About Paul London
I'm a British writer with a deep love for language, wit and storytelling. I live on England's south coast, where the sea air and the locals provide a steady supply of inspiration - and plenty of examples of what is (and isn't) ironic.
By day I'm a software developer and technical problem solver, and I try to apply the same sort of logic to my writing - so that when my characters' lives spiral into chaos, they at least do so with some semblance of style. The rest of the time I can usually be found attempting to pot the 8-ball in a highly unstylish manner.
I founded IsItIronic.com in 2006 after a series of workplace conversations about irony that nobody could quite win. It started with a leaflet promising a "professional" service (it wasn't), spiralled through Alanis Morissette arguments, and eventually became this: a community of thousands of people debating whether things are actually ironic. Twenty years later, the answer is usually no.
My books
The Dawlish Trilogy - now complete
Comic science fiction set in the Devon seaside town of Dawlish: dry, warm, extremely silly and entirely British. For fans of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and Red Dwarf, and anyone who has ever dealt with a difficult Town Council or militant reception staff. All three books are out now - see the reading order, or read the first chapter of Book 1 free.
Book 1
Glitter Buckets & Spades
Oscar Ockham just wants to sell card tricks and clown noses in peace. Instead, a shadowy agency is annexing his seaside high street - and if it's going to interfere with the Tuesday night pub quiz, is the world even worth saving?
Book 2
Glitterballs of Fire
A missing friend, an overly obstructive Town Council, a law firm founded by undertakers - and Oscar's long-deceased father casually strolling back into town. The universe isn't just playing games with him. It's actively cheating.
Book 3 - out now
With a Glitterbit of Luck
Oscar has retired from saving the world and is losing his magic shop to a superstore he can't touch. Then it opens a branch with a front door - and the fight runs from a drizzling Devon seafront to a faded casino on the Las Vegas Strip. New readers can start here.
Given Time
Standalone novel
Given Time
Can you outrun your past when time is running out? A departure from comedy: a character-driven story of revenge, redemption and loss.
Want a taste first? Sign up on my author website for a free short story.
The story behind this site
Prior to this clearly world-smashing occasion, "irony" was a weirdly common topic around me. Naturally the vast majority of the time the conversation sways instantly towards Alanis Morissette and her song "Ironic". But there was more than joy and happiness here - once the laughter stopped it was clear that actually the whole definition of irony was massively misunderstood and no one really had a particularly good grasp of what was or was not ironic. And I get it, even having defined it (and in many different ways) there's no question that irony is at least a little bit "in the eye of the beholder". Even if the beholder is a twit - in your humble opinion.
So, for all these reasons, I built a site about it. Because that's what you do when you can't win an argument - you build a website and make everyone else vote.
Find me elsewhere
- pennyideas.com - my author website: books, news and the free short story
- Amazon author page
- Goodreads
- TikTok