The French term folie a deux was used originally to describe two people who shared a common psychosis. It literally means ‘the madness of two.’ Individuals who have this condition somehow manage to pass on their delusions to a third party, and the two go on to act out the symptoms in tandem. More recently, the term has been used in certain…
Tag: Adam Dickson
Contrary to popular belief, the Emperor Nero did not fiddle while Rome burned. In fact, way back in AD 64 the instrument in question had yet to be invented. But one question has always divided the historians. Did the consummate artist and supreme head of state really have a hand in the blaze that destroyed two-thirds of the City? History…
Ambition is a hard road to walk and an even harder road to navigate when you’re prone to stumbling. Many things can hold you back. Sleep deprivation. The sniper in the mind that takes great delight in attacking you when you’re down. People who aren’t what they seem. All these and more can undermine the most resilient personality, leaving you…
‘What happens when everything you have is not enough?’ I first penned The Butterfly Collector in 2007 in a couple of hardback notebooks. It started, as most of my novels do, with a single idea – in this case, a couple meeting for the first time in the kitchen at a party. Peter Calliet is a property developer who has all…
Live performance has many things going for it, not least the ability of the actors taking part to connect with an audience on a truly visceral level. The experience is unique and intimate, and doesn’t rely on special effects to create tension. Doppelganger Performance Group put on an intriguing and entertaining showcase of stage plays at Bournemouth University on Saturday…
Novelists often complain that reading their earlier work leaves them with a distinct feeling of unease. The passage of time between one piece of work and another inevitably leads the author to a different place – greater maturity and depth of insight, perhaps, or simply an earnest desire to improve upon his previous attempt. Writing a novel requires a considerable…
Neville Heath was an ex-RAF pilot who murdered a part-time actress in a London hotel room then went on the run, sparking the biggest manhunt in British history. A charming and extremely plausible psychopath who talked his way into all levels of British society, Heath left an indelible impression on the public psyche. After booking in to the Tollard Royal Hotel…
I’ve often wondered where my fascination with the darker side of life comes from. My writing tends to reflect this taste and leads me into areas other writers might choose to leave alone. Although I’ve drawn on autobiographical material in the past, the old advice to write about what you know has never really appealed to me. As a writer,…
For the shy and retiring among us the thought of pitching a screenplay to a panel of movie experts and a live audience would be horrifying. But that’s exactly what this humble narrator did in London recently, and this is a brief account of what happened …. Armed with my carefully constructed wording, I made my way to the The…