On the left is the jacket flap photo from Down River, circa 1988. Which is about ten years on from my first writing sale, if you want to be picky.

The shot on the right is from March this year (2026), taken on Golden Lane in Prague. Behind me is number 22, a tiny cottage once rented by Franz Kafka’s sister. She made it available to him, and there he wrote the stories and short pieces published under the title A Country Doctor.

It’s a Kafka-themed gift and book shop now. If you can imagine such a thing.