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I recently started writing for a new website.

Spectrum Culture is based in Portland, US, and focuses on music, film and books. Its editor approached me after reading some of my work elsewhere on the web.

After penning a short blurb on the latest Stereolab album for Spectrum Culture's 2025 music roundup, I offered to review Our Secrets Are The Same - a new book by Simple Minds' mainstays Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill (with author Graeme Thomson) about the Scottish band's history.

I'd got hold of the book, published last autumn in the UK, from our local library ahead of its US release date in February.

Whether you like Simple Minds, famous for hits like 'Don't You (Forget About Me)', 'Alive And Kicking' and 'Waterfront', or not, Our Secrets Are The Same gives a fascinating insight into a male friendship that has deepened through highs and lows over almost six decades.

The day after submitting my review I received an email back from the editor assigned to me during my probation period at the website. This page-long message was encouraging in tone. It did, however, also include quite detailed feedback about some punctuation errors and missing parantheses (brackets) plus other suggestions for me regarding writing content going forwards.

This took me aback slightly, not because the critique was unfair but because I've not been on the receiving end of a detailed picking apart of my writing for many years, and never for work that I've done on an unpaid basis. My ego was pricked as I smarted for an hour or two.

Funnily enough, the next morning I received another email. This was a Poetry Unbound reflection on Substack from Irish writer Pádraigh Ó Tuama, entitled Editing Is A Form Of Love. I don't ever recall receiving a reflection on editing before in my life, but here this one was, the day after I'd been edited.

Ó Tuama talks about how he'd hosted a working meal at home to get feedback on a forthcoming book of poems from friends. He explains: "The etymological roots of edit imply 'to bring forth' or 'to bring about.' To be edited can — of course — have a connotation of being silenced, or misrepresented. But the sense I am extolling today is the one where some careful companion has helped you bring forth your own words, in your own voice, not by silencing you, but by amplifying your true message."

These words bypassed my bruised pride and confirmed what I knew deep down: the fact that someone (also unpaid) had taken the time to read my review in detail and provide constructive feedback was actually a gift to help me grow and develop, not a wrecking ball to my soul. In recent years, I've become used to my reviews being placed unchecked onto web pages which can cause frustration (when mistakes appear without correction) and lead to laziness and complacency as a writer.

It also raises larger questions about how open to criticism I am as a man of a certain age - some of which are also addressed by Kerr and Burchill in their book. Which people do I give permission to 'edit' my wider life and how do I respond to being challenged or picked apart by those who are close to me? Ironically, I've just noticed that the editor's feedback email arrived on Valentine's Day. Love, eh?

Having said all of this, I'm pretty sure this post will contain a mistake or two, and that's ok as well. I'm back on chemotherapy tablets this fortnight and I'm feeling more tired and sick than normal, meaning my mental and physically capacity has narrowed, so I'll give myself some latitude. I began the two-week course of medication (cycle five) last Monday, alongside receiving my latest infusion of targeted drugs at hospital. This followed a fantastic 24 hours in Manchester visiting Macy where we had our ears decimated at a Mogwai concert on Friday night before a Parkrun trot around Platt Fields (with Macy's boyfriend Charlie who finished someway ahead of us!) the following morning (pictured above).

My well-edited review, by the way, of the Simple Minds' book is online at Spectrum Culture.

It was great to received some positive feedback from co-author Thomson about the review on social media. Of course, I'm also happy to hear any thoughts you have.... good or bad!