Thoughts about things I’ve written or read or heard or seen. An attempt to stay positive in a turbulent world.
Recent Articles
Thomas Keneally and the fear that haunts all writers
Did you hear Thomas Keneally this morning on Desert Island Discs? He was magnificent. He didn’t mention MATs (multiple avoidance – of writing – techniques), but he talked about the most stultifying thing for a writer: FEAR. He said, I can’t quote him exactly because you can’t listen again to Desert Island Discs, but here’s...Continue reading→
Speaking of Sales Figures
I have just discovered that my first novel Speaking of Love (published by the utterly wonderful Beautiful Books) has sold five copies in a week, in my local cafe, Il Molino, on Battersea Park Road. These sales figures will not, self-evidently, make so much as a mizzle in the mugglemist of today’s HP publication celebration,...Continue reading→
Book Quiz, literary blogs, life …
I just did the Book Quiz (at Blue Pyramid) which I found on BooksPlease‘s blog (thank you) and I find I am this: You’re One Hundred Years of Solitude! by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Lonely and struggling, you’ve been around for a very long time. Conflict has filled most of your life and torn apart nearly...Continue reading→
Life in my writing room
The walls are covered with quotations, this is one of my favourites: ‘A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.’ Thomas Mann. My head is always full of words but, this afternoon, they seem to be mixing with each other and making a grey sludge, rather than...Continue reading→
Subscribe to the Column
Search the Column
Select a Topic
Categories
Archive by Month
Archives
Subscribe on Substack
