About John Vane: London Stories

John Vane is a pen name. My real name is Dave Hill. I mostly write journalism about the politics, places and people of the UK’s capital city and run a multi-contributor website called On London.co.uk as well having a personal Substack. But I also write fiction and sketches of London life, past and present, as John, an alter ego who makes stuff up and expresses himself in a different way. Having a pen name is fun.

My novel Frightgeist - A Tall Tale of Fearful Times is about a campaign to become Mayor set in a parallel London of very recent times assailed by disease, protest, anxiety and conspiracies. Some of that might sound familiar. You can also buy Frightgeist from my excellent local bookshop, Pages of Hackney.

This Substack will carry John Vane sketches and occasional short stories, news and reflections about ongoing projects, and stuff about other people’s London fiction, of which there is far too much I haven’t read. I’ve set myself a target of reading 25 London novels during 2024 that I haven’t read before. I will write about that here too.

At some point I might try to persuade you to give me money, but for the time being everything posted on this Substack will be free. Let’s see how it goes.