Alexander Stuart

Gore Vidal, left, with Federico "Fred" Fellini. Photo courtesy Guardian/AP. I cannot let Gore Vidal's  passing go without a brief mention of the huge influence he had on me as a writer, both in terms of encouraging me to love the written word and subversive wit, but also to believe that the writer has a role to play in society as a public provocateur and commentator, both of which Vidal did with vast intelligence, grace, and acerbic, often unforgiving humor. I had the immense good fortune to meet Mr Vidal a couple of years ago at a Hollywood Hills party, thrown by our wonderful British friend, Stephen Fry , and there was not the slightest disappointment - quite the reverse: I was somewhat terrified of what to say, to avoid appearing foolish. Gore was in a wheelchair and rather frail, yet still he held court with a kind of imperial glee, very much the man once quoted as saying, "There is not one single human problem that could not be solved if people would s

A quick update on my Kickstarter campaign to raise funding to complete my noir love story and thriller, Chinatown Nights - the longest and most complex novel I have written in my career. Please watch the brief (two minute) video above and consider contributing, if you can. At the end of the first week, contributions to Kickstarter have already raised $1,470. Thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to pledge! [Please note that, as of August 23 2012, I have now started a new Kickstarter campaign for Chinatown Nights , and the links above now connect to the new campaign.]

I know I've posted this before ( John Boswell's Astonishing Symphony of Science Music Videos ), but this particular autotuned song,  We Are Star Dust , has been lodged in my mind, because it is so extraordinarily inspiring and beautiful. I can listen to it over and over again - and watch the video repeatedly - because it speaks not only to my heart, but to some cosmic core within me. 

We are all very disappointed that Hudson's mid-2007 Mac Mini, running Lion, won't upgrade to Mountain Lion, because it is too old (although it has an Intel dual-core processor and runs Lion with no problems). Hudson (who was eight on Monday) was so excited about Mountain Lion that he had been posting video updates as its release approached - and had saved his own $20 to pay for the Mountain Lion upgrade. This is his first MAJOR disappointment with Apple. He may well be spending more time with Windows 8, a developer version of which he has been running on his netbook for almost six months.

All photographs 2012 Alexander Chow-Stuart. We're in Monterey to celebrate our beautiful, magical son Hudson's eighth birthday. It is so astonishing to us that eight years have passed since he was born - and so wonderful for me to be back by the ocean, waking to the sound of the waves pounding the beach. I feel as if I've come home, perhaps because my father was born in a tiny Scottish fishing village, Rosehearty, near Aberdeen. Hudson flies his kite - before opening his gifts! It was also incredible playing in the (very cold) surf with Hudson and Paradise. Hudson enjoys bodyboarding - and Paradise enjoys being carried over the waves and scooped up as the biggest ones approach. A wonderful day, an important occasion for us as a family - and a perfect place to celebrate it. Many thanks to the extraordinarily kind folks at the Best Western Monterey Beach Resort , especially the manager, Hugh Hedin, and Genevieve, on the desk, who helped arrange a special b