I have collaborated on a podcast. A dating podcast. After years of intermittent singledom, it would seem that ‘dating’ has become my specialism. Yes, I am a dating specialist – and while being a specialist is usually considered a good thing, this is not. To be an expert dater means you have failed in your...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel Marcello: Love in the City. After accidentally insulting a well-connected woman at a networking event, Marcello must face his boss’s wrath. “Oh, look, it’s the male Carrie Bradshaw. Good morning.” Jess was sitting at her desk, fiddling with her phone. “Why do I tell you anything, Jessica? Honestly.”...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel Marcello: Love in the City. This week Marcello accidentally insults his date via text. The second date is always a quandary. I never quite know where to go – in the literal sense. The first date is easy. I have a rolodex of venues in my head (well,...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel Marcello: Love in the City. This week Marcello tries to reinvent himself in the office. I walked into the office on a sunny Monday morning. It had been just over a week since my networking meltdown and – as I was yet to reap the whirlwind – I...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. This week: Marcello is forced to network. Rita, the HR director, summoned us to the grey inferno that was her office. She was a tall, skeletal brunette with razor blue eyes. After some cursory chat about our still-broken air conditioning she commanded my...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. After several failures Marcello decides to start online dating – again. Jane met me at Brockley station. We walked into the Vineyard to find it only half full of people. And yet you could say the bar was packed – with reserved signs....Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. Marcello has just been on a hellish date with his work colleague, Charlotte. I thought a lot about Charlotte while checking my dating apps on the way home. Nothing erases the past quite like the prospect of fresh degradation. That evening, I fumbled...Read More

This is a serialisation of the novel ‘Marcello: Love in the City’. This week Marcello goes on a date with his work colleague, Charlotte. We met up on a wet afternoon. It was strange seeing Charlotte in her casual array, she had dispensed with her pencil skirt and heels and gone for a many layered...Read More