It’s a curious thing. With all the rumours about the decline of book publishing, easy access to e-books, the increase in DVDs, book festivals are still enormously popular. This is the second week of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Charlotte Square, with its landmark marquees and wooden walkways, is positively seething with visitors paying [...]
I’m feeling very fortunate. I’ve recently been talking – well, no, actually I’ve been listening – to people who’ve either given or received organs. It’s all part of research for my current novel, which has a working title at the moment of Over my Not-quite-dead Body. The emotions are still powerful years after the actual [...]
Please indulge me for a few minutes. I need to vent my spleen somewhere. As you know, I do a fair amount of travelling by train. I usually book my tickets well in advance and make sure I get a seat in the Quiet Zone. Quiet? You have to be joking. Excited hen parties, rowdy [...]
I’m rather partial to stately homes and beautiful gardens. So a trip to the Borders to visit Mellerstain House, home to the 13th Earl and Countess of Haddington, was just what the doctor ordered in a rather fraught week. It’s about thirty years since I last went, and it more than lived up to my [...]