Books

It is most gratifying that World of Books and other second hand booksellers are selling my books. I don't make any money out of it but people do get to read the books.

If you are a writer, I suggest searching on eBay for your books. You might surprise youself.

Murder from Beyond the Grave

Space Dog Alfred

In the Mirror of Eternity

The Miranda Revolution

The whole eBay list is here

Tuesday, May 05, 2026

May the Fourth be With You

Worthing Symphony Orchestra is 100 this year. This is amazing as many of them don't look a day over ninety.

They celebrated Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) with a spectacular concert of music from the movies.

This included a medley of James Bond themes featuring the work of Monty Norman and John Barry.

The most evocative and memorable themes were from Jaws by John Williams and Psycho by Bernard Hermann.

There was a lot to enjoy in this programme.

The finale was a performance of the Star Wars music. A volunteer taking the role of Princess Leia appeared during her theme but the best and most dramatic theme is that of Darth Vader. At the end a player representing the man himself appeared with a red lightsabre and bowed to the audience.

It was a great evening.

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

The Call of the Wild

Jack London made a fortune from the Klondike gold rush. He didn't find any gold but he wrote many successful stories instead. "The Call of the Wild" is an example. It is the story of the evolution of a dog (Buck) from the south lands who learnt the harsh lessons of life in a dog team.

It goes on to talk of the dreams which take Buck back to a primordial age.

Jack London's sense of humour is fierce and there is more than a little schadenfreude about his depiction of some of the quite unsuitable people who wound up out of their depth and frequently died from ignorance during the gold rush.

Thursday, April 09, 2026

Compare

Wednesday, April 01, 2026

Murder from Beyond the Grave (hardback)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/168278555319

The hardback edition of "Murder from Beyond the Grave" came out today.

Saturday, March 28, 2026

Nell Gwynne by Ferring Amateur Dramatic Society

The play opened with a messenger reading from a scroll. By Royal Command, the audience were forbidden the use of mobile phones. This set the tone for the production. You name it, this play ridiculed it.

Women were not allowed on the stage. Their roles were taken by men and boys. It was only in the reign of Charles II that this changed and the actors who had been sarcastic and unpleasant about Nell Gwynne ( played by Julie Cleasby) were forced to change their tune when they realised she not only attracted the hoi polloi to the theatre but also earned them royal patronage.

To say that Charles II (played by Roy Stevens) was a bit up himself would be an understatement. However, Nell Gwynne knew exactly how to bring him down to earth. He was not used to people who were not flattering him and that was the last thing she would do.

Credit must go to Martin Hoskins whose role of John Dryden ridiculed the writer's dependence on plagiarising Shakespeare and his inability to complete his work in time.

The fatal game of Pell Mell (a predecessor of Croquet), which put an end to the reign was depicted using mallets provided by Worthing Croquet Club. On his death bed, the king insisted, "Do not let poor Nelly starve."

The conclusion sees Nell return to the theatre and even take over the role of Dryden by writing an epilogue to the play.

It was a fun evening for all concerned.