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Getting published and Rhubarb Crumble
So what’s the connection between Rhubarb Crumble and getting published? The first clue is: The Custard Factory. I guess that won’t help much unless you’re familiar with Birmingham’s revolutionary new...
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A Holiday read on Lamma Island
The arts pages of newspapers and magazines often have recommendations for holiday reading but I haven’t come across a travel webpage that gives a link to a novel that is set in an exotic holiday...
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Writing Book Reviews
This is something that I find quite difficult to do because: (1) that old chestnut of ‘not having time’ (2) I don’t find it easy to write a summary of a plot without giving the game away. (3) When I’ve...
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How readers keep writers writing
One of the many things about the internet that I enjoy, is the way I can gather snippets of interesting information that wouldn’t normally have caught my eye. The daily on-line headlines from The...
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Writing West Midlands – and Apples & Snakes
I was pondering the impact of place names yesterday afternoon as I drove down the M5 to Worcester for a writers’ networking event, organised by Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive of Writing West...
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Word-of-mouth at Castle Vale Library
I had a wonderful morning last Thursday, talking to a lively group of enthusiastic readers. I never know quite what to expect when visiting different reading and writing groups, though one thing I can...
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A Week of Writerly Events & the Final Day of Summer
I love the act of writing fiction and poetry, but can never be quite sure which of the two I enjoy most, as they each have their own rewards and frustrations. One of the unexpected pleasures of...
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Paper Lanterns, 3 for 2 at Waterstones
(AND Another Library Talk) Well, it’s in the window of the Sutton Coldfield branch. What an honour to be rubbing elbows with Nick Hornby, Maeve Binchy and Colm Toibin’s Booker-shortlisted novel,...
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Merry Christmas to writers and readers everywhere!
This will be my shortest ever post – I just wanted to say ‘HAPPY CHRISTMAS’ to my regular visitors and to anyone who has landed here by chance. The picture above is a small detail of the traditional...
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All the ‘Writerly’ activities that have stolen my ‘Proper’ Writing time!
As you can see from the date of my previous post below, I’m taking a break from regular blogging. I started this blog in May 2009 as I felt I’d reached a watershed in my writing, and I wanted to...
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