Fairs and Markets

The Night Market: an evening of surprises

beautiful buildings, bookselling, mainstream events, Night Market UK 12th October 2022 Events, Fairs and Markets

The Night Market was certainly full of surprises. Possibly the first surprise was the organisers agreeing to let me take a stall: this is absolutely not a fetish or adult event (so yes, I left the hardcore bondage, fisting and … Continued

United Again in Smut: The Smutmarket

books, erotica, fetish market, kinky shopping, smut 1st September 2022 Fairs and Markets

Obviously the first best thing about going to the Smutmarket was a chance to see some friends I hadn’t seen since, well, the Before Times. And there were plenty of other good things about it, as well. Smutmarket is at … Continued

A Rainbow Day at the BB

fetish markets, LGBTQ, rainbow 21st June 2022 Fairs and Markets

The BBB is pretty much a guaranteed good time, whether you’re a veteran pervert or a slightly hesitant newbie. Last Sunday’s Pride celebration was particularly fabulous, not least because of the amazing outfits so many attendees were wearing. Pretty much … Continued

Tiptoeing into 2022

anthologies, erotica, fetish fairs, New Year, update 30th January 2022 Fairs and Markets, Musings, New Books

A whole month into a new year… so how does 2022 look so far? In the short term, at least, further mass house arrest and further harm to the event and hospitality industries – and all your favourite fetish markets … Continued

The joys of outdoor trading

bookselling, fetish markets, outdoors 24th November 2021 Fairs and Markets, Musings

Home from a merry afternoon’s bookselling in the New Forest, I started remembering how some of my earliest stallholding antics involved outdoor trading. At 21 or so, long before fetish markets (or, indeed, before working out that I might … Continued

The fetish fair bonanza

bookselling, fetish markets, kinky business, small traders 6th November 2021 Events, Fairs and Markets

The last time there was this much of a range of kinky shopping activities was over 20 years ago. When this century began, you could choose from the London Fetish Fair, the Whiplash Market (also in London), the BBB (still … Continued

Guess what else is coming home…

bookselling, events, football, memes 10th July 2021 Events, Fairs and Markets, Other Things 1 Comments

‘Coming home, it’s coming home’ is one of those things that was a meme before memes were a thing.25 years down the line, a football song made less irritating than many others by its wistful self-deprecation has been hauled into … Continued

Almost like the Before Times

books, bookselling, comeback, Covid 24th May 2021 Events, Fairs and Markets 1 Comments

It was about this time last year that someone said something about the Before Times – I’m not sure if the phrase originates with The Stand or some other apocalypse classic – but it was the first time I’d heard … Continued

Wanting All the Books

books, bookselling, display, events, marketing, transport 15th May 2021 Fairs and Markets, Musings

I want ALL the books and I want them NOW! OK, it’s not quite as bad as it might sound (though I remember telling people, when we moved into our current home, that I had spent about ten times as … Continued

Feels like a real comeback…

bookselling, comeback, future, kinky traders 4th May 2021 Events, Fairs and Markets, Musings

Yes, there’s still uncertainty and yes, a lot of things are being announced with ‘this may change depending on government guidance/infection rates/circumstances’, but there is a feeling of real comeback going around. Keep an eye on my profiles on Twitter … Continued