UK – Page 2 – Tom Vater

The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu – A Blackthorn Book Tour

October 21, 2021October 21, 2021tom

Coming soon – A Blackthorn Book Tour of: The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu ‘Acid trips, border crossings, road weariness, the adventurous optimism of youth and the limitations of middle aged wisdom…’ Buy The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu here.

The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu reviewed by author Isobel Blackthorn

August 30, 2021August 30, 2021tom

Writer Isobel Blackthorn dropped a wonderful review of The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu. The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu is as much an atmospheric and absorbing read as it is fast-paced entertainment. It’s 1975, and four young men in an old Bedford van pull up in the Hindu Kush on the Peshawar-Kabul road to follow through […]

Port of Thieves by JD Strange

July 22, 2020July 22, 2020tomLeave a Comment

I just edited JD Strange’s Port of Thieves, a brilliant rough ride of a pirate novella and probably the most fun adventure story I’ve worked on. The only way you can enjoy life is to set sail on a ship such as this and leave every idea of normality behind in the dusty city. The […]

The Tom Vater Collection at the British Library to be digitally preserved

May 14, 2018May 15, 2018tomLeave a Comment

This recording is part of the Tom Vater Collection (C799) at the British Library. A longer extract has been published on The Moken: sea gypsies of the Andaman Sea (Topic Records TSCD919, 2001). The full collection also includes recordings from India, Laos and Cambodia. It will be digitally preserved as part of the Unlocking our […]

Crime Wave Press publish first YA title – The Murder Boys by John B Bliss

May 21, 2015tomLeave a Comment

Crime Wave Press have published their first Young Adult crime novel – The Murder Boys. I had a lot of fun editing this gripping and touching story that took place during an English summer almost four decades ago. “It will stay with you for life boy. Either way you’ll pay for it in your soul, […]

British Library holds a significant collection of Lao material – including unpublished recordings of remote populations by Tom Vater

March 11, 2015March 11, 2015tomLeave a Comment

Hmong Lao Khaen player in Vientiane 2001 The British Library holds a small but significant collection of Lao material, consisting of manuscripts, rare printed books, periodicals and post cards, mainly acquired after 1973. However, the oldest items in Lao language date back to the 19th century. The earliest book about Laos is in Italian and […]

Thailand: Murder in the Land of Smiles in The Diplomat

October 11, 2014October 12, 2014tomLeave a Comment

The country’s tourism sector is taking a hit following a high-profile murder case and a bungled police response. My report in last week’s The Diplomat.

RocknRoll Interlude – On Tour with The London Dirthole Company

June 1, 2014May 25, 2022tomLeave a Comment

I’ve been on tour with The London Dirthole Company, legendary London based noise creatives. The music made by The London Dirthole Company is a joyful ride into the world of the modern Outsider artist as a musical phenomena. As out of time and place and unreservedly important as The Fall, The Monks and The Velvet […]

The Man with the Golden Mind – Cover Preview….

January 27, 2014January 27, 2014tomLeave a Comment

The Man with the Golden Mind, the second Detective Maier Mystery and follow-up to The Cambodian Book of the Dead is out in the US and UK with Exhibit A Books in April.

Burmese Light is #1 at Amazon UK!

September 16, 2013tomLeave a Comment

Burmese Light is #1 at Amazon UK in books about Myanmar this week. We have had magnificent press coverage in The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and on Yahoo News.