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Alex Roddie

Happiest on a mountain. Writer, story-wrangler, digital and film photographer. Editor of Sidetracked magazine. Machine breaker.

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An exciting new alternate history anthology out now

Alt.History 102, a new Future Chronicles anthology curated by Samuel Peralta, is out now – and it contains a new short story, The Locked Web, written by me. I’ve always been fascinated by alternate history. It’s a subgenre of speculative fiction, and asks a simple ‘what if?’ question

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Plans for a winter backpacking trip to the Ben Alder area

Winter backpacking isn’t something I do much of these days, but next week I’m heading up to Corrour Station to – hopefully – climb a few more Munros in the Ben Alder area. Back in February 2012, I jumped on the train and headed up to Dalwhinnie before hiking out

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On writing a trilogy, by Gordon Bickerstaff

An article on writing a trilogy by Gordon Bickerstaff, thriller writer. This article was originally published on the Pinnacle Editorial blog in February 2015. Today I’d like to welcome author Gordon Bickerstaff to the Pinnacle Blog. Gordon is a writer of thrillers, and it’s been my pleasure to

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Review: Mountain Podcast, Episode 3

Mountain A Podcast About Adventure Hosted by Christopher Sleight Mountain is a hot new outdoors podcast produced and hosted by Christopher Sleight. Having already enjoyed the first two episodes, I had a chance to catch up with episode three this morning – and I think it’s the best yet. Episode

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Book review: the Auto Series by David Wailing

Auto and Auto 2 by David Wailing Recently I read Auto 2 by David Wailing and I was about to post this review when I realised I had never actually reviewed the first volume in this remarkable series. To address this oversight, here’s a combo review of both volumes.

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Life on Mars

Like every good photograph, this one has a story – it’s about David Bowie, time and space, dreams, and a busker with a guitar on a cold night in Lincoln. On January the 10th this year, the legendary singer David Bowie died. While I would not describe myself as a

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There will always be gatekeepers

When modern indie publishing took off, writers rejoiced that there were no longer any ‘gatekeepers’ – arbiters of quality perceived to stand between a writer and success. In the old days that meant traditional publishers, who rejected the vast majority of submissions, but the gatekeepers are still there – and the definition

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Sad news from Glen Coe – and some perspective

On Saturday, two climbers were found dead, still roped together, on Stob Coire nam Beith in Glen Coe. Tragedies like this happen every year, and the Bidean massif seems to cause more than its fair share of accidents. Back in 2013 an unfortunate run of incidents caused the British press

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The Poet and the Captain

I do a lot of hiking in the Lincolnshire countryside. Most of my walks pass through the old Gunby estate, and that’s where I have come to know two characters: the Poet and the Captain. In my office, at my desk, so many things require my attention that true

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New feature in latest issue of Mountain Pro Magazine

Mountain Pro Magazine is a publication I’ve been proud to both read and contribute to for a while now. Edited by David Lintern, it includes articles on a wide range of mountain subjects, from climbing and skiing to conservation and natural history. The latest is a ‘winter-weight’ issue including