I very much enjoyed chatting with Dei Tomos on his programme for Radio Cymru recently. Dei has such a breadth of knowledge about so many subjects and he takes a genuine interest in the work of his guests. He makes you feel so comfortable and at ease when he’s interviewing you that you almost forget you’re being recorded. A real professional. It’s a great series. Those of you who don’t speak Welsh are missing out. We talked about my new book of short stories, I Am the Mask Maker and Other Stories. Dei was very honest in his appraisal of the book, which I appreciated, as it’s hard to get honest feedback. He said he didn’t get on with the first story, and one other in the book but apart from that he loved all the others. We came to the conclusion that 9 out of 11 (the total number of stories in the book) wasn’t a bad result! Dei particularly liked the story Oh, Hanami which portrays a retired farmer’s growing obsession with the Japanese tradition of cherry blossom viewing.

For those of you who do speak Welsh, you can hear a recording of the programme here. Mwynhewch!