Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1467738
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 MAY 2022 8 ALMANAC My essentials JAMES VELLA BARDON 41, Author My debut novel 'The Sheriff's Catch' was published by Unbound in 2018 and even went on to outsell the Pope's book at Agenda Bookshop in Malta! I recently had a great time researching and writing my latest title 'Mad King Robin', based on my beloved, flawed hero Robert the Bruce. It's essentially a fast-paced historical thriller, infused with a bit of grim, ironic humour. And a spider. 1 2 4 5 1. Book 3 2. Film 3. Internet/TV 4. Music 5. Place I enjoyed watching The For- gotten Battle on Netflix, a Dutch movie about the cru- cial Battle of the Scheldt. There weren't many famous actors in it which I thought made it more immersive. I didn't know much about the Canadians' involvement fol- lowing the Normandy Land- ings, which made it particu- larly interesting. I watch a lot of Bill Maher's clips on Facebook, I love the way in which he calls out the excesses and absurdities on both the left and right of pol- itics. I also listen to a shed- load of podcasts, including Intelligence Matters, The Foreign Desk, and Hardtalk. Of late I'm very much enjoy- ing John Sweeney's Taking On Putin which I also helped crowdfund. I recently discovered the band Imagine Dragons, thanks to my son who's a huge fan. We often sing their songs togeth- er in the car during school drop-off. The other day he told me that I'm a good sing- er, which meant a lot to me since my missus assures me that my singing voice would curdle milk. WHAT I wouldn't give to play a few rounds of billiards at Blue Bar with my old futsal team mates Flatini, il-Bubu, ix-Shangy and il-Bobby, then grab one of those divine sand- wiches down the road from Duke's Snack Bar. You can tell I'm a man of lofty aspirations. I recently heard that kids will read books if they grow up seeing their dad also reading them. I was instantly overcome by guilt and decided to start buying second hand novels so that the kids could see me reading physical paperbacks. I bought 'Of Mice And Men' to give John Steinbeck's writing a try. It was a curious novella because each chapter in it was different, with one concerning a violent stand-off and each of the others either haunting, co- medic, sad or hopeful.