Jack Montgomery
@jackmwriter.bsky.social
Author, travel writer, photographer, routefinder, Slow Travel specialist & enemy of most things magnolia.
This might seem like a weird, even dodgy, post. But, apart from providing inspiration for a scene in one of the novels I’m working on, it’s another example of how little the internet, and AI as a result, knows.
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-yearly...
#Scotland #writing
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-yearly...
#Scotland #writing
The Yearly Balls Fondle
Was this weird health check fact or fiction?
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:11 PM
This might seem like a weird, even dodgy, post. But, apart from providing inspiration for a scene in one of the novels I’m working on, it’s another example of how little the internet, and AI as a result, knows.
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-yearly...
#Scotland #writing
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-yearly...
#Scotland #writing
We created various walking holidays around Portugal, writing guidebooks to accompany them. These snippets are from our first visit to Minho when, among other things, we were introduced to pig’s blood rice.
curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/discoverin...
#Portugal #travelwriting
curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/discoverin...
#Portugal #travelwriting
December 10, 2025 at 1:50 PM
We created various walking holidays around Portugal, writing guidebooks to accompany them. These snippets are from our first visit to Minho when, among other things, we were introduced to pig’s blood rice.
curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/discoverin...
#Portugal #travelwriting
curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/discoverin...
#Portugal #travelwriting
If I told you a neighbour was a spy & another a healer called Jesus, would you believe me? It's 100% true. The Banana Road, back on sale at a lower price, is about our life in the real Tenerife amazon.co.uk/Banana-Road-... #Tenerife #travel #memoir #CanaryIslands
December 9, 2025 at 2:11 PM
If I told you a neighbour was a spy & another a healer called Jesus, would you believe me? It's 100% true. The Banana Road, back on sale at a lower price, is about our life in the real Tenerife amazon.co.uk/Banana-Road-... #Tenerife #travel #memoir #CanaryIslands
Whenever anyone asks me my age, I have to think about it for a moment. That’s partly because I was born on the cusp of the year, so have to work it out. It’s also because I consider being defined by a number as meaningless. jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/12/08/a...
#writing
#writing
All the Old Dudes - Author and Travel Writer - Jack Montgomery
From The List of Suspicious Things to the TV series Worlds Apart, why acting your age means very different things to different people.
jackmontgomery.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Whenever anyone asks me my age, I have to think about it for a moment. That’s partly because I was born on the cusp of the year, so have to work it out. It’s also because I consider being defined by a number as meaningless. jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/12/08/a...
#writing
#writing
Having to catch a boat to get anywhere might sound romantic, and it is when the travel gods are smiling. However, for those who live on a small island, the ferry can also be a source of anxiety & frustration.
#travel #travelwriting #Scotland talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-rothes...
#travel #travelwriting #Scotland talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-rothes...
The Rothesay ferry, friend & foe
The reality of travelling to and from an island
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Having to catch a boat to get anywhere might sound romantic, and it is when the travel gods are smiling. However, for those who live on a small island, the ferry can also be a source of anxiety & frustration.
#travel #travelwriting #Scotland talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-rothes...
#travel #travelwriting #Scotland talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-rothes...
AI can produce lists of things to see and do for travel destinations. What it can’t do is provide the sort of personal memories that we, as travellers, connect with with the places we visit. #Coimbra #Portugal #travelwriting curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/recollecti...
Recollections of Coimbra
Snippets from Portugal's learned city
curioustravellertales.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:01 PM
AI can produce lists of things to see and do for travel destinations. What it can’t do is provide the sort of personal memories that we, as travellers, connect with with the places we visit. #Coimbra #Portugal #travelwriting curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/recollecti...
The internet can distort the past. The word tinker was commonly used when I was growing up on #Bute, but not always in the way it's described online. Then, there's the tragic tale of tattie howkers that AI knows very little about. #Scotland talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/tragic-tal...
Tragic tales of tinkers & tattie howkers
The past is an uncomfortable place
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
The internet can distort the past. The word tinker was commonly used when I was growing up on #Bute, but not always in the way it's described online. Then, there's the tragic tale of tattie howkers that AI knows very little about. #Scotland talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/tragic-tal...
There’s a thing UK tabloids are guilty of which is cheap and an insult to readers. This practice is easy to spot and involves lazy travel articles that are more likely to mislead readers than provide them with accurate travel advice.
#travelwriting #media jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/24/t...
#travelwriting #media jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/24/t...
The Media and Lazy Travel Writing - Author and Travel Writer - Jack Montgomery
Examples of lazy travel writing in the mainstream and social media, including the trend of UK tabloids using social media streams for travel content.
jackmontgomery.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
There’s a thing UK tabloids are guilty of which is cheap and an insult to readers. This practice is easy to spot and involves lazy travel articles that are more likely to mislead readers than provide them with accurate travel advice.
#travelwriting #media jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/24/t...
#travelwriting #media jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/24/t...
This is not something I'm proud of. In my defence, I was young & dumb at the time. But experiences like this usually end up in something I'm writing. talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/when-i-was...
#writing #Scotland
#writing #Scotland
When I was a Pimp
Confessions of a night porter
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This is not something I'm proud of. In my defence, I was young & dumb at the time. But experiences like this usually end up in something I'm writing. talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/when-i-was...
#writing #Scotland
#writing #Scotland
We visited the Eden Project in Cornwall shortly after it opened. This year, almost a quarter of a century later, we visited again. Was it as good as we remembered?
walkingways.uk/2025/11/10/t...
#theEdenProject #Cornwall #gardens
walkingways.uk/2025/11/10/t...
#theEdenProject #Cornwall #gardens
The Eden Project Revisited
We first visited The Eden Project not long after it had opened in 2001. Returning in 2025, we were not prepared for how much it had grown.
walkingways.uk
November 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
We visited the Eden Project in Cornwall shortly after it opened. This year, almost a quarter of a century later, we visited again. Was it as good as we remembered?
walkingways.uk/2025/11/10/t...
#theEdenProject #Cornwall #gardens
walkingways.uk/2025/11/10/t...
#theEdenProject #Cornwall #gardens
The first impression of a place often sticks. With Porto, it involved a speciality of the city, the messiest ‘sandwich’ I’ve encountered anywhere. There are many aspects of the city of tripe eaters I love, these five are just a snapshot. #Porto curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/a-personal...
A Personal View of Porto
Five things to enjoy in Porto
curioustravellertales.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:37 PM
The first impression of a place often sticks. With Porto, it involved a speciality of the city, the messiest ‘sandwich’ I’ve encountered anywhere. There are many aspects of the city of tripe eaters I love, these five are just a snapshot. #Porto curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/a-personal...
I’m Speechless!
Not really. It’s just the title of a short story (sort of) which is a dig at a particular piece of writing advice that turns up now and again which, whether wearing my writer or reader’s hat, I don’t agree with.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/17/i...
#writing #fiction
Not really. It’s just the title of a short story (sort of) which is a dig at a particular piece of writing advice that turns up now and again which, whether wearing my writer or reader’s hat, I don’t agree with.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/17/i...
#writing #fiction
I’m Speechless - Author and Travel Writer - Jack Montgomery
Writing websites advise against authors using too much dialogue. What if there’s a reason they want us speechless?
jackmontgomery.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I’m Speechless!
Not really. It’s just the title of a short story (sort of) which is a dig at a particular piece of writing advice that turns up now and again which, whether wearing my writer or reader’s hat, I don’t agree with.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/17/i...
#writing #fiction
Not really. It’s just the title of a short story (sort of) which is a dig at a particular piece of writing advice that turns up now and again which, whether wearing my writer or reader’s hat, I don’t agree with.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/17/i...
#writing #fiction
I’m feeling chuffed. I got AI to contradict itself.
‘Why it’s risky to rely on AI’ includes how I used AI to prove to itself it was wrong, as well as a few other bot bloopers.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/03/w...
#writing #travel #AI
‘Why it’s risky to rely on AI’ includes how I used AI to prove to itself it was wrong, as well as a few other bot bloopers.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/03/w...
#writing #travel #AI
Why it’s risky to rely on AI - Author and Travel Writer - Jack Montgomery
How I made AI contradict itself reveals why it’s risky to rely on artificial intelligence for answers to questions
jackmontgomery.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I’m feeling chuffed. I got AI to contradict itself.
‘Why it’s risky to rely on AI’ includes how I used AI to prove to itself it was wrong, as well as a few other bot bloopers.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/03/w...
#writing #travel #AI
‘Why it’s risky to rely on AI’ includes how I used AI to prove to itself it was wrong, as well as a few other bot bloopers.
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/11/03/w...
#writing #travel #AI
5 dishes to try in Alentejo. Until I saw one of these on many Alentejo menus, I'd always associated it more with Portugal's neighbour - curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/five-dishe... #Portugal #food
Five dishes to try in Alentejo
Regional specialities from Portugal's border with Spain
curioustravellertales.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:04 PM
5 dishes to try in Alentejo. Until I saw one of these on many Alentejo menus, I'd always associated it more with Portugal's neighbour - curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/five-dishe... #Portugal #food
I admit my imagination might get carried away with itself sometimes. But only sometimes. There are occasions where flights of fancy are justified. Like recently, when we found something suspicious in our letterbox. jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/10/28/t...
#Somerset #maps
#Somerset #maps
The Mysterious Map - Author and Travel Writer - Jack Montgomery
What might it mean when a mysterious map listing certain properties in the Somerset village we live in turns up in our letterbox?
jackmontgomery.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I admit my imagination might get carried away with itself sometimes. But only sometimes. There are occasions where flights of fancy are justified. Like recently, when we found something suspicious in our letterbox. jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/10/28/t...
#Somerset #maps
#Somerset #maps
A spooky but true tale for Halloween about the ghost who haunts an unusual castle in Scotland.
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-friend...
#Scotland #ghosts
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-friend...
#Scotland #ghosts
The Friendly Ghost of Kames
An amiable apparition on the Isle of Bute
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:54 PM
A spooky but true tale for Halloween about the ghost who haunts an unusual castle in Scotland.
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-friend...
#Scotland #ghosts
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-friend...
#Scotland #ghosts
Continuing with snippets & tips from my book Camel Spit & Cork Trees, chapter 2 involved our first taste of Portugal, staying in a town famous for wine production where we experienced a strange culinary pairing. curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/first-tast...
#Portugal #travel #writing
#Portugal #travel #writing
First taste of Portugal
Extracts and tips from Camel Spit & Cork Trees
curioustravellertales.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Continuing with snippets & tips from my book Camel Spit & Cork Trees, chapter 2 involved our first taste of Portugal, staying in a town famous for wine production where we experienced a strange culinary pairing. curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/first-tast...
#Portugal #travel #writing
#Portugal #travel #writing
I asked a literary agent and ChatGPT the same question. Want to know which answer was I most impressed with, and why? jackmont.substack.com/p/chatgpt-v-... #writing
ChatGPT v Literary Agent
How well did a bot perform against a human?
jackmont.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I asked a literary agent and ChatGPT the same question. Want to know which answer was I most impressed with, and why? jackmont.substack.com/p/chatgpt-v-... #writing
These 'catch-up' snippets from my book Camel Spit & Cork Trees are designed to lay the foundation for the follow-up memoir. Camel Spit began at the point where we left Tenerife.
#Tenerife #Portugal curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/a-new-life...
#Tenerife #Portugal curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/a-new-life...
A new life in Portugal
Extracts from Camel Spit & Cork Trees
curioustravellertales.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:39 PM
These 'catch-up' snippets from my book Camel Spit & Cork Trees are designed to lay the foundation for the follow-up memoir. Camel Spit began at the point where we left Tenerife.
#Tenerife #Portugal curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/a-new-life...
#Tenerife #Portugal curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/a-new-life...
Today is Ada Lovelace Day. Earlier this year, we followed a path from Porlock Weir to see England’s smallest church. En route, we passed the ruins of old tunnels, the ‘Fairy Tunnel’s’ of Lord Byron’s daughter, one Ada Lovelace, constructed so Ada could access the beach below without being seen.
October 14, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Today is Ada Lovelace Day. Earlier this year, we followed a path from Porlock Weir to see England’s smallest church. En route, we passed the ruins of old tunnels, the ‘Fairy Tunnel’s’ of Lord Byron’s daughter, one Ada Lovelace, constructed so Ada could access the beach below without being seen.
While I’m editing the sequel to Camel Spit & Cork Trees: A Year of Slow Travel Through Portugal, I’m sharing snippets from Camel Spit on Substack, along with the occasional tips. curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/welcome-to...
#Portugal #writing
#Portugal #writing
Welcome to the Curious Traveller
Why launch my Curious Traveller substack now?
curioustravellertales.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 2:28 PM
While I’m editing the sequel to Camel Spit & Cork Trees: A Year of Slow Travel Through Portugal, I’m sharing snippets from Camel Spit on Substack, along with the occasional tips. curioustravellertales.substack.com/p/welcome-to...
#Portugal #writing
#Portugal #writing
Have you ever been in a lift (elevator) which doesn’t take you where you want to go? This might be the reason.
#writing #shortstory #Scotland
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-lift-e...
#writing #shortstory #Scotland
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-lift-e...
The Lift (Elevator) With a Mind of its Own
What goes up must come down, and down, and down
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Have you ever been in a lift (elevator) which doesn’t take you where you want to go? This might be the reason.
#writing #shortstory #Scotland
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-lift-e...
#writing #shortstory #Scotland
talesfromascottishisland.substack.com/p/the-lift-e...
Flash Fiction - Mass Grave. Sometimes it is necessary to do terrible things to save the people you love.
#shortstories #writing #flashfiction
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/09/24/m...
#shortstories #writing #flashfiction
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/09/24/m...
Mass Grave - Author and Travel Writer - Jack Montgomery
Mass Grave. Sometimes it is necessary to do terrible things to save the people you love. A 250-word short story.
jackmontgomery.co.uk
September 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Flash Fiction - Mass Grave. Sometimes it is necessary to do terrible things to save the people you love.
#shortstories #writing #flashfiction
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/09/24/m...
#shortstories #writing #flashfiction
jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/09/24/m...
Having listened to advice from various authors, I've finally set up a substack account, with publications having a tighter focus. My first post is related to the #Scottish books I'm #writing but is a true story and features a monster of a teacher.
The Wrath of Miss Muh-ller
A friend from an upper middle-class background is responsible for this compilation of true-as-far-as-I-can-remember-them tales from growing up on A Scottish island.
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 2:55 PM
A debate in a writers' group had me wondering why authors who are unfamiliar with a specific language/dialect attempt to have their characters speak it? jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/09/15/t...
#writing #writingfiction #writingdialogue
#writing #writingfiction #writingdialogue
The Accent Thieves - Author and Travel Writer - Jack Montgomery
How does it feel to witness the way you speak being hijacked and tortured? I found out this week.
jackmontgomery.co.uk
September 15, 2025 at 1:36 PM
A debate in a writers' group had me wondering why authors who are unfamiliar with a specific language/dialect attempt to have their characters speak it? jackmontgomery.co.uk/2025/09/15/t...
#writing #writingfiction #writingdialogue
#writing #writingfiction #writingdialogue