The Launch of The Dance of Love, History of the Rain, and Emily Young’s Kew Gardens angel video

September 14, 2014Artists, Dance of Love, The, Design, Places, Reviews, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing

The DANCE of LOVE was launched at the wonderful Barnes Bookshop last Thursday: I wrote about on Robert Hale’s blog – the book’s publishers – here. It was a happy family affair: my whole family was there: my two younger sisters smuggled my American sister into the country for it which was a wonderful; the family of … Read More

Today for one day only THE DANCE of LOVE is .99p on the Kindle Daily Deal (or $1.64 in the US)

August 25, 2014Dance of Love, The

If you own an electronic reading device (why does that sound so odd?) and you’d like to download and read a historical romance that’s received kind words from reviewers (‘Lovers of Austen will find much to admire here’ Shiny New Books; ‘A beautifully-written book that moved me deeply’ BooksPlease; ‘Sparkles with rich and authentic detail’ Fiction is … Read More

Niall Williams’s History of the Rain

August 14, 2014Reviews, Writers, Writing

I’m so full of Niall Williams‘s History of the Rain that I don’t want to write about anything else this month. It is the most beautiful and beautifully-written novel I’ve read, probably ever, and if not ever, then certainly for a very very long time. And it is – naturally – a book I would love to … Read More

The DANCE of LOVE is published today

July 31, 2014Dance of Love, The

Hurrah!  A big thank you to Buried River Press for publishing it. You can find out more from the YouTube film here, or the book’s pages on my website, here: and, if you’d like to, you can buy it in paperback here and here and with worldwide free delivery here or in an electronic edition here. … Read More

THE DANCE of LOVE PUBLISHED SOON; GOODREADS GIVEAWAY; FIRST TWO REVIEWS and … StuckinaBooks’ letters and Letters to an Unknown Soldier

July 14, 2014Dance of Love, The, Reviews, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Things that don't fit anywhere else

Happy news, THE DANCE of LOVE will be published on 31 July by Buried River Press. You can pre-order copies here and here and here with free worldwide delivery, and, of course, here. There’s also a Goodreads Giveaway running from today until early on 17 July for four free copies. Enter here, if you’d like … Read More

The Titanic: the 102nd anniversary of the tragic sinking, and, on a happier note, the launch of SHINY NEW BOOKS

April 14, 2014Reviews, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Titanic

On this day, 102 years ago, many many people drowned, or froze to death, in the icy waters of the north Atlantic after RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg. My great-grandmother, Noël Rothes, was one of the lucky survivors. I wrote about her experience on the 100th anniversary of the sinking, here. But I’m sure there are … Read More

SPEAKING of LOVE: an alternative Valentine ?

February 10, 2014Love, Speaking of Love

SPEAKING of LOVE is one of amazon’s Recommended Valentine’s Reads this week (10-17 February). Happy days. But please be warned: it is an alternative Valentine, one that asks why we find it so difficult to talk about love; one that shows the terrible consequences of not talking about love. It doesn’t pretend love is easy.  

The Shock of the Fall : hurray for mental illness in FICTION

January 14, 2014Literary Prizes, Mental Health in Fiction, Speaking of Love, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing

The subject matter of this year’s Costa first novel winner (and now overall 2013 winner), The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Fileris mental illness. Hurray! (Because publishers so often swerve when they see one of those coming.) And hurray for the Borough Press for not swerving. I hope this win will help, as Lionel Shriver’s We … Read More

The Bookbag’s Top Ten Self-Published Books of 2013, and Visitation, a haunting image by Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

December 14, 2013Artists, Speaking of Love, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Third Novel

I’ve just heard that the Bookbag has included Speaking of Love in its Top Ten Self-Published Books for 2013. Very exciting. Thank you, Bookbag. And a couple of weeks ago, at ENO‘s miraculous Magic Flute, directed by the ever-inventive Simon McBurney I saw, inside the programme, some of the most haunting, poetic and beautiful images I’ve seen for a long time. … Read More

Free eBook SPEAKING of LOVE : UPDATE

November 16, 2013Reviews, Speaking of Love

A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who’ve been downloading SPEAKING of LOVE on its two free days, yesterday and today: in the USA from here and in the UK from here. It’s given the novel, my first novel, a new lease on life. Thank you very much. Thank you also to Storm Drummey at Liz … Read More

Scared to say ‘I Love You’?

October 24, 2013Love, Speaking of Love

Last week Paul McCartney admitted to John Wilson on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row that he was scared to say ‘I love you’. Instead he wrote the words into a song for his wife, Nancy Shevell. The song, Scared, reviewed at the end of this link, is a hidden track at the very end of McCartney’s new album, NEW. It’s a beautiful wistful ballad … Read More

For the Love of Life in COLLAGES, the Man Booker shortlist and a glorious goat gouda

September 14, 2013Things I'd Love to Have Made, Third Novel, Writing, Writing Courses

In my post in July I wrote about the September publication of COLLAGES, a collection of new writing by students on Maggie Hamand’s wonderful CCWC courses. Maggie has kindly included an extract from my third novel, a work in progress called For the Love of Life, in the collection and now you can buy COLLAGES here, if … Read More

Voice, and Bill Viola

August 14, 2013Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writing

I have never really been able to explain to myself what voice means for an artist, and particularly for a writer, even though I know it exists. But when I read this: Voice is a set of ideas and concerns that becomes distinctively owned by the writer. in the summer edition of The Author, at last … Read More