Mark your territory
A perfect holiday read for all ages
WE OWN THE ROOFTOPS, STREETS, AND BEACHES.
CHIPS, PASTIES, ICE CREAMS – ARE TO BE SHARED.
ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY.
By order of the gulls
***
Young gull Lazarus (crew name Flick) is living his best life – in St Ives, flapping and filching with his mates, his crew.
His father, Solmondor, still believes in fishing and foraging – the noble arts, he calls them – but that’s hard work, and what’s the point when humans provide everything?
Yet the past has a way of catching up.
And a dark shadow is on the move.
***
The perfect beach read. Funny, visceral, and poignant, ‘The Art of Stealing Chips in the Mizzle’ is a modern seaside fable about finding the courage to face what you’ve flown from.
***
Note: Image shows hardback cover.
A look inside...
'You're a herring gull, Lazarus.'
Father’s stare was granite hard.
‘Act like one.’
They stood on the flat roof, buffeted by warm wafts of old crab.
Lazarus lowered his beak. In his head, gulls screamed from cloud stupid-fast, streakin’ into the deep. Zip-zip-zip – for the sardines, the silver.
What gulls were born for, Father said.
Lazarus stared at his webbed feet.
No divin’.
Not for him. Not after what happened.
His leg was still crooked. Head had a bare-patch, no feathers. Godgull’s will, so Mother jabbered.
Broken little scabber-hatch.
Mother stood with Father now. Not beside Lazarus.
He loved Father, the old fool, but that gull had no idea.
Gulls didn’t have to dive for food.
Not this one, anyway.
Blog posts
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Fun facts about gulls
People think gulls are just feathered pickpockets, screaming down the harbour for pasties. True enough — but there’s more to them than chip-thieving chaos. Here’s a few facts worth squarking...
Fun facts about gulls
People think gulls are just feathered pickpockets, screaming down the harbour for pasties. True enough — but there’s more to them than chip-thieving chaos. Here’s a few facts worth squarking...
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The evolution of an idea (and title)
Years back, I was working in a cottage in North Wales. Proper old place—thick stone walls, dark rooms, carpets that swallowed your boots. Walls covered in brass and embroidery. Not really...
The evolution of an idea (and title)
Years back, I was working in a cottage in North Wales. Proper old place—thick stone walls, dark rooms, carpets that swallowed your boots. Walls covered in brass and embroidery. Not really...
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About the author
Julian Patrick lives in Marazion, Cornwall, where the gulls and the mizzle insisted on becoming characters. The Art of Stealing Chips in the Mizzle is his debut novella—a darkly comic...
About the author
Julian Patrick lives in Marazion, Cornwall, where the gulls and the mizzle insisted on becoming characters. The Art of Stealing Chips in the Mizzle is his debut novella—a darkly comic...
