-
-
- Loading Quotes...
Subscribe
Links
- Ali Smith
- Alice Walker
- Andrea Levy
- Annabel's House of Books
- Anne Tyler
- Annie Proulx
- Barbara Kingsolver
- BooksPlease
- Clarissa Pinkola Estes
- Cornflower Books
- dovergreyreader scribbles
- Edith Wharton
- Elizabeth Strout
- George Eliot
- Geranium Cat's Bookshelf
- Guardian Booksblog, Fiction
- Harper Lee
- Harriet Devine's Book Blog
- Jane Austen
- Jeanette Winterson
- Jennifer Johnston
- Jo Baker
- Joffe Books
- John Fowles
- Julian Barnes
- Juxtabook
- Kathleen Jamie
- Maggie O'Farrell
- Marilynne Robinson
- Matt Haig
- Max Porter
- Maya Angelou
- Michael Ondaatje
- Mostly Books Blog
- Niall Williams
- Reading Matters
- Roddy Doyle
- Rose Tremain
- Rules for Writing
- Salley Vickers
- Sebastian Barry
- Shiny New Books
- So Many Books
- StuckinaBook
- Tales from the Reading Room
- Tayari Jones
- Thomas Hardy
- Tracy Chevalier
- Vulpes Libris
- William Golding
Category Archives: Fiction
100 Novels That Shaped Our World; free travel with a book and One Green Thing
Four women and two men have just chosen 100 Novels That Shaped Our World. The choosers are: Stig Abell, editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Syima Aslam, founder of the Bradford Literature Festival, authors Juno Dawson, Kit de Waal and Alexander … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Creativity, Fiction, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Travel
Comments Off on 100 Novels That Shaped Our World; free travel with a book and One Green Thing
City Tales, and Hive
Since 2004, Oxford University Press has been publishing volumes of City Tales, collections of short stories set in European cities translated into English. The guiding idea is to give the English-speaking reading traveller (I paraphrase): Stories expertly translated by writers with an … Continue reading
Posted in Bookshops, Fiction, Places, reading, Reviews, Storytelling, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Uncategorized, Writing
Comments Off on City Tales, and Hive
Janet Clare on getting published later on, and Vice’s Broadly.
I’ve been meaning to read this article by an older writer about starting to write later in life and how, after a very long writing journey and the discovery that every writer makes at some point, that all writing is … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Cyberspace, Fiction, Internet, Psychology, reading, Rewriting, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Women, Writers, Writing, Writing Courses
Comments Off on Janet Clare on getting published later on, and Vice’s Broadly.
Comfort Zones, and Client Earth
The other day, in Chichester, I found and bought a book. This is a (very) common thing in my life (although it usually happens in London) but I bought this book in Jigsaw which isn’t a bookshop. Copies were sitting on … Continue reading
Posted in Bookshops, Climate Change, Design, Fiction, Things that don't fit anywhere else, Women, Writers, Writing
1 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
Comments Off on Make Good Art, a resolution for the new year
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
Comments Off on Jericho Writers’ Self-Editing Your Novel Course, and the wonders of Atlas Obscura: destinations, food and drink
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
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)
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
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
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
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
Anselm Kiefer and Heywood Hill
On the weekend we went to the Anselm Kiefer Exhibition at the White Cube in Bermondsey. It’s just closed, but if there’s any of his work anywhere near you do go and see it. He is the most imaginative of … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Fiction, Things I'd Love to Have Made
Comments Off on Anselm Kiefer and Heywood Hill
Third novel, and the Reith Lectures, 2016
This month I finished my third novel. Finished to be interpreted loosely: there will be redrafts when I’m working with an agent and then with an editor. It’s working title is For the Love of Life. Rejoice. At least for now. … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Equality, Fiction, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Third Novel, Titanic, Writers, Writing
2 Comments
Rose Tremain’s The Gustav Sonata and Dioni Mazaraki’s silver jewellery
I’ve read all Rose Tremain‘s novels and I love the fact that they fail to fit neatly into any particular category (except the category of beautifully written stories about the way we are and how we become). They’re always and essentially different, one from … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Creativity, Design, Fiction, Places, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers
Comments Off on Rose Tremain’s The Gustav Sonata and Dioni Mazaraki’s silver jewellery