-
-
- Loading Quotes...
Subscribe
Links
- Andrea Levy
- Annabel's House of Books
- BooksPlease
- Buried River Press
- Cornflower Books
- dovergreyreader scribbles
- Geranium Cat's Bookshelf
- Guardian Booksblog, Fiction
- Harriet Devine's Book Blog
- Jeanette Winterson
- Juxtabook
- Maggie O'Farrell
- Mostly Books Blog
- Random Jottings
- Reading Matters
- Rose Tremain
- Rose Tremain's Rules for Writers
- Shiny New Books
- So Many Books
- StuckinaBook
- Tales from the Reading Room
- Tracy Chevalier
- Vulpes Libris
Author Archives: Angela
Valentine’s presents; and Pen Heaven
If you haven’t yet bought a present for your Valentine who might, of course, be yourself, you could indulge in this for your toast. You’ll find it here. Or this, for your wine: from here. But if neither of these appeal, … Continue reading
Posted in Gifts, Pens and refills, Presents
Leave a comment
Make Good Art, a resolution for the new year
In January 2016, I quoted Neil Gaiman’s wonderful advice which is, essentially, whatever you’re doing, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Artists, Creativity, Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing
Leave a comment
Jericho Writers’ Self-Editing Your Novel Course, and the wonders of Atlas Obscura: destinations, food and drink
I’m in the final week of Jericho Writers’ Self-Editing your novel course run by Debi Alper and Emma Darwin and all I can say is if you’ve written a first (or even a twenty-first) draft of a novel and you know something’s … Continue reading
Posted in Drink, Fiction, Food, Places, Rewriting, Storytelling, Third Novel, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, Writing Courses
Leave a comment
How Doctors use Poetry, and a blue-green stone
Recently I spent a night in hospital and the thing that struck me about the nursing staff, as I watched them admit new patients to the ward, was their infinite kindness; their ability to explain exactly the same things to … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Creativity, Jewellery, Mental Health, Poetry, Psychology, Science
Comments Off on How Doctors use Poetry, and a blue-green stone
Happiness & Rights balanced by Meaning & Responsibility; and William Golding on Women
Jordan Peterson, author of 12 Rules for Life: an antidote to chaos said, in an interview with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Radio 4 recently (these words come from the beginning and the end of the programme): We’ve been fed a diet of … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Gun Control, Literary Prizes, Morality, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Women, Writers
4 Comments
Creativity and Patience; and walks with Mental Health Mates
Being an artist means … ripening like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms … summer [will] come. But it comes only to the patient … patience is everything! from Rainer Maria Rilke’s advice to Franz Xaver … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Mental Health, Poetry, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Walking, Writers, Writing
Comments Off on Creativity and Patience; and walks with Mental Health Mates
Literary Villains, Literary Summer Reads and an idyllic treehouse in East Sussex (where you can stay)
Forty of the Best Villains in Literature appear in this article at The Literary Hub (where you’ll find many literary goodies). The villains include the obvious: Mr Hyde, Mrs Danvers, Uriah Heep, Mr Rochester, Dr Frankenstein, Hannibal Lecter and many more. But … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Fiction, Places, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writing
Comments Off on Literary Villains, Literary Summer Reads and an idyllic treehouse in East Sussex (where you can stay)
Women writers, and children; and Retro Peepers
I’ve never had children and the reason (apart from meeting the man whose children I’d love to have had well beyond my fertile years) is that I was always afraid that looking after children would eat so far into my … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Design, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Women, Writers, Writing
Comments Off on Women writers, and children; and Retro Peepers
John Clare, gardener and writer; and Bloom & Wild
In this strange spring and early summer of ours, where March’s snow, frost and ice stopped all plant growth and May’s hot days and tropical rainstorms encouraged it wildly, I’ve been wondering how many writers worked as gardeners. I only found … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Fiction, Gardening, Mental Health in Fiction, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Uncategorized, Writers, Writing
Comments Off on John Clare, gardener and writer; and Bloom & Wild
Writers on writing, and an exquisitely beautiful tea
When our writers’ group met this week one of our number described how the rise of the ‘plotting and typing’ approach to writing was driving her demented. How all the work is done before you’ve typed a word and then you … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Fiction, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing
Comments Off on Writers on writing, and an exquisitely beautiful tea
RMS Titanic: on this day 106 years ago … & Samira Addo, Portrait Artist of the Year
It’s 106 years ago today that the ‘unsinkable’ passenger liner, RMS Titanic, hit an iceberg and sank in just two hours and forty minutes. For years the tragedy was a matter of private internal horror: people didn’t talk about trauma then and … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Titanic
Comments Off on RMS Titanic: on this day 106 years ago … & Samira Addo, Portrait Artist of the Year
Social media and the writer; Modigliani and Akhmatova
It’s wise for writers to have a social media presence these days. Publishers don’t exactly insist on it, but they like writers who have significant followings. (Followers equal interest in the writer and so potential sales, obviously.) But how does … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Love, Social media, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writing
Comments Off on Social media and the writer; Modigliani and Akhmatova
Teaching kids to fall in love with science (a different kind of love for Valentine’s day); and things to do with rubbish
I was noodling around on the internet wondering what I was going to post about this month when I discovered Arvind Gupta. He won the Padma Shree on 26 January (India’s Republic Day) for his work in literature and in education, … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Design, News, Science, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Uncategorized
Comments Off on Teaching kids to fall in love with science (a different kind of love for Valentine’s day); and things to do with rubbish
A new writing resolution; and a new (to me) altruistic way of advertising
I’ve made a new writing resolution: I will not allow the confusing complexity, the sheer size and the constantly changing, shifting nature of a novel’s first draft to eclipse the excitement I felt when its guiding idea first electrified me. I. Will. Not. … Continue reading
Posted in Baby Boomers, Creativity, Fiction, Millenials, Psychology, Rewriting, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Uncategorized, Writing
Comments Off on A new writing resolution; and a new (to me) altruistic way of advertising
Our Christmas Tree: a work in progress … and The Connection at St Martin’s
My other half put our Christmas tree together yesterday (it has hundreds of branches, all with different colour codes, all with their own little slots in its metal trunk). He also strung the tree with lights. Now it’s my turn to … Continue reading
Posted in Homelessness, Love, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Things that don't fit anywhere else
Tagged Homelessness
Comments Off on Our Christmas Tree: a work in progress … and The Connection at St Martin’s
Chaos & Creativity; and Beautiful Bookshops
I dislike hate chaos. Very much. Who doesn’t? But it’s an essential state if you want to write fiction. Messiness of the mind is the sine qua non for writers. But, when a piece is finished, it looks so orderly that … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Bookshops, Creativity, Fiction, Psychology, Writers, Writing
Comments Off on Chaos & Creativity; and Beautiful Bookshops
Rejection is a rite of passage for writers, and the Raw Chocolate Company
One of the things that a writer takes a while truly to believe (it’s taken me a while) is that rejection is part of the process: it’s necessary, inevitable and makes our work better. It’s a rite of passage.But the … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Fiction, Rejection, Rewriting, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Third Novel, Writers, Writing
Comments Off on Rejection is a rite of passage for writers, and the Raw Chocolate Company
A very small trawl through a few less well-known news sites
This month – perhaps because it’s the silly season when news tends towards the frivolous because the House of Commons is in recess and us ordinary folk go on holiday – I thought I’d have a little light trawl through a few … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, News, News Outlets, Science
2 Comments
Blurt It Out and Instead of a Card
I’m submitting the manuscript of my third novel to literary agents. It’s a process that requires much patience, a certain amount of luck and, most importantly, the ability to pitch my work well to the right agent at the right … Continue reading
